Taming my scraps...

Monday night I spent a while doing the menial task of scrap management. I use a medium-sized trash can to hold all of my larger scraps and strips while sewing. I had the whole thing filled to overflowing, so I really needed to do something with my scraps. I don't really use them much, mainly because I just think they are all weird shapes and unruly. So, I figured I'd start to make them a little more organized tonight.

I barely made a dent in the bin. Most of the scraps I went through were left overs from the gray and yellow triangle quilt I put together in December. So, the shapes were all weird, lopsided diamonds or triangles.

So what did I do with them? I cut the scraps in to 2 inch squares!

It took a few hours to get this many squares cut. The top of the bin had the gray and yellow fabrics and also several Christmas which I separated out. I also picked out a few blues/Americana prints to keep separated out as well.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with these yet. Part of me wants to make a really large postage stamp quilt. But - another very logical part of me says that would be ridiculous! The pieces are too small and it would take me forever to put together.

More realistically, I'll use these for some mug rugs or postage stamp baby quilts. I could also make some really tiny half square triangles to make into a table runner or wall hanging - something of that sort.

Here's my new scrap bin. I don't really want to keep scraps that are smaller than the 2 inch squares I'm making. I know I'll never use them, so I'm not going to bother with them. Some of the scraps in the box are larger pieces but due to their weird shape I can't get a 2 inch piece out of them.

So, what would you do with either the 2 inch squares or the smaller scraps? Got any ideas for me? :) Happy crafting everyone!

Little things

It's been quiet here lately, and I'll admit I haven't had time to do much sewing. Between cleaning and organizing our apartment and getting back into the swing of things after the holidays, I feel like there's no time left in the day! So, January has been dull for me on the creative side of things. I plan on having a much better February!

All that being said, I have managed a few small things in the past few days. I put together the January block for the Color Bee Shocked Bee. Our host for the month had a little goof with her measurements on the fabric she sent everyone, so the outer border is from fabric I added from my stash. I think her quilt will turn out quite unique since she'll have a lot of different fabrics from everyone in the bee. I'm really looking forward to seeing it all put together.

I have also added the border to my Over the Rainbow quilt top, so that is ready for basting. I also sewed up the back for it. I know everyone loves to have a pieced back (or maybe it's just trendy right now??), but for some reason they just don't sit right with me. I used one on my Dots on Dots quilt, but I'm not very fond of it. So, this quilt just has one fabric for the back and I'm happy with that. :) I'm hoping to have it pinned and ready for quilting by the weekend.

The last thing I've started is a rag rug. My husband was actually helping me cut up all of the little pieces. It was really fun to see him using a rotary cutter and quilting rulers!! We are using old T-shirts that are worn out or the wrong size to make the rug. I'll keep this one in cool colors, but I do have some red shirts I'll need to do something with. Any ideas??

Kindle Cover

Hooray! I've got my first crafty goal finish of August! :) I've been meaning to make a new kindle cover for a long time. When I first got my kindle I just threw together a couple of pre-quilted fabric pieces and formed a very drab looking pot holder to hold the kindle. Recently it's been falling apart more and more, so I desperately needed a new case.

I decided I was going to use just scraps for this. I've been saving scraps ever since I got back from the quilt retreat I went to over Mother's Day weekend. It's taken me a while to get some scraps accumulated. Most of them were little squares left over from my Super Mario quilt. So, I put those to good use along with some pieces from blog hops I've participated in recently or chunks from other projects.

To put together the front and back panels I just started grabbing scraps, not really caring which color I picked up, and started sewing them together. I'd trim/square up as I went. I finger pressed the seams to go the way I wanted them to and then ironed the whole slab at the very end. So, I ended up with some tiny 1 inch squares and some larger chunks as I built the slabs out. They were so much fun to put together!

I didn't want to fuss with turning out a pocket, so I decided I was going to make a double quilt sandwich. I layered the slabs with batting and some left over aqua fabric from a pincushion I made earlier this year. Any shade of teal is my favorite color, and I love the pop of brightness when you open up the case.

I used my walking foot to do an organic grid quilting on each slab. Once they were quilted, I trimmed the extra batting and backing fabric. For the smaller slab (the front side of the cover) I added a binding in the same aqua fabric as the back to the very top. This way I could get a really nice finished edge before I sewed the two main pieces together.

Once that little bit of binding was done, I used left over binding from the Super Mario Quilt (yes, it was the perfect length! I didn't have to add anything and just cut off a 1/2 inch! So perfect...) to put both pieces together. I layered them with the blue backing fabric sides together and sewed the binding on as if it was just a single layer quilt. The batting I used was very low loft, so it was no problem at all for my heavy duty Janome.

I finished it off with hand stitching on the back side of the cover. I still need to add the clasp yet, but I'm debating if I want to use Velcro or if I want a couple large snap buttons. I think I'll just go peruse the fastener section at JoAnn's one of these days and make a decision. Either will be very easy to add to the cover.

I made this case to be 7 inches wide by 10 inches long when it's closed. The back piece was 7 inches wide by 14 inches long. This is bigger than I probably needed to make it, but I wanted to be able to keep the cord in the case along with the kindle. The extra room also gives me the option of putting a pen and small notebook in there if I ever read anything worth taking notes on. (Someday I'll finish that marathon training book!!!)

So, one crafty goal complete, just tons to go! Happy crafting!