I May Have A Scrap Problem... Drowning In T-Shirts?

 

Hi, all!

Well, I spent the day working on a t-shirt quilt and making one. big. pile. of t-shirt scraps.  Now, you know me and fabric scraps - I just can't bear to throw away usable fabric!   And I'm happy to say that I have a great solution for those t-shirt backs that I want to share with you today.  Because to save them without a purpose would be crazy, wouldn't it?  I posted this originally in 2018 but thought it would be a good time to bring it back for a re-run, since it is t-shirt quilt season and I might not be the only one with this problem....

When faced with a large pile of t-shirt backs, the first step is to reduce all of them to usable pieces.  I cut mine into the same width chunks - in this case, 15" because that was the widest template I had that would fit on most of the shirts - and it cut a bunch of pieces!  I didn't worry about the length of the pieces, just the width.   And you should be proud of me - I threw away the leftovers!  So now I have a big tub full of cut pieces all ready to go.

Then I got busy sewing those pieces together - no interfacing on these pieces, to keep the expense down and to make it lighter - because this is a heavy picnic blanket!

This picnic blanket is about 75" square, so just the weight of the t-shirt fabric is pretty substantial.  No batting for this one, only a fabric backing - but I had the perfect backing on hand.  I've been saving this fabric for years because I knew it would be perfect for a picnic quilt....

Not quite sure what it is you're seeing?  (And I'm sorry if it gives you the shivers - I've found that people either love it or hate it!)

And of course, because I have grandchildren, and because those grandchildren love to color, I saw those great big color blocks and wondered, "Is there a way the kids can color on those and then it washes out so they can do it again?"

Not wanting to experiment on the quilt (just in case it DIDN'T wash out!) I grabbed a piece of t-shirt (out of the never-empty t-shirt scrap tub) and a new box of Crayola Ultra-Clean Washable Markers.  Had a little fun putting together a test piece, then ran it through the wash and dryer (gentle cycle, regular detergent, hot dryer).

Et voila!  The only thing I could even see a shadow of was the yellow heart in the middle, and I really had to look for that.  So for added fun, I can hand the markers to the kids at the picnic and let them decorate to their hearts content!  How's that for an added bonus?

And another?  It's like getting a free quilt out of something you were going to throw away.  And everyone can use a picnic or beach blanket, can't they?  So put those pieces to good use!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have a Scrap Problem.... #butimworkingonit

Hi, all!

Wow - only about ten days until Christmas, and it's busy busy busy around my house!  But I can multi-task while I eat leftovers for lunch and share what I've been working on and what I've seen while out and about this week!

First of all, I managed to finish all three of the beach blankets made from my leftover t-shirt backs!

I'm so happy I managed to get these done for my friend before Christmas!  In this picture you can see the back and quilting - a simple muslin back and stitch in the ditch quilting, no batting and a scrappy binding to finish it off!

And when I was cleaning off my sewing table this morning to start on a new project, I found four little lonely strips all cut and pressed to be made into Scandinavian Star ornaments, so I put one more together just for me!

That's pretty much all the creating I've done in a scrappy way - but while surfing I found these pretty inspirations!

Coin quilts are a great way to use up scrappy rectangles, and I love the narrow gray strips and occasional gray rectangles in this version!

Oh my goodness, isn't this amazing???  So simple - rectangles twice as long as they are wide make up this quilt.  It looks complicated, but it's really a simple block!

Kristy, this quilt makes my heart sing!  I love the colors, the text prints, all the scrappy little strips - perfect!!!

This quilt isn't billed as a scrappy quilt, but I can totally envision it that way, can't you?  All those low volume scraps hanging out in your tubs are just screaming to be used in something this pretty!

I love the addition of the friendship stars in this scrappy quilt - what a perfect gift for a housewarming!

And one final Christmas quilt to round it out!  This would be a great way to make a serious dent in my Box O' Shame - the Christmas fabric scraps that have been hanging around for years and years!  

And speaking of Christmas, is there any interest in having another 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop?  Specifically, would YOU be interested in being one of the stops on the hop?  Now's the time to start thinking about it, while Christmas is on the brain and all those projects you wish you had time to do are still fresh in your imagination.  So speak up if you want to be a stop, or even if you just want to enjoy it again this year!  If there's enough interest, I'll start pulling it together again.

Keep plugging away at those scraps - you are making a dent, I know it!!

 Hugs!

Sarah