QM Scrap Squad: Anne’s Majestic Garden

In the end, I scrapped (pun intended) the light brown I purchased and went with an "ugly" old brown piece that has been in my stash for several years.

I used the dark brown and scraps of off-whites to make 2-1/2″ half-square triangles and alternated them with 2-1/2″ squares of the lighter brown. Two of these units and two of the Magic Triangle units made up each block. I made 24 blocks.

This block is a slight variation on the traditional "Old Maid's Puzzle."

The next step was to decide how to set the blocks, so I went to my QuiltPro design software. I wanted to stay true to Monique’s original design, so I drew up two possible layouts, each with six rows of four blocks.

In the end, I chose the setting on the left. If you tip your head, you can see that putting the blocks on point would have made an interesting setting as well. (Visit my Facebook Page to see my “on point” version.)

I decided to add a 2″ finished border of the light brown with dark brown corners, and a 4″ border of the dark brown, with Magic Triangle units in the corners. Here’s a “breakout” illustration of the whole quilt:

And here is the finished quilt, which I call “Cottage Garden.” It measures 44″ x 60″ and was quilted in a pattern called “Popcorn” by Kathy Brown at the Creative Needle in Shelby, Montana.

The labels for all of my Scrap Squad quilts will follow this oversized format, shown below. I included the Scrap Squad logo and important information about the quilt, including the title and designer of the inspiration quilt, and the Quiltmaker issue in which it appeared. I like to turn under the two “inside” edges of the label, and sew the two “outside” raw edges into the seam of the binding, then carefully whip-stitch the inside edges down by hand.

I used a paisley print on the back of this quilt because it can also go in my “Thrifty Quilter” collection…quilts that can be made with any of the four sizes of squares and/or two sizes of rectangles I used in my  scrap quilt book The Thrifty Quilter: Make (Nearly) Free Quilts with Leftover Fabrics.

When I was working on quilts for the book, I purchased several 3-yard pieces through an online discount fabric store to use for backings. Only after they arrived did I realize that they were all paisley prints, so it’s become my own little inside joke to use paisley to back all of my TQ quilts. If you enjoy scrap quilts, I invite you to join my “Thrifty Quilters” group on Facebook.

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Isn’t it great where several things from your quilting life come together as if they were meant to be?! Anne’s Magic Triangles were just perfect for this project—and if that’s not being a Thrifty Quilter, I don’t know what is. Congratulations to Anne on a job well done!