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Wednesday, May 25, 2016

I May Have a Scrap Problem... How I Spent My May!


Hi, all!

Hard to believe that May is drawing to a close - but it is!  Schools are letting out all over the country and kids are trying on summer for size.  But the end of May means a little bit more here - it's time to recap what happened with my scraps for the month.  


My goal for the month was to keep working on this tub of scraps - my blues.  Well, I'm telling you, this tub has got me singing the blues - because after this month, it still looks like this!


Not much difference - I think those scraps are doing something at night while I'm not looking, because there always seems to be more of them....


But I did make this pretty scrappy quilt this month, which used up a lot of 1.5" x 2.5" and 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and some scrappy binding.  Everything in this quilt came from stash, so it's another finish for Sew My Stash 2016!


And I turned the remnants of a charm pack into a quilt-y alphabet for my grandkids to play with!  This was a fun and easy (although time-consuming) project that works very well with 5" squares.


I purchased a set of Busy Kids Learning Punch Out Alpha Letters from Joann's to use as templates for the letters.  I used the 4" size, which was perfect for tracing on the 5" squares.  (Remember to reverse the letters so they are correct when you cut them out!)  I treated the fabric using Lara Buccella's new appliqué technique, so the edges don't fray.  Then I cut them out, laid them on top of some batting remnant strips, put a 5" wide strip of leftover fabric on the back, and stitched about 1/8" away from the edges.  Then I cut them out and voila!  A tactile alphabet!  And I'm currently working on a couple more sets of these - so more scraps are going out the door!  Woohoo!!


I also took these two tubs - my box of 1.5" squares and the leftover 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles - and, inspired by seeing so many of these on Instagram lately, turned them into lozenge blocks.  I will keep working on this in June, and may mix them with another kind of block to make an interesting scrappy quilt!  Oh, the possibilities!



So that's my report for May!  I didn't get as much cleared out as I wanted to, but I did make a great quilt, and experimented with some different uses for those scraps.  The alphabets also use up batting scraps, which is almost as good as using up fabric scraps!

And I just keep remembering, in the words of my favorite movie heroine...


"After all, tomorrow is another day!"

And it's for sure those scraps will stick around for the sequel!

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

Now it's your turn!  Have you been playing with scraps this month?  Link up below to show off what you've been doing and inspire the rest of us to use up our scrap monsters!  I've been seeing lots of new scrappy sewing on Instagram lately, so I know you guys are out there....

And be sure to come back next week, when you can link up your goals for the month of June.  I'm thinking hard about mine, because we will be traveling a good bit - I want to come up with something I can work on even while not in my studio!  So if you've got a creative idea that will solve that problem, I'd love to hear it...

Hugs!

Sarah



12 comments:

  1. As my dad told us as kids, "Everybit you save (or in the case of scraps, use)is a little bit more than before." Plus, I'm still giving you credit for that big quilty gift to the chemo center. I'm trying hexies for my travel stitching. We shall see....

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  2. I started a "Rick Rack Nines" quilt this week out of my 2 ½" squares. Got 66 nine patches done, hope to make another 33 today. I'm doing them in sets of 33, I count out 99 squares and use them up.

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  3. I just love your quilt, it is such a fun quilt!

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  4. Love your scrappy alphabet! Maybe you can sew magnets to the backs of the letters while on your trip. Then the kids can spell out words on the refrigerator. My son had all the "at" words on the fridge when he was about the same age as your younger two. Might need a few extra vowels and common letters to spell their names...

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  5. You have done very well with your scraps.

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  6. Super idea for the alphabet letters, and scraps, I save every last little piece of any batik, and are gradually using them all up. A clear bin for storage is a great incentive to have colours together.

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  7. Love the projects you've made this month! I still have the fabric alphabet on my list of to-do's. Maybe when/if I ever have grandchildren!

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  8. You're on a roll! I made a baby quilt this week with leftovers 😎

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  9. I'm impressed by your courageous struggle against a far outnumbering enemy! As for sewing on the go, EPP is the best for that! And it helps fight scraps too ;))

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  10. Thanks for sharing where you got those alphabet templates. I'm going to make a set for my little grandson with the scraps left from one of his baby quilts. Another basket of scraps with a designated purpose!

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  11. It is not secret that when the lights go out in your sewing room that scraps throw wild parties and multiply faster than bunnies. :)

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  12. That is such a cute idea for the alphabet, did you make them each one? That would eat up a lot of scraps :)

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