*Posts may contain affiliate links.

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Fabulous Freebies Blog Hop Day 5

I sure do hope everyone has enjoyed this hop as much as I have this week.
What a great array of fun "Freebie" projects we can play with.

Yesterday Beth shared her passion for Bonnie Hunter quilts with us.
Daryl shared a fabulous "Arabesque" bag with us. 
Rose shared her "Staggered Strips and Squares" pattern with us.
Kay shared her "My Blue Heaven" Bonnie Hunter quilt with us.
Dione shared an adorable little pumpkin wall hanging and a fabulous assortment of binding options.
Lyndsey shared many of her favorite freebies over the years.
***********************

As quilters, we know just how much we spend on our crazy passion, 
and how much stash we have accumulated.
Having a way to use up those extras, is an added bonus for everyone.
Not that we all don't appreciate the time and talent that goes into 
pattern designing. I, by no means want to take away from the lively hood of designers, but I do think its fun to sit down with a free pattern from time to time and just play.
After this week...I've got a lot more of playing to do it looks like.
Whoop whoop!
I'm excited to share the project that put this hop into motion, to begin with.
While drinking my morning "cuppa", I came across a post on the "Quilting Board.com"
 for this great stash buster, that was the perfect way to blast thru all my 
strips, strings and stash.
"Box of Strings"
I just love how much it looks like tumbler blocks.
I have to tell you, this was a big project...
 because I decided that I wanted it to be king size.
Heaven knows, I had the stash for it!
LOL!!
These blocks are all paper pieced, on phone book pages.
It was the easiest most mindless piecing I've done in ages, and was just plain ole fun
to "let 'er" rip thru the machine by the hours.
We aren't going to talk about those times I ran out of bobbin, 
while I was rippin away, stitching absolutely nothing!
Phone book pages are great to stitch on.
They are sturdy enough to handle the stitching, yet tears off easily in the end.
This quilt took more than 1 phone book, to make all the blocks.
Glad I started saving them when I did. I'm thinking that they are going to
be a thing of the past before you know it.
I'm kicking myself for not taking a photo of my strips and scraps that
 I started with. If you have ever shopped at Kolhs, and got one of their huge bags...
That's what was overflowing when I started. This trash can, was what was left when I was done. 
 I actually threw these little bits away! Don't laugh...that's a huge step for me!
HAHAHA
Sewing the rows together cracked me up! 
Last chance to look up that phone number you needed!
It looked like one big yellow pages collage,
 but it sure made things easy to assemble, as well.
The down side to paper piecing is removing all that paper.
I spent about 2-3 hours outside ripping away, and only got about half way done.
This was getting old!
Then I had an idea...
We have had tons of rain and hail lately. The skies looked crappy and the report wasn't good.
I thru my quilt over the bench outside and waited for the weather to do it's job.
Not too bad, I'd say.
What didn't fall off was so wet, that it rubbed off easily with my hands.
As you can see, it did make a mess on the deck, 
but what didn't sweep up when it was dry,
...was gone with the wind in a few days. LOL!!!!!
This is a shot of 2 rows. Doesn't it make you want to break out the scraps and play?
You can find the pattern 
at "The Eclectic Abuela" 
Her original is 74" X 84".
Mine is 98" X 100"
I've been reading online that some have been piecing these blocks on a light weight foundation fabric.
That is much easier to deal with...no ripping paper out, but this quilt has a LOT of seams and is pretty heavy when it's done. It's a personal preference, but the added weight of the foundation fabric is too much for my taste. This quilt going to be great for those cold winter nights, for sure.
Until then...I guess I'll be layin out in my teeny weenie yellow polka dot bikini,
enjoying the sun.
LOL!!
 Now that's a sight no one wants to see!
A big thanks to all the special bloggers who shared this week.
You can catch all the posts on the links below.
Also make sure you check out "The Eclectic Abuela" blog. 
She has loads of fun things to see.

Monday August 20

Tuesday August 21

Wednesday August 22

Thursday August 23

Friday August 24

Still feel like you need more freebie fixes?
Check out my list of tutorials on the right hand side bar, and have some fun!

til next time...
Keep on Stitchin'


27 comments:

  1. LOL, leave it to you to make a fabulously fun quilt... I love this and such a cool cool pattern. That quilt is HUGE tho... WoW, and when you get it quilted it's going to be awesome to lay under on a cold wintery night.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow that's some quilt! Great idea to let nature lend a helping hand with the paper lol! This has been a great hop.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for a wonderful blog hop that you arranged for us. Your quilt is absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us.
    Ronelle

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a wonderful quilt! You are so courageous putting it out in the rain - and I like your attitude about letting the remains go off into the wind! Great hop!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the quilt and like your "Fabulous Freebie" on removing paper piece foundation paper. Like the clean up tip too. Thanks for your leadership on this hop, I think your ears should be ringing due to all of the muttering going on about all the additions to the "to do lists" of your followers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This has been an awesome hop - so many things added to my list, thank you. This scrappy tumbling block made with the strings is such a great scrap eater for sure - and it is OK to throw those bits away.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, beautiful quilt! Your method of removing the paper wouldn't work here - we haven't had rain all summer. Or maybe once. It's been so long ago I can't remember!

