Scrappy Saturday
People often ask me why I keep very small scraps and what do I do with them. Sometimes I keep them just because they make me happy...that is reason enough! Like these tiny snack bags full of block trimmings from my friend Susan...how could you throw this in the garbage?!? Seriously!
My favorite way to use tiny bits is to make a mini quilt by putting them under water- soluble Solvy. For this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge the colour is red, white and blue. I immediately thought of these trimmings that my friend Marion gave me.
The bits are arranged in a design on a background fabric, and then a sheet of Solvy is pinned on top of the scraps. I arranged the scraps roughly in the shape of an American flag, pinned the Solvy to the background fabric and batting, and did some basting free motion quilting.
Then I quilted some dense designs because whatever is not stitched down will fall off once the Solvy is removed. I quilted swirls on the red scraps and straight lines on the blue. This is how it looked once the quilting was finished.
Then I put the whole thing in a warm water bath and just let it sit in there until the Solvy is completely dissolved. You can tell that it is completely gone when the quilt does not feel gluey. Then I gently roll up the quilt in a towel to remove some of the water, and leave it laying flat on a towel to dry. Then I have to decide what to do next - add a border or just trim and bind?
To see what other quilters are making with their scraps, drop by the Scrappy Rainbow Challenge.
The bits are arranged in a design on a background fabric, and then a sheet of Solvy is pinned on top of the scraps. I arranged the scraps roughly in the shape of an American flag, pinned the Solvy to the background fabric and batting, and did some basting free motion quilting. 
Then I quilted some dense designs because whatever is not stitched down will fall off once the Solvy is removed. I quilted swirls on the red scraps and straight lines on the blue. This is how it looked once the quilting was finished.
18 comments:
What a great idea! Can't wait to see it closer and what you decide to do with it.
Oh my gosh! You are very creative and it looks great. I thought I was being virtuous keeping all my little scraps to use up but you should be crowned "The Queen"!
Very cool! And btw, I love the blocks in your header! Have a happy day!
clever idea, but you have the colours mixed up - blue field for the stars, red and white stripes.
I want to see what you do with the finished product! Who knew you could use up such tiny bits--and here I have been tossing them away.
What a clever idea. I keep pretty small scraps but not that small. I'm not sure I have anymore storage places for more scraps. But I do like what you did with yours.
Very cool idea! Love the flag!
I save my shavings and put them in decorative bowls at my house. How crazy is that? I like this idea, and have seen it done, but never tried it. Add it to the list!
You save the smallest scraps of anyone I have come across. But you put them to good use.
That is really adorable! But, oh my, I have enough trouble dealing with saving scraps that are 1.5 inches, the smallest size I cut pieces down to--so I leave that charming Solvy party to you :)
My daughter has me saving all the dog ears off mt HST's in a jar that we leave out for decoration. I love what you have done with your scraps.
What a fun way to use up the tiniest of scraps. It must be hard for you to get rid of all the trimmings.
And to think that I have been throwing all those little scraps away. Must be fun to see what you can do with them. Very original.
And to think that I have been throwing all those scraps away. Very original.
very cool. i've also heard people keeping them for the birds to make as part of their nests.
Thanks for sharing this. I want to try it!
I enjoyed reading this blog today I have been using Solvy with thread stitching and also using old pieces of thread bunch up and stitched over (like you did with the fabric strips). Are you using a hoop when you are stitching with the Solvy?
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