Scraps Scraps Scraps

Blue Melon

It all started one dark and stormy night...no, really it started when Kathy B showed us how to make these strippy melon shapes at Back Roads. All this fabric was from my stash. I'll get around to quilting it or having it quilted sometime this summer. So, I cut many strips of blue fabric, made this quilt, and I STILL have a bin full of blue strips. What to do? What to do? Well, cut more strips!

This is Bonnie Hunter's method for saving scraps. In her book Scraps and Shirttails that I bought when she came to our guild meeting, she recommends cutting leftover fabric in 1 1/2, 2 1/2, and 3 1/2 inch strips. She says most quilt blocks require these sizes. I've cut mostly 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 strips. I even bought a big 60 mm rotary cutter and it is so much nicer than my old one. Love those Joann coupons. 

Sometimes I take a break from sewing and play in the garden. Just bought this hanging basket on Friday. The yellow is called Bidens, the magenta is millions of bells, and the purple is verbena. I have an urn that I planted these in and think it will cascade over the edges all summer. Isn't it a beauty? 

Meanwhile, back to the scraps. I looked up string quilts and saw some very vibrant star quilts. One is on Bonnie Hunter's blog, so I printed out the directions and had a go at it this afternoon. It took me a little while to figure out a template for the diamond. Bonnie uses the Easy Angler rulers. I don't have any of that line (isn't that always true?) so I improvised. Some of these strips are the leftover leftovers. Really "strings" of fabric. Some are only 1 inch wide and so after seams are only 1/2 inch wide. That little pink fabric on the lower right with the circles is from my daughter's nursery school graduation outfit. I made her a sleeveless dress that had a gathered skirt. Then I made a little jacket out of this pink. It had a sailor collar on it. She was adorable! So, lots of memories in these scraps, as I am sure you know. 

stack o'scraps

As I am still busy cutting, I haven't figured out the best way to sort my scraps. Right now I have a bin for each color, or two colors. I'm thinking perhaps by size might be a better option and just sort according to light and dark. 

When cutting my fabric I have been cutting one or two 10 inch squares if there is enough fabric. I have quite a stack of those now, too. Mostly I'm cutting up leftovers and fat quarters. 

Here's my string star on the design wall. 

The center is horrible! What a lumpy mess! Since I have made Lone Star quilts that lie flat as a pancake, I know I can do better than this. AFTER I made this block I looked in some of my books and have found a better method for joining the diamond shapes. This is just a test sample....ha ha.

Here it is all sewn together. I just love the bright colors and the green. See how the yellow pops out! Thank you to Bonnie Hunter and Kathy B for sending me down this scrappy road! I'm using fabrics that have been in my stash for years. I love it!