A Simple 4-Patch Scrap Quilt Using Asian Fabrics

   Sometimes you love the way some fabrics look....and just don't know what to do with them! I've often purchased 1/4 yards and fat quarters of very pretty Asian fabrics...and just never put them together. I enjoy the metallic golds, the swans and birds, and the flowers, as well as the ivy, leaves and branches. At one point, I had quite a lot of Asian fabric in bits and pieces, and no idea where to go from there! Here's how this quilt from Asian fabrics came together:

   One day, I decided I wouldn't allow myself to buy any more Asian fabric unless I used at least some of what I had! And because I didn't have any better ideas, and because some of the pieces were scaps under 5" wide, I chose to do a 4-patch pattern based on 4 1/2" squares. To make use of the smaller pieces, I told myself it was OK to use some 4 1/2" mini 4-patch blocks to fill in for some of the larger 41/2" pieces. That way, I would be able to use 2 1/2" strips as well.

 I did make a few rules, though! First, all the mini 4-patch blocks had to have 2 matching smaller squares on the diagonal to give the quilt some movement. Second, the overall block placement had to follow a basic Light/Dark diagonal pattern. 
   And finally, squares had to be fussy cut whenever possible to feature whole birds or flowers....headless swans were NOT allowed! For some reason it really bothers me when you focus on an animal print and the object of the focus has no head, although sometimes I will use such fabric if the pattern blends in enough so that no part of the animal in the print is recognizable.Every quilter has their quirks!

   The finished quilt has almost every color imaginable...beiges, blues, golds, yellows, reds, pinks, greens and blacks...and it has become one of my favorites to enjoy whenever it gets a little chilly in the family room... even if it doesn't really match anything else I have!
   Sadly, this quilt had a rotary cutter incident....and there was a serious lack of border fabric to fix it. I'll try to get a close-up of the repair and post it soon....it must be a decent repair, because I almost forgot all about it!The quilt was framed in a metallic gold fabric, then with a larger scale Asian print boarder. The free motion quilting was done in a thin swirling pattern that I imagined as swirling chrysanthemum petals.