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.

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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 

HERE

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.

HERE

Monday August 20

Just Let Me Quilt

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Days Filled With Joy

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels and Eats

Quilt Fabrication

Tuesday August 21

Life in the Scrapatch

Songbird Designs

Samelia's Mum

Vroomans Quilts

Wednesday August 22

Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Creatin' in the Sticks

Just Because Quilts

Hazel's Daughter

Adventurous Applique and Quilting

BeaQuilter

Thursday August 23

Words & Stitches

Patchouli Moon Studio

Something Rose Made

Sew Golden A Chance

Clever Chameleon

Sew Many Yarns

Friday August 24

Seams to be Sew

That Fabric Feeling

Selina Quilts

Quarter Inch Crafter

Yanicka Quilt

MooseStashQuilting

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'