Ticker Tape Owl Quilt, AMAZING!

Val from PinkPlease!  submitted an amazing ticker tape quilt...seriously.  I cannot believe how fabulously she pulled this off, and all from scraps!!  She's brand new to blogging, and based on her less than 20 posts, she's got a lot for us to see :)  I especially love her creative take with this coin quilt, and this darling pillow.  Hop on over and say hi at PinkPlease!

Fabric Scraps!!!  
If you sew, you'll create scraps.  If you've ever seen crazymomquilt's Ticker Tape Quilt, hopefully you've started hording these said scraps in order to make your very own.

This quilt began for me at the Old Red Barn Co. Quilt Along #9 on Flickr.  How this Quilt Along works is that Dana, of Old Red Barn Co., chooses a different quilt theme for each round of her Quilt Along. If you choose to participate, you post pictures into the Flickr Group as your quilt progresses.  Dee, of deeroo designs, graciously typed up a tutorial of how to create a Ticker Tape Quilt.

I love Owls and I knew I wanted to incorporate one into this quilt somehow.  I scoured Flickr for inspiration and came across this cute little picture.  I asked the artist if he would mind if I used his image as inspiration for a quilt and he was thrilled. 

I divided this quilt into four quadrants and sewed them all together at the end. The scraps were sewn directly onto a pre-sandwiched (is that a word?) quilt, which allows you to "quilt-as-you-go."  I had never used this technique before, but can I just say that I LOVED IT!!!  It is so refreshing to turn your quilt over, after sewing your little scraps on, to find that you have just quilted it at the same time!!!  The four smaller sections made manuvering around the tiny scraps so much more manageable!  However, not all Ticker Tape Quilts are made this way.  You can also make them the more traditional way by sewing all your scraps onto the quilt top first, then quilting it with the batting and binding.

I was nervous about washing it because I had sewn so close to the edge of each piece (approx. 1/8"), but it came out softer than ever and the pieces all frayed perfectly! 

For the back, I used Valori Wells' Del Hi line.

What I love best about this quilt is that it is like a snapshot in time for me.  Each teeny tiny scrap represents a project that I have made.  Just like a photo album that brings back memories when you look at each pictures, this quilt brings back memories of all the love that I have put into every single project that I have created.  

I encourage everyone who has scraps that they don't want to throw away to use them on a Ticker Tape Quilt.  My next Ticker Tape Quilt will be the Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along with Rachel of StitchedInColor.  It is never to late to join us!  

Lessons learned (if you are using the "pre-sandwiched" quilt method:

If I make  When I make another ticker tape quilt, there is one thing I would do differently.  On the front of each piece, I had left about an inch of white space along the edges of each quadrant so that I could sew them together when they were all finished.  The problem is, once you sew them all together, it looks exactly like you've sewn 4 quadrants together.  I didn't want there to be a distinct line running vertically and horizontally across the quilt drawing attention to these 4 quadrants.  So, I spent a lot of time removing pieces that were close to the middle and putting new pieces on that did not all run in a straight line.  Next time, I will leave 2 inches along the edges to avoid all the seam ripping. 

I also did something a little differently than Dee had in her tutorial which she wanted me to share.  When the time comes to sew the back panel together, Dee has folded one side over the other and hand stitched it down.  I decided to just sew the folded side down as close to the edge as possible (I'm not the biggest hand stitching fan).  If you leave the 2 inch space along the edges like I mentioned above, you won't even see this seam on the front side because you will cover it up with the pieces that you come back and add.  It worked like a charm and went very quickly!

I never realized this would turn into an "I Spy" quilt until I laid it on the floor and let Baby Jack climb on it.  "D'er's Buzz," he said.