A Scrappy Chanukah

 

It all started with a Bonnie Hunter workshop.  After deciding to make the scrappy workshop quilt from my Chanukah stash, I first cut up the larger pieces of fabric to make pillowcases for

 ConKerr Cancer, an organization that provides cheerful pillowcases to children with cancer.  They would be perfect for the Jewish kids during Chanukah.    I was able to make 9 pillowcases.  You can read more details in this blog post.

It started me down the road of using up all of my Chanukah fabrics that I started collecting in 1996.  It was truly time to get rid of them. With all the Judaic patterns that I have designed over many years, I never have used a Chanukah themed fabric.

 

It started with Bonnie's Scrappy Bargello pattern. 

 

Then I made the border by cutting hundreds of 1 1/2" strips.

 

I named the finished quilt "A Multitude of Menorahs".

 

But I still had scraps and pieces of fabric left , so I decided to make tablerunners.

 

I ended up with 3 tablerunners and finally used up ALL of my Chanukah fabric.

 

To night is the first night of Chanukah. We will light one candle using the candle in the middle.

 It lasts for 8 nights  more candle.

 

Tonight my kids will come over for our traditional dinner.

We will light the menorah, stuff ourselves with potato latkes (pancakes) and exchange gifts.

 

 Wishing a Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate.

 

Wednesday's Wanderings #43 - Sewing with Bonnie Hunter

Bonnie Hunter is our guest speaker at my quilt guild this month.  She is the Queen of scrap quilts.  You have to visit her website, www.Quiltville.com .  It is chock full of free tips and patterns. But, it would be even better, if you want to use up a bunch of fabric or scraps, to take a workshop with her. 

Yesterday, I took her Scrappy Bargello workshop. 

 You can see the quilt here.

For weeks before the wokshop, I would look at my stash to decide what type of colors I wanted to use. I waivered back and forth between modern, clear colors or neutral batiks or blue and white. 

 This past weekend I decided to use a bunch of fabric that I have been saving since 1996.  When I started designing Judaic  quilt patterns, I thought I needed to have all the Chanukah fabric that was ever printed.  After a while I realized I never used them in any of my designs. 

So this was the perfect opportunity to use up a bunch. 

First I cut out enough fabric to make pillow cases for ConKerr Cancer.  This would be good for any Jewish kids  that were stuck in the hospital during Chanukah.  Then I cut up the left over fabric for my scrappy Bargello quilt.

Bonnie is a tireless quilter.  You can see her quilt in the background of the photo.

This is an easy, full steam ahead type of quilt to sew. 

Here is half of the top that I completed during the workshop:

I can't wait to sew the second half and then try some other scraps.

So my WW is spending a day sewing with Bonnie and then listening to her talk. 

It is hard to see the Bargello design in this mini,

 but it will certainly remind me of what I did this week.

A great way to spend part of my week.