I am back to share Part 2 of the Happy Hibernation Quilt which is a fun and cheerful way to beat all the ugly news about COVID-19 on the news. I am trying to remain upbeat and content during this stressful time. Hopefully quilting is helping you through this very odd time as well.

**At the bottom of this post are photos of this quilt after it is machine quilted in early 2021.**

In the previous post (https://indianaquilter40.com/happy-hibernation-quilt-or-using-those-crumbs-strips-part-1) I gave you ideas for block sizes and foundation material for your crumb/strip blocks.

In part 2 I am going to show you how I actually make a crumb block. Remember the blocks are more small puzzles than any pattern. It may take a couple blocks to feel comfortable, but we all have to practice our technique.

Supplies needed for the crumb blocks of Happy Hibernation Quilt Part 2:

A place to iron the fabric, and an iron. Remember that the foundation material needs to be iron-able.

Scraps of whatever size, color, and shape you want to use. You do not need to have lots of scraps. Have fun with this.

Thread for sewing – I used odd colored spools and bobbins that I wanted to get rid of.

Your cut foundation squares.

So let’s make a crumb block for the Happy Hibernation Quilt Part 2:

Pick a scrap that you want for the center of your block and put it approximately in the center of your foundation material. Lay the second scrap piece along one of the edges right sides together. I put a pin at the top where I want to start sewing. Make sure that the edges of the scraps line up so there is no hole in the seam that will have to be fixed or re-sewn.

Sew the seam and then iron it. Decide what fabric to put down next.

Here are the first 4 pieces sewn down to the foundation material. As you can see, I am working in one direction. I did not cut the strips so they were the same length, however, you can if you wish.

The chosen piece of fabric is bigger than the corner it will cover. This is what I prefer to do so I do not have some small place that will need another small piece of fabric sewn down to fix that.

First corner covered, ironed, and trimmed to the foundation material. Yeah! The first corner is done. That was pretty simple right?

You’ve finished the first corner, only 3 more to go

Now I am going to sew crumbs/strips in the other direction. I try to pick the direction I am going to go based on what scraps I have that will fit. Also, what will be the easiest to cover since all the seams need to be sewn so there are no spots that later need re-sewn or fixed.

The last piece sewn down that direction is bigger than needed. No problem – trim it up to the foundation material.

I laid out the fabric for the corner and it appears it should cover the corner with no problem at all.

After ironing the triangle down, I can still see the foundation material. Um…I should have measured a bit better. Oh well, I will need to sew down another strip to cover that.

Fabric laid down to sew to finish covering the corner. Pin is where I will start sewing.

There is the narrow strip to finish covering the foundation material. I always think I should have eye-balled (or measured for real) pieces better so this does not happen. Iron the seam flat and then trim to the edge of the foundation material.

Block is half done – Yeah!

So I want to make sure all the raw edges are always covered as I move on adding strips or crumbs to the block. I decided to do one long strip here.

The block is progressing right along. That long strip covered all the raw edges.

I added the second long strip and now there is only a small piece of the foundation material left to cover. Moving right along. See isn’t this easy!

Another strip sewn down. That space to cover with fabric is much smaller now.

With the final piece of scrap fabric added, the corner is covered. Trim up even with the foundation and you have completed the first block.

I am finding these blocks to be addictive. They are fun and pretty easy to make. The blocks use those scraps that really aren’t big enough or the right shape to do anything else with.

Finally…

Make the amount of blocks you need for your quilt.

I did not try to make the blocks look the same, and each one went together a little differently.

Here are photos of a few more blocks of the Happy Hibernation Quilt:

To make the Flying Geese border for the Hibernation quilt, please refer to my directions here .

Other ideas for crumb/strip quilts:

https://indianaquilter40.com/american-melting-pot/

https://indianaquilter40.blogspot.com/2014/09/strings.html

Updated photos 03/09/2021:

Just back from machine quilter – no binding yet. Quilted in an all over “cloud” design.

The finished size of this quilt is 86″ x 98″.

I like it – maybe I will make another crumb quilt in the future.

Enjoy your quilt journey. Make it fun.

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

FB/P/I