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Friday, January 28, 2022

Where Scrap Taming Last Left Off -


Bags and bags and bags of scraps -

Each one stuffed with leftovers of previous projects, saved lovingly by a quilter who adored fabric and quilting more than anything.

I can relate - can you?

These are the bags of scraps I've been going through to determine what can go into my current Churn Dash project.

And yes, there is such a thing as "Scraps Too Small To Save!"

I've been fortunate in that the quilter's daughter saw fit to sort all of the small pieces into color families, or themes such as "Juvenile" or "Christmas" to make dealing with all of this easier on me.

I am grateful!

It has enabled me to grab a bag during my evening phone conversation with my dad and just sort through.

Pieces too small to save are being weeded out.  Fabrics that are chintzy or polyester are included in that culling.

But there is so much good stuff!


My heart soars!

These small bits are useable in my small blocks.

On top of the pile - that pink rosebud print? I think I had that fabric in just about every colorway it came in back in the 90s - from my days of designing doll patterns and making clothes for them.

There is just enough in this small piece to get the 4 colored squares around the block center that I need - and it will be all gone.

That's been the focus of these scraps since the boxes arrived.  Save what I can, sew it up now.

I'm loving the multi-strip die I had specially made for my Accuquilt Studio.  It has two strips 1 1/2'', two strips 2'' and two strips 2 1/2''.  It makes saving scraps in useable sizes so easy.


My strip bin at the cabin is really short on 1 1/2'' strips, so I'm focusing on that.  And whatever else I can get out of the piece.

Anything less than 1 1/2'' but more than 3/4'' goes into the string bin when I am done trimming.


I can place several layers on the die.

I can place them where I get the best width from each strip -

That dark pink is centered over one of the 2'' sections.


After rolling through -


Bottom row: 1 1/2''
Center row: 2''
Top row: Strings!

And the ball of margins showing there really is not that much waste at all.


It's been great working through color families this way.


Layering for best use on the die.


Dealing with strips saved in useable widths makes my scrap quilting so much better than leaving scraps "as is."  It's cleaner.  It's easy to grab the sizes of strips I need for any block, and just start sewing.  Add in the benefit of built in variety in all the sizes I use most, and you can see why I talk again and again and again about my Scrap User's System.

If you don't have an Accuquilt - you can do this with your regular rotary cutter, or slotted ruler.

One word of encouragement - don't wait until there are bags and bags and boxes of untamed scraps.

Cut the scraps down to a useable width once you have them.  Make it a part of the clean up from each and every project.

I focus on strips in widths of 1 1/2'', 2''. 2 1/2'' and 3 1/2''.  I save squares of the same sizes. This is the bulk of what my Scrap User's System is made of.


These were smaller rectangles, not long enough to be strips.

These are being cut up for use in our on-going Fish School Leader & Ender challenge.

Have you started yours yet?  It runs form July to July!


One of these is not like the others!  Ooops!

A bit of seam ripper action and all was made right.  Yes, these are still being assembled as I am sewing other things.  July to July means July to July!


Much of yesterday was spent cutting out and kitting up units for a special project revealing soon!

Again, no fat-quarters or yardage was harmed in the cutting out of these block parts.  It's all from the Scrap User's System and was so easy to pull from.

I'll be revealing these soon!


Claiming space!

I've been binding on the Oak Leaf quilt in the evenings.  And I honestly thought I could finish last night, but on that last side, as I was sewing away -


Yeah.  That's a hole. 

Something must have snipped the fabric at some point, and I never saw it while sewing the binding on (because it was face down to the front of the quilt when putting it on by machine.)

It's going to wear.

So - I had no choice but to undo a bunch of binding stitching, and remove that foul piece of "Are You Kidding Me?!?!?" and I'm ready to splice in a new piece today.  

The quilt has waited THIS long to be done.  What's a couple of evenings more?

Son Jeff and Ashlyn are supposed to come up to celebrate birthdays this evening.

Our snow is also supposed to start this afternoon.  I'll be parking at the bottom of the hill before it does!

I'm feeling the need to dig in to a ferocious round of spring cleaning at the cabin, so my morning must-do's at the QPO Studio will be done quickly (including splicing that binding) and I'll be back at home cleaning and nesting.

Do you get that way in the late winter too?

January, I'm over you!  Get us closer to spring please!


Only a few days remaining!

The introductory price for Cherry Crunch is marked 25% off in the digital pattern section of the Quiltville Store.  No coupon needed!  Price reduction good through 1/31/22.

I have placed some OTHER Winter themed patterns ALSO at 25% off with no coupon required!
Forever Mine PDF pattern includes the runner too!

On sale at 25% off through 2/13/22
Warm Hands, Warm Heart & Winter Blues are both 25% off through 1/31/22.

