Stamp Collecting Quilt

I am so super excited today to share another finish.  And this finish has been over a year in the making which is what makes is so super exciting to share.  So without futher ado . . . my Stamp Collecting Quilt!!!  Isn't it just so fun!!!!

A long time ago, like clear back here in 2015, I broke up all my Moda Candy packs and sorted them into a whole slew of piles.  (which of course I add to each time I have a small scrap when cutting out new quilts ;)     I planned to use all of these little 2 1/2" squares  for Leader and Ender Projects.    I used the strictly tone on tone piles for my first Leader and Ender project, the Super Scrappy Triple Irish Chain quilt.    When I finished it, I wondered what I could make with the next pile of  2 1/2" squares, the ones that read a certain color but had other colors mixed in with them.   And then it hit me, I have always wanted to make a postage stamp quilt and what better way to make it happen then as a Leader and Ender project.   And how perfect would it be to show a collection of all my favorite fabrics and designers!!!

So a postage stamp quilt became my next Leader and Ender project.    I love that these projects just slowly build while working on other quilts ;)   I started by making 2 patches, sewing a white background square to a color background square.  Some of the "white background squares" read pretty dark and some of the "color background squares" read pretty light, but I didn't stress to much about this.   I just went with it, trusting it would come out in the end.  After having a massive stack of 2 patches, I turned them into 4 patches, and then 8 patches and finally into 16 patches.  

I didn't worry about counting out the squares in the beginning, I just kept working up to 16 patches, and when I had a large enough stack of those (as in a few weeks ago) I finally sewed the blocks into a quilt top, and I am just so excited with how it turned out!!!!  I didn't stress to much about placement, again, I just tried to keep it relaxed sewing and made sure I didn't have a super dark print right next to another super dark print.  It pretty much balanced itself thanks to the initial 2 patch sewing.  

And I just love all of those happy colors popping out among the lighter prints.  I just love how it kind of looks like there is a pattern but then it also looks pretty random.  So ya, Balanced is a good word I guess, and I am just thrilled with that because it is just a wonderful way to show off all of those 2 1/2" squares :)   And I can now say I made a postage stamp quilt!!!!

When it came time to quilt it up, I decided on simple arches.  I just love the way it makes the squares pop ;)   And in the border (which I added last minute and love how it highlights the patchwork all the more) I did fun little swirls.   

And look how awesome that texture is.   So much fun!!!  I love that arches come together to make that cool orange peel design.  The interlocking circles just make me smile ever time!!  And I made it 72" x 72" so we could use it as a picnic blanket and you better believe I will be running my hand over all that yummy texture every time we take it out :)

And for the binding, I got to go to my binding extra's box ;)  Every time I finish binding a quilt, I put the bit of leftover in this cute little box.  Then when I need a scrappy binding, I just pull out the pieces that match the quilt, sew them end to end, and I have a scrappy binding ready to go in just a few minutes.   Love it!!!

 And I just love how it adds that happy color of finish on the edge of the border.  It really ties it back into the patchwork :)  I just love, love, love a scrappy binding.   And if you noticed in the picture above, the brown got nixed while I was sewing it to the quilt, it just didn't fit with all of those happy pops of color ;)

And that is my Stamp Collecting Quilt!!!!   And I just love it ;)   And like any true collection, the fun part now is looking over it and seeing how many little pieces of patchwork I recognize.    My kids were blown away last night when I let them randomly pick a square and then I would tell them the fabric line and the designer of the fabric ;)  I did pretty good too if I do say so myself !!   It truly is a fabric Stamp Collection of so many wonderful projects and memories all tied into this quilt ;)

You can play along too!!!   It really is fun :)  See a square your recognize, (you can click on the picture to see it larger)  leave a comment with the name of the fabric line name and the designer.   I wonder how many we can list ;)

And just in case you are wondering, I have my next Leader and Ender Project all planned out and ready to start working on.  You can see more about it here :)  

I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking this finish up to Amanda's, and Sarah's :)