I May Have A Scrap Problem - But Here's a Neat Technique that Helps!

 

Hi, all!

I have been playing in scraps this week, and I like it!  I was looking for ideas for quilt tutorials for this year's series (coming up in a few weeks) and I saw a great pic of a totally scrappy quilt...

I went to the creator's website and verified that she didn't have her own pattern written for the quilt, then opened up EQ8 and did a mock-up of the quilt.  Lots and lots of 2.5" squares, which I definitely have, but oh my!  The time it would take to sew them all together.

And then I remembered a technique I posted about once for sewing true postage stamp blocks (made with 1.5" squares) in a fun and easy manner.  Why wouldn't it work for larger squares?  And so I gave it a try - and it works so much faster and easier than traditional piecing!  

What is it, you ask?  Well, here's a short and quick picture tutorial to show you...

The first thing I did was grab some sheerweight fusible interfacing out of my stash.  I took my squares for one block and laid them out, edge to edge but not overlapping, on the fuse side of the fusible interfacing.

After laying the squares out, I cut the excess interfacing away.

Then it's time to press - and I mean press, not iron.  Just set your iron on the squares, then pick it up and move it to an unpressed section.  I used a very hot iron with lots of steam.

When you've finished pressing, your block will look like this - thin lines between the squares.

Now take it to your sewing machine and fold it between two sets of squares.  It should fold easily.

Now sew that folded edge, a scant 1/4" from the edge.  Repeat for the second strips.

This is what your block will look like once you have stitched both lines.

Now grab a pair of small-bladed scissors (these are my Kai embroidery scissors, which I love!) and inserting the blade between the two pieces of fabric at one end ABOVE the line of stitching, cut the seam open.  Repeat for the second seam.

Press the seams open.  Go back to your sewing machine and repeat for the seams that run the other direction.  Cut those seams open as before.

Press the seams open.

And look at that!  A perfect block, with perfectly matched intersections, no pins required and no matching skills needed!  I made two of these blocks in about ten minutes, so it's much quicker than traditional piecing, too.  It makes sewing with 2.5" squares mindless and relaxing!

Have you been playing with your scraps?  Just think of all that "free" fabric waiting to be turned into quilts!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... But Now A Little Less!

 

Hi, all!

It's been a hot minute since I posted about my scrappy endeavors, but since I hadn't had much time to work on anything scrappy, I didn't have anything interest to share.  But today I have a flimsy finished!!

Here's what it looked like Tuesday night when I shared it with my sewing sisters at church. But it was still a hair small for what we needed.

Here's a close-up shot - I took it on an angle and it looks really different here!

I found a beautiful green Modernist print by Joel Dewberry in our stash at church and added those borders today - now it's all ready for quilting!  Maybe I can get to it sometime this weekend....

Also, just for inspiration, aren't these stars just fabulous?  I saw this on Pinterest and tucked it away in my folder for this post.  I think I have the design for my next scrappy quilt!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend (if you are here in the States) and find some time to do some scrappy sewing of your own!!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... How About Some Inspiration!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's been a really busy week working on annual quilts for the grandkids, so I haven't had any time to do anything scrappy.  Although I will say in my defense that I did use up a fat quarter bundle that's been sitting in my stash for.e.ver.  So there's that!  But I do have some scrappy inspiration to share with you...

First of all, a disclaimer - none of these are my own work. And they've been sitting in my digital files for a while, so I don't know where to attribute them to, either.  But you should enjoy them - I know I do!!

My stash of black and white prints is screaming "THIS ONE!"

And if, like me, you have an overabundance of blue scraps, isn't this a great solution??

I absolutely love the use of "made fabric" in this sunburst...

And here's a great way to put old flannel shirts to use!

And for those tiniest of scraps, isn't this glorious?  I love the unifying solid alternating blocks that set this true postage stamp quilt apart.

Remember, there's an incredible amount of potential in your scrap stash!  Whether you leave it in raw scrap form, or cut it down to usable sizes, there's loads of "free" quilts in those scraps!!

So - - - have you been doing anything scrappy this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have a Scrap Problem - But I've Also Got Hexies!

 

Hi, all!

I am over the moon happy to be able to say that I have sewn the final hexie onto my hexie top!!!

If my math is right, there are 1428 hexies in this top, each one hand basted and then sewn together by hand.  This made a relatively good dent in my 2.5" square scrap bin, although I've probably got at least this many left!  

Today I went up and dug through my stash, hoping that I would have some of my grandmother's vintage Irish linen left in a color that would work as a border, and lo and behold, I found this beauty!  There's plenty to make borders to appliqué the top onto.  That will increase it's size just enough to make it the perfect size, AND will wash up lovely and soft!

And look what else I found!  This is a huge piece of linen that used be part of a duvet cover that I found on sale at Pottery Barn.  I used part of it as a back for a quilt several years ago, but it looks like there's enough to back this quilt too!  I can't wait to see (feel?) how soft and cuddly this quilt will be once it's finished....

So that's what I've been working on in the scrap arena this week.  How about you?  Is it time to bring one of those "squirrel" ideas floating around in your brain out into the light? There's no better day than today!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... But I'm Working On It!

 Hi, all!

Well, I've been absent from the blog, but I haven't been skipping out on my scrappy sewing - I decided that I could definitely do some hand sewing, so I ordered some hexie templates and dragged out my 2.5" square bins.  Many months later, this is what I have...

