This quilt started out as…well, not what it ended up. It is sections made of left-over parts from other quilts. However, it is finally finished: Flowers & Tumblers !!!!

The machine quilting has been done for a couple months, but I couldn’t decide what color or fabric to bind it in. I finally decided to continue the left-over idea and go with making a binding of pieces of other bindings that there is not enough of to do any complete quilt.

Waste not, want not as the saying goes.

This quilt was machine quilted in a “meandering” or stipple design. Thread is a variegated gray.

Batting: 80/20 poly and cotton mix.

Finished size: 102″ square.

To see the progression of this quilt, please look at these posts:

Part 1:

There is also a PDF of the hexie and the tumbler for your use.

https://indianaquilter40.com/flowers-tumblers-or-scraps-are-taking-over-my-world-part-1/

Part 2:

https://indianaquilter40.com/flowers-tumblers-or-scraps-are-taking-over-my-world-part-2

Part 3:

https://indianaquilter40.com/flowers-tumblers-or-scraps-are-taking-over-my-world-part-3

This quilt was done in sections: the tumblers, the English paper pieced hexies, and finally the flying geese borders.

Tumblers:

Looking at the above photo of part of a tumbler section – there certainly is no rhyme or reason to the fabric scraps. This is what happens when a person just buys and uses fabric they like. If it is any comfort, my stash has the same kind of wide variety of fabric designs and colors too.

Don’t be afraid to follow your heart with colors, and designs of fabrics. Make every quilt you make so that you are satisfied and happy with it.

English Paper Pieced Hexagons:

The above hexies are hand sewn and appliqued along the “vine”. I intended to add leaves but actually forgot about adding them until after I had already moved on to another project.

I made the “executive” decision to not add the leaves or stress about it. This quilt grew and changed as it was worked on.

Have fun with your quilts. If the direction of the quilt changes as you “birth” it that is just fine.

Flying Geese borders:

So I decided to make the final border out of Flying Geese. Wow, did I mess up on the math! But rather than start over, or whine about it, I came up with a quick fix.

I sewed as many geese together as possible to make a “almost” complete border on each side. At that point my choice was sew another goose on and have to cut part of it off. Or I could add a piece of white backing to fit. The geese do not completely go around, but the solution looks like it was planned.

I tend to not ask other quilters about solutions to fix quilts. Why ?? Because once I come up with something, other folks generally think that was my intended design in the first place. They don’t see the mistake and that is a nice boost after a struggle to fix an issue.

The beauty of making quilts from simple shapes and patterns is that mistakes can be generally easy to fix. Put the quilt top where you can look at it for a few minutes or hours (or days). What fabric or design element can be added to fix the problem?

Get out magazine or quilt books for ideas. Look at Pintrest. Look at your stash. Think outside the usual box for this pattern. Ask other quilters or FB groups. You can do this.

Backing:

Because I made math errors, I had to add fabric to the backing. The small strips of toile fabrics at the ends are left-overs from other backings.

After piecing together this backing, I have seriously given some thought to doing at least one reversible quilt. After all, why should the front be the only pretty part of the quilt….

Thankfully this quilt is finally finished: Flowers & Tumblers (part 4). It is time to move onto the next quilt adventure.

Call to Arms:

I hope you will use the Flowers & Tumblers quilt to inspire you to make a quilt from fabrics or patterns you have never combined together into one quilt before.

Think outside the box, have fun, and enjoy the journey as your quilt comes together.

Some ideas for tumblers and hexies:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pdox/tumbler-quilts/

https://indianaquilter40.blogspot.com/2017/07/tumblers-galore.html

https://indianaquilter40.blogspot.com/2019/07/colonial-times-2.html

https://www.mybluprint.com/article/what-is-english-paper-piecing