Scraphappy Saturday!

Today is the last Saturday of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I finally feel like I am getting my groove back.  First, I had to find my room! It had become a dumping ground long before Christmas, and I only had enough room to sew some of those last minute finishes. More on that in an upcoming post!

Last week, I finally was able to start tackling my scraps. I thought this was all I was going to accomplish for the month:

Garlic Knots by Bonnie Hunter (not a free patern)

But then my best friend gifted me with her leftovers from a project, which just happened to include red (we have a deal - she agreed not to throw out her scraps, and I'll let her pick through my stash when she needs something):

And this morning I started cutting down the smaller pieces to fit in my scrap-user's system, and made one more block (in just 15 minutes!)

Then I filed everything away in my scrappy block box. I call it Crummy Monday because I used to tackle all my scraps created in a week on a Monday night, a habit I'd like to get back in to.

After adding my new blocks, I decided to document the progress I've made so far:

Boxy Stars by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville (Free pattern)

String Blocks (tutorial by Bonnie Hunter here) 

Crumb Blocks (adapted from Bonnie Hunter's Crumb quilt) free pattern

Polaroid Blocks - I'm not sure who started this trend, but here is a link to a great tutorial that demonstrates the way I make them when I have a lot of blocks to do.

 I'm also committing to posting more, for my own benefit. Here are some future posts I have planned:

What I can accomplish is just 15 minutes


How to "make" money when cleaning your scraproom

Table runner made with leftover blocks (a quick tutorial)

 Have a great week,

         Terri in BC

Crummy Monday!

 

I was fortunate enough to have some extended time in my sewing room yesterday, and of course, that meant I could play with some more crumbs!

 



 

 

More blocks for Maverick Stars!

 

Then I had to try something new (why not have another never-ending project LOL) from this book:

 

 

 

There are 224 blocks in her Pineapple Crazy (not including the border), each one has 45 crummy pieces.  That would use over 10,000 little crumbs - assuming I make it as big as Bonnie's!  I may stop at pillow size, though.

 

 

 

I don't have a lot of neutrals left, after making Orca Bay and Easy Street, so I'm going to make mine in the colours of the rainbow (with a few extras):

 

 

Looking good so far!

 

 

I'm keeping track of the colour order by marking each sector on the foundation:

 

 

 

Wish me luck,

 

Terri in BC

Back to regular posting (and breaking the Candy Crush habit!)

In an effort to sew more, I've decided that I need to have regular days to post on my blog!  (I seem to sew a lot more when I want to have something to share - must be the narcissist in me?)  So, I'm going to try this schedule:

 

Farmer's Wife Friday

Sunday Stash Report

Crummy Monday

Needle Network (Canadian Bloggers) WIP

 

Any other linkies you might suggest?

 

Perhaps now, I might get off of Facebook and the stupid games I play!

Even though it's late in the day, I am going to do my first Crummy Monday post!

 

 

I love crumbs!  And I can't resist doing fun things with them.

 

My first excursion into crumbs was these cute little 3 1/2" blocks.  Anything larger than 3/4" is fair game. 

 

 

My smallest crumbs go in one of three jars - warms, cools or neutrals. 

 

 

Sometimes when I just need some mindless sewing, I dump out a jar and make a few crummy blocks!

 

 

I make the blocks using one colour family.  This weekend it was yellow, grape and aqua!

 

So far, I just hang them on a little clothesline with miniature clothes pins in my sewing room.  Someday I'll have enough to do something with them.

 

I love selvedges as well.  I was inspired last year by this quilt:

 

Simple Selvage Squares quilt by Riel Neilson

 

 

 

(If you never visited her blog, you are in for a real treat - she makes the most amazing unique quilts and wall hangings, and she's also an author!)

 

Of course, my selvedges are cut very frugally, so I didn't have a lot of print showing.  That doesn't stop me!

 

 

I recycle dryer sheets (washed a couple of times to make sure all the softener is out) and layer my selvedges over top.  I use a zig-zag stitch to reinforce the edges, because the first couple I made didn't hold.  The advantages to using the dryer sheet are that I don't have to remove it, it is soft and flexible and adds little weight, and it stabilizes the block which is important when dealing with some of those skimpy cuts.

 

I love the ones that have different designs instead of dots.  I have been known to buy a fabric simply because of the selvedge.

 

 

These also hang on my clothesline - it's a nice decoration in my room!

 

Lastly, I tried a Maverick Star this weekend!

 

 

This a free block tutorial from my favourite designer, Bonnie Hunter, and is perfect for those cut-off triangles from other projects.  I'm sticking to my monochromatic themes for these as well, not what I'm planning but it might make it easier to assemble in one project some day.   This block measures 6 1/2" unfinished.

 

 

So here is the result of my Crummy weekend - some mindless sewing to help get my mojo flowing again!  Oh, yeah - I also make 3 1/2" 4-patches from 2" squares from my scraps as well.

 

 

Have a great week!

 



Terri in BC