scrappy heirloom

This weekend I took some time for one of my favorite quilting activities,

hand-piecing!

I recently got the new Jen Kingwell book, "Quilting Recipes."

Someone had posted a picture of the Diamond Exchange quilt on Instagram. I fell in love with it and had to have the book. I was most certain I'd have my needle and thread busy stitching up Diamond Exchange.

As it happened, when I purchased the book, I didn't have time to really open and read. I flipped to the Diamond Exchange section and read through the instructions. The piecing assembly is a bit different than I've done before. I was excited to try it out!

When I had a moment to take a closer look, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I love every quilt in the book! And having a difficult time deciding which to make first.

There are 13 projects. Eight are quilts, then there's an adorable dog bed, an easy pillow/placemat, and a striking cushion.  I could see myself making every project in this book!

I decided that I might as well start stitching from the beginning of the book and work my way through to the end. 

And so I started with hand-piecing the first in the book, Wensleydale quilt.

This first block is very satisfying!

Hand-piecing makes perfect points. 

And I can use scrap pieces as small as approx. 4" x 6" for the second layer! I'm going to use up so many little bits I've been hanging on to!

The true magic of scrap piecing though is I give myself permission to put together prints that I would never have thought to put together. I can choose to carefully cut the fabric to get the perfect positioning of the print, as I did for the center piece in the next photo. Or I can choose to cut with the least amount of fabric waste, as I did for the outside corners.

So, this is block 2 cut out and waiting to be stitched. The book suggests 60 blocks for a 66" x 72" quilt top.

I'm not in a hurry. 

This one doesn't have a deadline. This one will probably stay with me and not be gifted. This one will have many of my favorite fabrics.

This one will also have many "I don't know why" fabrics.

This one, even as scrappy as it will be - a vintage scrap here, a brand new fabric purchased just yesterday there - is going to be an heirloom.