Ambrosia Quilt

I was intrigued by a quilt.  Anyone who says they weren't ready to be finished making their quilt, you know you need stop everything to investigate what that is all about!  

On Monday morning, I was surfing through some blogs for quilt inspiration and PatchworknPlay's blog happen to be one I landed on.  This is the quilt she was referring to.  She calls it her Scrappy Sandwiches.
Suz says she got her inspiration for her design from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville's Quips & Snips, String X under Bonnie's free patterns.  I really like Suz's quilt and I had everything on hand to make a scrappy quilt like hers!

Lots of talk about scrap busting has been discussed since the New Year began.  Back in January, I decided I could do a little clean up myself so I began going through my stash of scraps and sorting colors, trimming sizes, etc. I began stitching an assortment of pastel strips.  Long story short, I had made some strip segments and had put them away for the day I would figure out what to do with them.

On Monday, I pulled them out and began cutting them into the size Suz had described in her Scrappy Sandwich tutorial. From this point on Suz's inspiration developed into my design.

Unfortunately I had already cut my strips into three inch widths.  I stayed with her 10.5 inch length. Now my segments were 10.5 x 3 inches.   My white strips are 1.5 inches same as Suz's.  I auditioned some solids as she has in her photos, but I do not have a large solid collection and I did not have anything close to the "Sand."  Rummaging, I pulled out a beautiful charm pack called Ambrosia by Jennifer Young that I had ordered from Missouri Star Quilt Company. It was one of those Ta-Da moments. 

The colors in my strippy segments blended perfect with the colors in the Ambrosia charm pack.  It's so colorful and scrappy it reminded of a fruit salad like Ambrosia.  Hence my quilt got its name!

I trimmed my scrappy strip segments to 10.5 x 3 inches.

I used white cotton from Kona for my accent strip. My strips are cut 1.5 inches.  Sew a white strip on each side of strip segment.  Press open.  I then folded each one in half and lightly pressed to make a center fold line.  That fold made it easier to line up to trim the points and later the finished square.

Lots of strips folded in half. 

Eyeball the position and place the black line of ruler down the center folded line.  With this ruler I also made sure the red markings on the ruler were also evenly placed on the outer edge of the rectangle.  

Trim off each side to make a point.

 Turn your piece around and do the same for the other end.  Line up the black line down the center and the red lines on the outer edge. 

Perfect.  Just like the above photo.  Do those cuts and don't overly stress if they are not extremely accurate. You will cut them again when you trim up your block for the final square.

Now stitch one of the half cut triangles from the five inch charm pack.  Or if you prefer, cut a five inch square and cut that square in half for your triangle.  Stitch one triangle on each side of each white strip to form a square.  Don't match any edges of the triangle.  Edges will hang off.  It's is okay to have tails on your triangle.

Next, use a large 10 or 12 inch square ruler and position the diagonal center line on the ruler on the folded center line of your block.  Trim your block on all sides.  Mine measured out at 7.25 inches.   (I am not a precise cutter or measurement person.  I aimed for the center and cut a 7.25 inch square but I am not going to sweat the small stuff if ultimately every stripe doesn't line up perfectly.)

As you can see, I cut the 5 inch squares in half and knew I would just go back and trim off to square up the blocks.  My finished block is 7.25 inches.

I can see why Suz did not want to stop making her quilt.  Now that I know I like how these blocks look together, I have been digging deeper into shelves and boxes looking for more bits and pieces of leftover fabrics from previous projects to make more strip sets.
   
It is going to be a nice quilt.  Fruity.  Like Fruit Stripe gum. I see oranges, pineapple, apples, blueberries, kiwi, strawberries, pecans and almonds.  Like a fruit salad.  Like Ambrosia.  It is neat to see Bonnie's quilt, Suz's quilt, and my quilt.  They are all the same but different.

I'll keep working on it and come back when I have finished it.  

Thanks for stopping by!

I love Ambrosia.  My grandmother, Rose, (the quiltmaker) made it every year for Christmas dinner.  Sliced naval orange segments, pineapple chunks, red cherries, shredded coconut and sprinkled with chopped pecans. Mix all the ingredients and sweeten to taste with a little powdered sugar.  It tastes so good that I continue her tradition and make it for my family at Thanksgiving and Christmas. This true Ambrosia recipe is a fruit salad fit for the gods.  Not only does it taste wonderful, the color combination of orange, yellow and red is truly amazing served in a clear crystal bowl.  I hope you will try some at your next holiday meal.

I am linking up to Esther's blog for WOW Works in Progress Wednesday. 



  

Kitty Litter

I have reached one of those periods in every creative person's life. I have lost my Mojo!

I sewed so much the first four months of this year when it was still wintry and cold.  I finished several custom orders for my Etsy shop.  They all seemed to come at same time and tapped deep into my creative brain.   Last week, I worked an 8-5 temporary office assignment for a colleague who needed and deserved to take some vacation.  I have committed to a few more of those jobs with the summer vacation season coming ahead.  I got out of my sewing routine and now I am having a difficult time getting back into the sewing frame of mind. 

Before this little break/slump/vacation, I started another custom order cutie pie Cat Quilt. Her aunt says she loves cats. She is a recent college graduate who has started her first major job as well as purchased her first home.  She deserves a quilt for all she has accomplished, don't you think!        

These cat quilts are so much fun to make. They go together quickly.  

I pulled out my box of scraps and cleared out a bunch of leftovers.  So many colors.  So much texture and movement.  So much fun!

The block makes up into a good size and soon it doesn't take long before you have a nice size bed quilt.

This one is not due until September.  I should have my mojo back by then.   Hopefully by next week.

Thanks for stopping by on WOW Day (Works in progress On Wednesday.)

I am linking up to Esther's WOW on her blog today.



Credits...This particular cat pattern, Dream Chasers, is from a book called Quilts for Kids by Carolann Palmer. The book is from the 1990's and was published by That Patchwork Place. I searched for a link online but I wasn't able to find any specific link other than a random copy of the book that was sold and other conversation.