If this is your first time downloading digital patterns from my store to a computer click HERE.

If you intend to download to an iPhone/iPad click HERE.


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

This about sums it up! LOL!

Happy Friday - and to those in the path of this weekend's Nor'easter that is inbound -Stay safe, stay warm, stay home!


 

28 comments:

Brenda said...

OH My - I recognize so many of those fabrics. I lined a trunk with the pink rosebud print and probably still have some left.

Donna W said...

Haha! Your quote today is terrific, and I'd have to definitely agree!

AuntieAllyn said...

I like your idea of keeping scraps sorted by width. What about length? I often have longer lengths of strips, especially from bindings. Do you cut longer strips down to a shorter length?

Bonnie K. Hunter said...

if it's too short to really be used as a strip (3 to4 times the width) then I cut it into squares. Other than that length doesn't matter. You can keep them however long works best for you.

Karen K said...

Is the multi-strip die you had specially made for your Accuquilt Studio available for purchase?

Mary said...

Not over yet, I have a few more January Birthdays to Celebrate. Glad that you are having fun with the Bags of scraps. While cutting my Parts for the Mystery, I cut a few extra 1 1/2" strips and 2 1/2" Stips for later. Just freezing fog in the early part of the day and outdoor thermometer that stays on 30° here. Brrr. Happt little fish, need to kit some up for myself. Happy weekend coming up!

khowardquilts said...

I have that rose fabric with a tan or beige background!

Unknown said...

Wondering where you ordered your custom Accuquilt die with the multi-strip capability? Thanks!

Agneta quilts said...

I have just made a big hole in my scrap-user's system - making new fabric by sewing small pieces of just about the same color-family on to old rolls of easy-tear paper, about 4" wide (used in office calculators). The result is wonderful, and now I have to come up with ideas of what to use this "old-to-new" fabric for. Fun!! Anything that could be sewn together was sewn together, and the paper-rolls have parts that consist of up to four small pieces. My scrap-user's boxes are empty - hurray!

Mary Bolton said...

Made my "Fish School" look like real fish, gave them eyes LOL

Linda Mischloney said...

Amen to your quote of the day, I see no need to leave our little log cabin.🤗

LJ said...

There's a definite theme going on in the 'Quote of the Day'! :)

Tammie said...

I’m curious as to how you got the custom strip die…is that something Accuquilt offers?

Cannbe said...

Your quote today is exactly how I am this winter. Takes me forever to get the oomph to leave the house to do anything! Bears have it right..just let me hibernate!!

"Bee" said...

Bonnie,
I love your quote today!!!!
I agree 100%:):):):)

Leah said...

Maybe my favorite end-of-post quote ever. I want that on a t-shirt. ;)

Deb (Neddo) Franklin said...

You can order strip dies from Accuquilt.com and you can design your own through that site as well. Hers was a custom die, made to her specifications. I think its a great idea!

Holly Burch said...

I totally agree also!

Debcal1946 said...

I agree wholeheartedly with your QOD! Isn't retirement great?!!

Lorraine said...

So funny. I was just putting scraps of that exact rosebud fabric away last night! I still like it.

nancy c said...

oh boy... that quote is spot on for me LOL! Enjoy your birthday celebration!

Jean said...

See #11 Reply above

Leslie Schmidt said...

Wouldn't that be perfect?!

Machelle said...

For those pieces/scraps not usable--a friend told me to make a dog/cat bed--just sew up the size you want and stuff as you trim pieces--then nothing for the trash bin. I used old denim jeans to make my case out of. Now my kitty has a new bed.

Bonnie K. Hunter said...

My vet and the shelters will not accept these as donations. The animals are agitated, they can gnaw and chew their way into the scraps and the batting. Threadand scraps can cause intestinal problems if they ingest them. I will not make pet beds out of scraps for this reason.

nw_in_MO said...

Bonnie, Can I share your quote of the day on Facebook? It fits me perfectly!

MerryMeg said...

I am working through a pile of fabric that needs cutting into strips. I discovered your system earlier, quite a lot earlier, but am just getting around to do it. I have cut a lot but this last stack is just bogging me. Hopefully once done, I can keep up by doing it ad each project completes. I plan on making scrappy charity quilts with all strips O am cutting. I am sorting strips by width and then color. Is that correct? I hope? Long job that I hope pays off for me and charity!

runlexlou said...

I had no idea that there was a tool like the Accuquilt. I guess I need to get out more! Holy cow what a game-changer. I don't quilt on the scale you do, so think the smaller system would work better for me. I'm off to investigate it. Thanks for sharing your method of keeping the scraps under control. I sure do enjoy seeing all of your beautiful makes.

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