I haven't actually measured it yet, but it's a good lap size, plenty big enough to snuggle up on the couch with. I've just got to fill in that top right corner and it will be ready for a border and quilting!  Every stitch in it has been done by hand (although I will be finishing it up with the machine) and I am very proud of myself for sticking with it!

I also started a quilt using lots of leftover binding strips earlier this year and have finally finished that top, adding the borders just this afternoon.

This quilt will be finished by someone else in the quilt ministry (I'm not feeling quite able to belly up to the belly bar on my long arm yet) and hopefully will bring a lot of joy to someone in need.

And what's next on my horizon?  Well, while surfing Instagram I found these cute pin cushions that I want to try - it's a good thing I have lots of scraps already cut up into squares!

And I'm thinking that this quilt design, or something similar, would make an excellent ministry quilt!  We are working on making thank-you quilts for our local teachers (in addition to our regular ministry quilts) and this looks quick and easy but so cute!  We were very lucky to have a Studio cutter donated to us, so it's easy for us to cut lots of 2.5" strips now.  I need to get on EQ8 and graph out the quilt and write instructions for our newbie members, but that shouldn't be too hard.

So that's what I'm doing to keep the scraps in control these days.  Of course, I now have a little bit of extra "help" in the studio...

Bree is definitely a fabric lover's dog - she is constantly stealing my scraps, and today she even took fabric off my fabric shelves!  I'm going to have to work out some way to cover the storage units so the temptation isn't staring her in the face, because like me, she has little self control when faced with beautiful fabric.....

So how's your scrap situation?  Are you drowning, or swimming merrily along? 

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem.... Some Inspiration!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's Wednesday night, the day before Thanksgiving, and I've been cooking all day.  Didn't think I'd have anything to share today, but as I glanced at Instagram in a down moment, I saw two pictures I just totally fell in love with!  And wonder of wonders, they are both scrappy and therefore perfect to share with you....

This first quilt was made by a local acquaintance who truly loves to make scrap quilts.  If you need inspiration, her Instagram feed is definitely the place to check out!  She calls this her Bitcoin quilt.  I've seen quilts made like this before, but wasn't too interested - until I saw this one.  For some reason all the color and movement just sings!  This will definitely be going on my list of quilts to make.  After all, I've got all those strings already cut out!

And our friend Emily, of Em's Scrap Bag, posted this beautiful picture - beautiful for both the quilt and for the sentiment!  Emily's blog is another great place for inspiration but this quilt was totally new to me. I'm already seeing lots of possibilities with this one!  

So that's all I have today - I'll try to do better next week!  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and if shopping is your thing, a safe and productive Black Friday and Small Business Saturday!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem.... Gratitude is Finished!

 

Hi, all!

I am definitely dancing a happy dance right now, because my Gratitude quilt is completely finished!!!

If this is the first time you've seen this quilt, here's a bit of its history.  I read about Amy Smart's Gratitude quilt on her blog (the pattern is free until the end of November!!) and immediately knew I'd need to make one.  Then my husband gave me a bunch of his old shirts to cut up for the fabric, and an idea was born!  So I gathered up a few more shirts and cut away.  Every piece of fabric in the front is made from men's shirts.....

...and so is every piece in the back!  I used all the extra 10" squares I had cut to make this back, and it really makes this quilt completely reversible!  But even better....

...the backs of two shirts yielded enough fabric to put a scrappy binding on this quilt, too!  So every piece of fabric in this quilt came from men's shirts that would have gone to Goodwill, and I have a big stack of 5" squares left over for another quilt.  I made some adaptations to Amy's pattern, creating a plus block that has four different fabrics in the corners, and I changed my border to the piano key border to utilize the leftover pieces.

So, have you ever used shirts for fabric to make a quilt?  

Hugs!

Sarah 

I May Have A Scrap Problem...My Own Take on The Gratitude Quilt

 

Hi, all!

While I'm enjoying some fun time in NYC with my husband and oldest granddaughter, I thought I'd share my progress on the Gratitude quilt with you!

The first step was to assemble the center, and I teased with this photo last Friday....

...and then I found a beautiful blue shirt that yielded the strips for the inner border!

On Saturday I played around with the outer border, making use of the leftover strips from my 10" squares in a different way than Amy did.  I think I like the piano key look!  I managed to get four more 10" squares from that blue shirt, so they will become the corners of the outer border.  But all of that will have to wait until we get back from NYC - no more scrappy sewing for me this week!  

Are you playing in your scraps this week?  Let us all know what you are working on!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... Progress on Gratitude!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's been a busy week, but I'm pleased to say I have made some progress on my Gratitude quilt!  First I cut this huge stack of 10" and 5" squares from my stack of shirts....

...and then I cut a white oxford shirt into 2.5" strips to cut the cross-pieces for the plus blocks.  It's hard to believe, but one XL man's shirt yielded more 2.5" strips than I needed to cut all the strips for 41 blocks!

And then, I even had time to make a couple of blocks just to see what it will look like!  I've cut all the pieces for the rest of the plus blocks, and cut down about half of the 10" squares into their quilt parts, but still have some cutting to do to finish that.  

And now I'm wondering what this would look like on-point?  I may play with that on EQ8 to see if I'd like it.  Who knows?  The blocks are quick and easy so hopefully I'll have more to show next week.

So now I really want to know - what wonderful scrappy things are you working on?

Hugs!

Sarah