One of my favorite things about quilting is how every stitch tells a little piece of a story, and this quilt has certainly done that for me. On November 6, 2022, my favorite designer, Lori Holt, began a sew along using her book Scrappiness is Happiness. Inside were 32 different quilts—each one charming and full of character. For this project, Lori created a design that used one block from each quilt in the book, all pieced together into one beautiful quilt measuring 84” x 84”.
The name Scrappiness is Happiness fits perfectly. Quilters had the option to use their own scraps or a fat quarter bundle designed just for the sew along. I decided to purchase the bundle from the Fat Quarter Shop because I wanted mine to look like Lori’s version—and in the process, I knew I’d be building up my own scrap collection for future projects.
Over the course of 32 weeks, I pieced each block, stitched them into rows, and eventually joined those rows into a quilt top that felt like a true masterpiece. I shared the finished top on May 21, 2023. But quilting it was another story. At the time, my longarm, Moxie, only had an eight-foot frame. With the quilt measuring 84” wide and a 108” wide backing, it was going to be a very tight squeeze. Not wanting to trim the backing until it was quilted, I set the top aside—where it sat for more than two years.
This year, though, I decided I was on a mission: to finally quilt all of the tops I’ve finished that are over a year old. Along the way, I added a two-foot extension to Moxie, and I finally gathered the courage to quilt this one. It feels so good to see it completed at last. For the quilting, I chose my favorite edge-to-edge design, Knit 1 Purl 2. It has such a cozy rhythm to it, like knitting in stitches of love across the quilt. I might experiment with something new on my next one… maybe!
Now, with this quilt officially finished, I only have two more tops left to quilt from the “over a year old” pile. Each one feels like crossing another goal off the list, but more than that—it feels like honoring the time and care I put into each piece.
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| 🧵 Scrappiness really is happiness. 💕 |
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| Two years in the making… worth every stitch. |
