As I mentioned the other day, I came across a quilt top from my guild’s Community Service team. Nothing like an impending move to get me going on this top. It took no time at all to get it basted and stippled.
This scrappy quilt is one crazy flurry of color. Most of the prints are from the 1980’s and 1990’s as far as I can tell. Lots and lots of novelty fabrics were used. The person who pieced it alternated rows of seven inch squares with rows of 3 1/2″ squares and rectangles. It is much like an I-Spy quilt and will be fun for someone to look at and enjoy the variety of prints.
So many holidays are represented in this crazy quilt. Christmas and Easter, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day fabrics are all over the place. For as many novelty fabrics as are included, it was interesting to note she didn’t include any Halloween fabrics.
Kokopelli (the flute playing, dancing characters on blue) are symbols of fertility and rain. Interesting placement next to rabbits and hens, both of whom are quite prolific at reproducing. Hahaha. Coincidental placement, I am sure.
I backed the quilt with black and white polka dots and used the same for the binding. In the interest of efficiency, I machine bound it front and back. I need to practice this – my machine binding is less than precise.
Just after Thanksgiving, Julia, my mom and I made some cinnamon applesauce ornaments. These are very easy to make though the dough is very sticky. There are tons of links to make these ornaments. We used the cheapest cinnamon and applesauce we could find.
Once the ornaments were dried, we used puff paints and decorated them. It was a lot of fun to do and the ornaments smell so yummy. Note – these are not edible! They would taste horrible and even when rolling them out, it seemed strange not to taste the dough. If you make these, enjoy the fragrance but make sure not to taste them! Some of ours will go on the tree and others will be given to a few of our neighbors.
Julia and I plan to go to town this afternoon and wander our local shops. We have such a cute downtown area and I am looking forward to this. Also, tomorrow a local nursery is hosting a group of teenage crafters and holding a holiday event. We are both looking forward to browsing their crafts and supporting their entrepreneurial spirit.
Enjoy the weekend everyone!
Linking with my usual parties. Check them out at the top of the page, under Link Ups.
You did great on getting the found object finished. Oh, those ornaments are delightful! You are managing to juggle many balls, and have some fun in between…good for you!
Great finish, and I’ll bet it was fun looking at all the fabrics as you stitched. Those ornaments turned out really cute, too. Wish I could tag along with you and Julia, sounds like a fun outing!
You weren’t kidding that you would be able to have the community service quilt finished in a few days, nicely done! I think the polka dot for the backing and binding look great. And I remember making those ornaments once as a kid – I could smell them as I was reading the post. Sounds like you have great plans with Julia and I hope you both enjoy the crafters fair tomorrow.
That quilt is so full of fun!! Someone will be very happy with it.
I enjoyed looking at all the prints in the quilt. I’m sure someone will really enjoy it! My kids and I made cinnamon applesauce ornaments so many years ago that I couldn’t remember how we did it. Thanks for sharing the recipe! The ornaments are so cute and last a long time.
Thanks Tracie – the ornaments seem like they would last. They are hardened completely so I don’t think they will ‘go bad’? Very fun to do though. Julia and I make something every year and this was our choice this year.
There is a *lot* going on in that quilt, but the backing and binding are the perfect finish. Hurray for having another one in the finished column! As for the machine binding, it gets a lot better with practice. You just need to make more quilts! 🙂 The cinnamon ornaments are adorable, and I bet you and Julia had a great time. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Yes, there is definitely a *lot* going on with the quilt. Most likely, I wouldn’t piece one as busy as this. But to my surprise, Julia really enjoyed it when I got it done. She just thought the color and chaos was fun. So, to each their own? It will bring a smile to someone. 🙂
Love this I Spy scrappy quilt! Sometimes the accidental placements are funnier than if we had done them on purpose 🙂 There’s a parent of one of my son’s classmates who makes those cinnamon ornaments with the kids every year, he has one from K and again this year in 2nd grade. He’s talked about making them here, too, so maybe if we need a project this week, we’ll make a batch! Merry Christmas, Bernie!!
Wow, what a fun quilt. It will keep someone entertained for hours. I really like your choice of black and white polka dots. It sort of calms everything down (ha ha) in a fun way. The ornaments are delightful, especially with the puffy paint. It must have been so tempting to lick your hands while you made them. Happy Holidaying!
The polka dot backing and binding seemed like the right choice. The quilt top is surely a crazy mix of color.
The ornaments are fun – and they smell wonderful. Julia is fostering a dog this week and she (the dog) keeps sniffing the tree. I am sure she smells the cinnamon. So far she hasn’t found them. We moved them up high to be safe. Take care Janine!
This quilt will make someone in need very happy. You picked the perfect fabric for backing and dinding. Great job also with the stippling, Bernie.
Those ornaments look like a lot of family fun time.
Happy holiday Season!
Thank you! Have a wonderful holiday as well. 🙂
I’ve only made a few cinnamon applesauce ornaments, but the have lasted a long while. I would never make such a varied scrappy quilt! But, you know, I like it! So maybe it’s ok to step outside the box on occasion!
I completely agree – I wouldn’t piece the quilt like this. I would most likely add some white space somewhere to calm it down. But when I brought it home, I was surprised that my daughter really enjoyed it. So, I think it will make someone happy!