From the Bag of Scrap Exchange Fabric

I pulled out the bag of scraps I received earlier this year from Chris and decided it was time to play again.  Here is pillow cover number two from this fantastic bag of scraps.  ( This picture is before I added the back to make it officially into a pillow cover.)  There are still more scraps in that bag so there is at least one more, if not two more, projects left from this scrap exchange.  You can read more about it and see the first one on my blog.

 

I have really enjoyed seeing  all the architectural challenge quilts both finished and in progress.  I had planned on participating, but just couldn't get my pictures off the camera and out of my head and the fabric to all come together.  However, I do have an idea still roaming around in my head so that challenge is not totally off the grid yet for me, it has  just moved to the side. 

Scrap-Swap Block: "Afterlife"

This scrap swap was a true challenge, a mishmash of stuff very unlike what I usually work with. Best of the lot was a large piece of "day of the dead" dancing skeletons that I immediately knew would be the focus of ... something.

That little guy face down on the dancefloor cracks me up!

Something turned out to be a 24-spoke Dresden plate with ric-rac trim. I used a set of coordinating green/mustard/black prints from the swap for the spokes, cutting whole pieces from a large floral, and making slice-sew-slice fabric from the others. I added more solid spokes from a leafy green/black/white stash floral to reach the needed number of pieces. Alternating spokes were tipped from the swap with a basket print (would have used more of that one, but I'd already cut into it for an applique project, whoops!), and a pink 1930s-look faux gingham that I disliked so much I included it to make the challenge that much more interesting:

 

The red and yellow rings are strips of bias-cut near-solid batiks from my stash, folded in half and unserted under the seam. Also from the swap are the celestial prints and pink tulips in the corners. The tropical print on the sides is from my stash. It's quilted with blue and orange metallic thread in a spiral pattern.

Best surprise is how the dresden wedges, from a distance, look (to my eye) like a Mayan heiroglyph. Wish I could take credit for that, but it's a happy accident. I'm also thrilled with how well all these very un-related pieces come together as a whole.

The block is now 26"x26" (quite a bit larger than intended!). That second ric-rac and bias rim is quite ornery about lying flat, although the quilting has tamed it significantly. Rather than rush to add binding, I've zig-zag stitched all around the edge and have tossed it in with a load of laundry. None of the swap fabrics were pre-washed, and I've used cotton batting, so shrinkage might turn out to be my friend.

If it's still not laying flat after a ride in the dryer, I'll make a large 24" pillow sham from it and use it as my reading-in-bed pillow.

Thanks for organizing this challenge, Victoria! Although my first reaction to the swap fabrics was to wonder what I could possibly make from them, necessity has once again been the mother of invention, and I've had a fun couple of days creating something truly unique!

{Stephanie}

Scrap Bag Pillow Cover

First project completed from the scrap bag.  It's a pillow cover using the fabric scraps.  In this bag were some wonderful strings/strips and since I will be teaching a class later this year on strings, I decided to make something with those strings.  This is the result of just pulling strings and sewing them together.  Once I got a section made, I cut them into four squares and sewed corners to create the center.  Since I sewed the yellow on the wrong corner first, I decided to sew the two corners of both the yellow and orange only.  The leftover strings I cut into 1 1/2" strips and used them around the outside, but since I didn't have enough to go all the way around, I pulled another fabric from the bag and cut it wider to create the other two borders.  This is already quilted and has an envelope backing (not from the scrap bag) ready for it's pillow form.  I can't wait to dive back in the bag and make fabric from some of the other fabrics and leftovers from these strips to create something else.  Thank you Chris for such wonderful fabrics to work with.  This was a joy to make with such bright and fun colors.  By the way, the back is a hot pink and white animal skin print.  Goes great with those bright pink punches in the top. 

 

Playing with scraps X 2

Do you remember way back when we did a scrap swap?  You do, good!  I was very lucky to receive a big bundle of scraps from Glen.  I've been slowly playing with them off and on, and in particularly a little scrap of black and greens already started caught my eye... which lead to a fusion of blacks and greens ...

I love how they all play so nicely together, and I knew exactly what I could use some of this for, after all, I can keep on sewing and adding to the bits I haven't used ...

Don't they look great as journal covers! 

I'm not done with these green scraps yet Glen! 

And I've been doing my homework too!  These are my blocks for the Spots, checks and stripes challenge ...

V, I had a great time playing outside my normal colour range here, so very pretty,  I was having so much fun, I'll be sending you a little extra to play with, if you're up for a challenge!  I still have more of these scraps, and again, I'm not done with them yet! 

And without even  knowing, I've been sewing all the scraps of my current project together as I've gone along, so more on that one soon! 

Let Play Time Begin!

 It was a hard week last week, work was particularly challenging.  You can imagine my delight when I got home to a little note from the Postman to say he'd left a package with one of my neighbours! 

Now I knew there was a certain package on it's way, so you can imagine the hint of excitement that was stirring  ....


So when I opened it up and found this little lot inside ....  wooohoooo!  Who cares I hadn't won the lotto....


Cos I got a package all the way from Glen!

And you can bet your bottom dollar I fondled every single piece of scrap into the box!  Hehe!

There seemed to be an interesting trend coming through, so this little collection of black and green has been put to one side for a little immediate attention!  (including a little bundle of antique fabric from Glens' Aunts stash, how cool is that!)

Oh, and did I tell you we have a new fabric shop just opened up?  No, well, I can see a little shopping spree coming on for an apron!  Love it Glen!

But today I needed some postcards to send with a few gifties and Bee blocks, so I had a little play with some hand dyed fabrics from earlier in the summer. 

I love playing like this, I have to say it's my favourite way to play! 

Thank you Glen, you made my day!

a scrap exchange finish!

I've been playing with Lisa's scraps in 15 minutes (and larger chunks) this weekend. She included some orphan blocks, and some squares of feedsack repros, including the green applique hearts and the yellow blocks. Those stars were part of the goodies too, but not sewn on in this picture.

and a bunch of strips and bits in those fabrics. 

So I bordered the hearts with these fabrics, appliqued a pink star, added some scrappy borders

 

and made a hearts and stars blanket entirely from Lisa's scraps. Thanks so much! Now a little preemie in my local hospital has her own blanket. And one more thing: I posted a link on the Bloggers quilt festival just to show the world how much fun it is to play with scraps.