Creative Eye Thursday- Seems Like Scrappy by Rebecca Silbaugh

Sometimes you just want to make a scrappy quilt.  And sometimes you want to make a scrappy quilt without having to have all the scraps.  Enter this book.  If you have ever wanted to make a scrappy quilt without the hassle or ability to have a huge fabric stash, here's the book for you.  Simply pick up your favorite precuts, and now you get to make some scrappy goodness without all the work.

This book has lots of fun designs to choose from.  And you will love every minute of it.  For the pattern I chose to work with...it's this little number. Let's get to work.

Oh my goodness.  I started this little number last week, thought since it was small I could finish it quickly.  Hmmm.  Not so much. Now, I am almost a whole week late in writing this blog post.  I knew that it might take a little while to do, but I forgot how much time kids take. I love having summer break, but holy cow, kids want your attention..like all the time.  I actually love it.  I really do.  But instead of working, I get to take the kids swimming, and to the movies, and play card games with them.  life is hard here.

Anyway, when I had a chance to work.  There was a lot of chain stitching.  A lot of trimming, cutting, and pressing.  I really enjoyed the idea of making this little cute quilt.  The actually making of it made me remember these things:

1) as much as I love precuts, they are not as accurate as self cut squares

2) small blocks are tricky

3) following all the directions is a super good idea.  

So...I didn't follow the instructions to press the seams open.  I kinda thought that was her preference, and not a requirement.  And, I prefer to press them to one side.  Well, that was fine for awhile.

Until this...

Yeah, so by the time you get to the 1" squares, there are a ton of layers there.  A TON.  That's not an exaggeration in any way.  So, maybe it's a good idea to follow the instructions.  Even when you think you know better, you might save yourself from breaking a needle.

I do have to say.  There was some frustration with the precuts.  I do love precuts, but they have that zig zag edge, which can fray a bit, which means not all of your blocks will be exactly the same size.  I'm sorry, but when you're doing something so small, even a little bit off matters.  I could have measured each and every block, to see where to take a little more, and to see when to skimp.  But, that's quite a bit of work.  So, I just went for it.  Later, some of my blocks were less than perfect.  However, I know how to fudge a little here and there to make it work. There was a fair amount of fudging.

I did like the design of this pattern.  Rebecca did such a great job with making this pattern.  Sewing together, and then cutting, sewing, cutting, etc.. Was pretty fun. I like finding new ways to make classic blocks.

Here's my finished product.  Mine, a little blue, with browns and pinks.  If you were making it, what colors would you choose?

 Here are a bunch of her other patterns. All of them are fun, and easy to make.   Check out the book, you can buy it here or here.