    ReplyDelete
  8. WOW Joan your quilt is amazing!!! Love string quilts! Your quilt is huge too. Thanks for sharing this and for being the hostess with the mostess, lol!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Totally agree with you on using a phone book for piecing, and the bummer of removal. Not enough rain here to help with that, so I'd have to spend the hours ripping. But it does work great!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow! Neat idea! The quilt looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your quilt is incredible and gorgeous! It's obvious how much work it was, but it looks totally worth it. Great idea about using the rain, too. Thanks for hosting this fun hop!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow, that quilt is awesome - and great idea to let the weather help with the paper!! LOL Thanks sew much for a great blog hop! It has been such fun!

    ReplyDelete
  13. oh how wonderful. this is so pretty. I love the scrappy effect. yes it looks funny on the back side with the phone pages. wow great idea putting it on the porch and letting the weather help out. creative minds are wonderful aren't they? thank you for sharing and inspiring. I think I will try a pillow with these. I'm on a pillow kick right now.
    quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the Box of Strings Quilt! Another one added to my To Do List. I have to say a big Thank you to you for all your work putting on this inspiring Blog Hop and to all of the participants for the great Eye Candy and introduction to more fun blogs!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Awesome quilt! Just how long did this take you? Loved the idea of using the phone books for foundation papers, and using the rain was brilliant! Your finished quilt was just beautiful. Thank you, Joan, for hosting this wonderful hop. It has been loads of fun!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow....to think that this piece of gorgeousness was all made from scraps and a telephone book! Very clever of you to leave it outside during a storm to knock off that paper! This was such a fun blog hop, Joan. I appreciate all the work you put into organizing this and keeping us all in line! I've gathered many new ideas and they are all freebies!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I have just been loving this Freebie Blog Hop...so many new blogs to see! Thank you so much for setting it up. Your quilt is absolutely beautiful. I may be tempted to try some string piecing this year.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I do love your project and, like you, I have a lot of fabric scraps which would be perfect for this quilt plus I have a pile of prospectuses which has the same weight as telephone book pages which I have been saving for a project like this so this is a win-win. Thanks again for hosting this great blog hop, so many great patterns and resources and another thanks for your Pinterest board.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Joan. thanks so much for organising this blog hop. And for your own delightful post..... when I read that the weather was not looking good I thought..... surely she didn't.... oh yes she did! You just crack me up, with your cleverness and the way you describe it all. Beautiful beautiful quilt, enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a great quilt! I've often wondered about leaving a quilt outside in the rain to remove the paper, and now I know it works!

    ReplyDelete
  21. What an awesome quilt! Thanks for sharing the pattern and thanks for this amazing hop. I've enjoyed seeing everyone's creations and getting some new patterns in the process!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Joan, you are the best! This was the best blog hop I've been on in a long time. I met lots of new bloggers & every one of them shared great projects which then led me to look at all their projects. What fun! As for your new phone book scrappy quilt I have only 1 word: CRAZY!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I really like your orientation better than the original...yours does look like tumbling block!! Great job and I love how you let the weather help you in the removal of the papers. Do you really need the papers on when you sew the blocks together or could you get away with removing the paper from the blocks prior to sewing them together? Great hop - thanks for organizing it!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Oh, Joan, this is an amazing quilt. I'm trying to remember what I did with all those old telephone books as I type this. Thank you for an amazing hop.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hey, Joan. This is such a cute pattern. Great pictures with the mess that those phone pages make but what an inspiration to use the weather to do the work for you. I totally agree that phone books may soon be on the Antique Road Show - sad but true. I will say that "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" is rather telling when it comes to age. :( It was definitely one of my favorites so I guess we're both in the same age bracket.

    ReplyDelete
  26. What a huge project that quilt was. Glad you found a way to remove the paper a bit easier. It is awesome.Thanks for putting this hop together. I have enjoyed catching up on it all. Got some great ideas for quick gifts from all the generous folks who participated.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh wow, that's an amazing quilt!!! Thanks so much for sharing, and thanks so much for hosting this wonderful blog hop! xx

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by today. Your comments really do make me day!
;-)