Scrap Quilt - No Cost (Almost)

I made this quilt without spending a dime (well, almost).  Read on to see how this happened.

16 patch & pinwheels

Having just finished a quilt for my nephew, I was tidying up and spent some time looking at all of my extra fabric.  I also discovered a lot of extra left-over batting that I could never bring myself to throw away.  I figured I'd use it for small projects, like small wall hangings, placemats, pot holders, etc.  But I had enough of these leftovers to make a throw quilt.

At the same time, I found myself drawn to scrap quilts, so I decided to make one, with the goal of not spending any money.  I had also been practicing free motion machine quilting, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to really practice, also saving the cost of paying someone for longarm services.

So, the pattern I chose is this alternating 16 patch and pinwheel block quilt.  I was inspired by this quilt from Quiltville.  I like the diagonal llusion that is accomplished with the alternating light and dark fabrics.

The key with this quilt is making sure the light and dark fabrics are placed properly, and to realize that the alternating light/dark arrangement on the pinwheel blocks is paramount to the success of the layout.  The 16 path blocks are easy because it's just a checkerboard layout with the alternating light and dark fabrics.  The pinwheels are a bit more difficult because on alternating rows, the light/dark fabric placement alternates.  You can see on this image, the two pinwheel blocks have the dark/light triangles arranged opposite to each other.

16 patch & pinwheels

As far as layout goes, there is one other important point that will define those diagonal lines that stand out in the finished quilt.  The dark corner of the 16 patch block should be placed with the dark triangles of the pinwheel blocks; and, likewise, the light corner of the 16 patch block should be place with the light triangles of the pinwheel blocks.

The good news is that to just get started, you don't need to worry about the layout.  You can just begin cutting and piecing.

1. First, begin by separating your fabrics into light and dark.  I've seen this quilt made by a variety of people, and there really is no right or wrong.  I found myself fretting a bit over this step because sometimes I'd come across a print that could be considered light and dark.  I decided to stop worrying and just let it go.  The difference I found is that if you stick to a more rigid light and dark distinction (basically eliminating those in-between hues), you get a more geometric looking quilt.  If you let that concern go, then you get a mosaic looking quilt.  Neither one is right or wrong, just different.
2. The instructions on the Quiltville page are great for making the blocks.  The strip piecing method is definitely the way to go.
3. Assembling the quilt, be sure the pinwheels and 16 patch block placement is good before sewing.  
4. For my border I used the extra 2.5" strips cut for the pinwheels, and used the extra 16 patch blocks I accidentally made for the corners.
5. Similar to Quiltville, I pieced together a variety of neutral fabrics I had for the back; however, I found that I had a lot of extra 2" strips left, so I added some checkerboard strips to the border on the back for something interesting.

Quilt Back

 For the machine quilting, I decided to try something I had been thinking of for a while.  Since I don't have a longarm machine, I thought it might work to assemble the quilt and do the quilting a section at a time.  Since the front a back are both pieced, it seemed doable; and with the batting in pieces, it seemed even more reasonable.  It worked!  I basically quilted this in strips.  Hopefully, you can see in the picture below that I have assembled and quilted the three rows on the left and the right row has been attached, but now quilted, yet.

Before quilting that row on the right, I added another row to the top and bottom, then quilted the fourth row.  Then, repeat; adding in more batting as needed.  I did baste the batting piece together in an effort to keep the batting sections from shifting or separating while I handled the work.

Finally, I added the front and back borders, filled in the batting, and quilted this last section, finishing it off with a traditional binding from leftover binding.

So the one thing I had to purchase was quilting thread.  Since I hadn't done much machine quilting before, I didn't have leftover. Overall, I'm pleased with the quilt and I enjoy looking at the quilt fabrics and remembering the projects where these fabrics were used.

Things I learned and accomplished while making this quilt:

• I used up some of my extra fabric (although, I still have a lot).
• I got to make an awesome quilt without spending much money.
• My machine quilting and free motion quilting skills are much improved.  I'll feel confident continuing to use this skill in future projects.
• The quilt-as-you-go-by-sections method worked pretty well.  Knowing I have this option will make larger projects less daunting.
• I really enjoy making scrap quilts and want to make more.