08 Mar Scrap Plan Ready for Action…
First of all, I want to thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post. I’m feeling good about where I am in my design process and can’t wait to start sewing! I think I’m going to try avoiding the inspiration internet on the weekends. I’m hoping that will give my brain time to disconnect from all the wonderful work going on out there and focus on my own. I’ll try it for a bit and see how it goes.
So, in preparation for the sewing I want to do, I decided I had to get my scrap management plan moving. You may recall I did a post about that as part of the Pink Castle Fabrics Spring Cleaning Series. I decided to cut my scraps into 4 and 5 inch squares and designed a quilt to make from the 4″ squares. Well, since I just came up with the plan recently, I didn’t have enough squares cut yet to do anything. So I spent a few hours yesterday going through the scraps I have and a bit of yardage that I’m not in love with anymore and now I have enough squares cut for the quilt.
I didn’t originally plan for this to be a two color quilt, but I have so many blue scraps that I didn’t need to venture into other colors. I threw a few green and purple squares in there for variety. As you can see from the pictures, the scrap boxes are sitting just behind my machine so I’ll have easy access to them. I plan to piece them using Bonnie Hunter’s Leaders and Enders method while I’m working on my other projects. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get the blocks made.
Here’s the quilt I’m planning to make with the scraps:
Every single piece in this quilt is a 4″ square. It should finish at 59 1/2″ x 80 1/2″. If you’d like to give it a try, you’ll need 131 dark 4″ squares and 260 light 4″ squares.
Do you have a scrap plan? If so, how’s it going? Do you regularly make quilts using your scraps? Or have they been neglected for ages like mine?
sew katie did
Posted at 13:36h, 14 MarchI always take my bins to classes and let my students dig in. They always find something they love and it keeps the scraps somewhat under control. I should think of a project though.
Victoria
Posted at 14:51h, 13 MarchMy current scrap plan is this: I keep two brown paper grocery bags on the studio floor. Neutral scraps go in one bag, colorful ones go in the other. When I am ready to do some scrap sewing, I pick a bag, (depending on my mood). I reach in and grab a couple of pieces and start sewing. Grab a couple more scraps and stitch them together as well. Very random. Then I take the stitched pieces to the design wall and start playing. I continue adding scraps and stitching them together, waiting to see what transforms. Very fun!
And I agree… it's important to take a break sometimes from seeing what everyone else is doing, as it can muddle your own ideas!
Doris
Posted at 18:28h, 12 MarchI just started chopping up my scraps the other day, time consuming, but I plan to also make use of them via a leaders and enders project and other scrap projects. I'm hoping they take up less storage space trimmed to standard sizes and neatly stacked…
Marg
Posted at 06:13h, 09 MarchI don't have a scrap plan! Maybe one day. It certainly seems like it would be much easier if I had one.
sallgood
Posted at 20:35h, 08 MarchOh, I like the idea of "inspiration-free weekends"!
My favorite quilts I've made are from scraps-lots of framed-with-solids wonky blocks. They are free-form and then cut to size scrappy blocks,then framed with shot cottons. So relaxing to just sort for color palette and then sew!
Charlotte
Posted at 20:07h, 08 Marchoooh – I look forward to seeing how this goes!
greycatquilting
Posted at 20:06h, 08 MarchI've recently embarked on my own scrap management journey. I've been cutting my scraps into 2.5", 3", and 5" squares. If the scrap doesn't fit one of those sizes, I trim it into a strip for future strip quilts. If it's too small for even that, but too big to throw away, I've been saving them for free-piecing into larger pieces of 'found' fabric.
So far, I've managed to piece some string blocks, and am debating what to do with the others. I have a couple of ideas, but need to see what I actually have to make them to work. Of course, that means I need to finish the one bin scraps that I have left.