Still creating, my Bits and Pieces quilt top blocks are growing in number and so is the disaster of a mess in the sewing room, I’ve got laces and trims spread out everywhere!

When finished this block measure will measure 6×10”. Let me take you through step by step to see how things were auditioned and then added to make this block collage.

A lace base (#4) atop 2 layers of light weight 100% cotton ivory/off white muslin. #1 is a small rectangle of lace, #2 is a small length of trim. #3 is a nice length of wonderfully beautiful ivory lace approx. 1.25” wide. #5 is a strip of rather modern looking trim about .5” at its widest point.

A narrow (half inch) white eyelet trim has been added to the center.

Auditioning pieces.

7 pieces placed strategically around the ivory lace diamond. I’m very picky about directional items like butterflies. In my mind they need to be “coming to the party” rather than flying away.

Even more was added before I considered the block to be finished:

And finally, I am satisfied that my lace and trim collage block is finished.

I’m adding pictures of the 4 quadrants to give you a close-up view.

Are you creating your own Bits and Pieces quilt? Hope these pictures help with your project!

Blessings and happy quilting,

Rhonda

Blog post #3 threw a lot of information and pictures your way, todays blog is all about just one 10×10” (when finished) piece.

In the 3rd blog a viewer also posted 3 very good questions about what I’m doing, how I’m doing it and how am I planning to quilt when ready. Remember, this project is my own, no tried and true directions, no finished project for reference, just me in my sewing room with a bin of wonderful and varied trims and laces.

I started with 4 different pieces placed on a block base of 2 layers of relatively thin off-white 100% cotton muslin.

The yellow line above overlays a lovely and very long piece of trim. I wish I would have taken a picture of the trim before I stitched it to the block. The diamond ivory pintucks were part of a garment I’m sure, many many years ago. I folded the entire piece over the existing block placing the ivory pintucks at opposite corners.

The green circled ivory lace flowers were fussy cut vintage lace.

I initially thought this block was finished. About a week later I changed my mind. I decided each of the quilt blocks should be collages containing many many little points of interest.

The block above became the block below:

If I’ve numbered correctly, in addition to the initial lace trim with the ivory pintucks, this block has 25 points of interest. I like this!

So let’s recap:

1) 2 layers of muslin, 2) 4 pieces of flat lace, one very long piece of trim with pintucking and 3) 25 white/off white/ivory bits and pieces.

Important to notice, especially if you’re making your own bits and pieces quilt: can you see how after #2 above, I have intentionally placed all the 25 pieces inside the quarter inch seam allowance? Very important when the time comes to sew all the blocks together.

How about 4 close-up pics of the 4 quarters of this block:

Does this help as you create your own blocks? Can you tell that I’m using a variety of thread colors in the needle? The darker threads serve to both show the outline the motif as well as provide some visual depth to the piece.

The question remains…how am I going to quilt this! If you zoom in as close as possible on these last 4 pictures, you might be able to see that everything is machine stitched down. There is nothing that will catch the hopping foot of my longarm but still…right now I have no idea!

Hope these blog posts will inspire you to create your own Bits and Pieces quilt! ❤️

Blessings and Happy Quilting,

Rhonda