A Scrappy Celebration for the Summer Solstice

The Scrappy Celebration quilt designed by Lissa Alexander is the perfect quilt for summer picnics and bonfires. I sewed my quilt top with the American Patchwork and Quilting sew along during late winter and assembled it just in time for our last snowstorm.

Recently I received my quilt back from my new longarm quilter, Marilyn, who lives only minutes away from me. Marilyn stitched the Knit One Purl Two swirly design, and it looks great! Now I’m ready to celebrate the summer solstice with my happy colors quilt.

I finished binding this quilt just as the sun reached the golden hour: one hour before sunset. So I had a lot of fun staging the quilt in a beautiful wash of summer sunlight. Surprisingly, Wally wanted in on the action and happily posed for a photo or two. (I actually had to shoo him away or he would have been in every photo.)

My husband challenged me to take a photo propped up against his army truck. I would have! However, it was parked inside and I didn’t want to waste daylight moving it out of the shop. So I surprised him with this photo of my quilt draped over his trailer. I teased that my quilt could make any of his farm equipment look good. Wally agreed.

A Few Scrappy Facts

The Scrappy Celebration quilt appeared on the cover of American Patchwork and Quilting Issue 181 (April 2023). The pattern is also available here as a PDF download. The finished quilt measures 63.5″ x 72.5″. It’s the perfect scrap quilt! Lissa tells you what colors to use from your stash, and all the pieces are fairly small. Most of my fabric was designed by Fig Tree and Co. for Moda Fabrics. I love Joanna Figuroa’s happy color palette.

I backed and bound my fabric using the Figs and Shirtings collection. In fact, a lot of the scraps in the quilt are also from this line. The swirly quilting shows up in some of the closer shots.

My mom remarked that the colors looked like sherbet. I agree! The pinks also remind me of strawberry ice cream, which is my favorite summer treat. I’m going to invite my husband to take a drive downtown in search of the perfect scoop to celebrate the first day of summer.

Do you celebrate the change of seasons? Let me know if you have special plans for the solstice!

Lissa Alexander (@modalissa) also made a red, white, and blue version of this quilt. Once I saw it, I knew I’ll be making another Scrappy Celebration. Plus, what’s not to love about a quilt made entirely of squares and rectangles? It’s easy peasy!

Have a great summer to all of you in the northern hemisphere!

Joyfully,

Tracie