Sometimes I just want to sew!

I just want to sew something!

There are times when I just want to sit at my sewing machine and mindlessly run the fabric under the presser foot. I do not want to have to think too hard about what I am making. Nor do I want to pay attention to a technique that is more challenging than a straight stitch on a straight seam! This does not happen frequently, but when it does I like to use up scraps of fabric and make "new" fabric by sewing small pieces together. And then, of course, I usually cut them up again to make a quilt or maybe even potholders.

Sewing a one-block quilt

Alternatively, I will use a simple quilt block and repeat it to make a quilt.  Oftentimes, I make them out of scraps. And almost always I use the fabric from my stash. This quilt is an example of the same simple block repeated with different colors, to make it a bit more interesting. It was a very quick and easy quilt because I used a steel die from Accuquilt to cut the Tumblers and then quilted it with an allover quilt pattern that I purchased from Urban Elementz. The binding was made from a new fabric but the rest have been around for a (long) while.

Quilted with Apex 2 Design from Urban Elementz

If this quilt looks familiar, that is because it is the second one I made using a rainbow colorway. I posted about the original (here) and another, scrappy one using the same die last summer. Those two were made for charity. The one above, my teen-aged daughter claimed. 

More fun ways to 'just sew'

Making a fabric collage - of sorts

This past February, the Portland Modern Quilt Guild hosted Tricia Royal. I was fortunate enough to get a spot in her virtual class and learned new ways of using up small pieces of fabric. She introduced me to another way to just sew without too much pre-planning. I loved the class and was very inspired by her work. We made two small pieces. I combined them because I loved the busyness of one of them and the open, negative space of the other.

Quilted shapes

The photo below shows the two pieces, one on top of the other, prior to me quilting them together.

Layered pieces

Thank you for stopping by today. It has been a long break for me, from blogging. I was not ready to share what has been keeping me busy. Partly because this has been a time of introspection and re-grouping for me. I have a few more projects that I have worked on over the past few months, which I will post soon. Sending you all lots of love and light.

Beverly