Wednesday, January 08, 2014

scrap project round up

I'm steadily working on my goal of making 101 scrap projects. I finished some of these today, some have been done for months and some were done in between. It's high time I catch up documenting them!
#29
This was supposed to be a pillow form, but I decided that the fabric is cuter than any cover that I could sew up! I bet you are thinking that it's an awfully big scrap. It is! (Thanks, Anna!) It's a light weight canvas, so I didn't want to mix it with my quilting cottons. It makes a dandy little throw pillow.
#30
I was playing with some scraps the other day (yay!) and this ended up being a stand alone block. I practiced hand quilting it (as a warm up piece) and turned it into a little coaster. It measures about 4 1/2" square. I'm so happy to have a usable piece rather than another orphan block hanging around. (They accumulate before you know it!)
I call it a coaster, but in all reality it will probably end up as a mini dolly blanket. Isn't that the CUTEST? My daughter will do all kinds of happy squealing when she sees this. (Full disclosure: That is my stuffed toy. Not hers. I may have done all kinds of squealing, too!)
One little side note:
Binding a coaster feels so ridiculous-but I love it all the same! Joining that last seam is a bugger on something this small, so I tried something different. I laid out the binding first-sort of a dry run, if you will. Next, I cut it to length, sewed up the seam and THEN attached it to the coaster. It worked!!! How cool is that? (I used single fold binding, which is perfect for small projects.)
#31
This is an orphan block-turned quilting test block-turned coaster. The front isn't my favorite....
...but I love the back. It's about 6.5" finished. I used more scraps to bind it!
 #32
Retreat name tags from last November. I'm going to count these as one single project, not 16 separate ones. I'm excited that I get to use my name tag on a regular basis at guild meetings. (It's the little things...I tell ya.)
#33
I'm not sure where this scrap came from, but I LOVE it! I have a running joke with my friend Brianne that anytime before noon is coffee o'clock, so this was a gift for her. This is the front...
...and this is the back. I LOVE THIS! (And she did, too. Yay!)
#34
I made one for me, too! I machine quilted these while my BIL watched and he was QUITE impressed. That was fun! (I used mine for the first time today and I spilled tea on it already. I'm so bummed! I guess the entire thing will get a tea bath...)
#35, #36, #37
Two mini thread catchers and one normal sized thread catcher. The largest one holds my low volume tiny ticker tape pieces.
The two minis were requested by my husband to hold sweetener. (We've become serious tea drinkers in this house. What else are you going to do when it's -20 degrees?)
 #38
Another ticker tape on canvas. Another gift for a friend.
#39
Tiny ticker tape on canvas. (3D, even!)
 #40 and #41
Two quilted rice bags. One for me, one for a friend. These are the fronts....
...and the backs.
 I LOVED this detail. Wish I had a whole quilt like this. Can you imagine?
#42 and #43
Two more rice bags. I made these for family during their holiday visit. I sewed them up hours before they headed home. I skipped the quilting (to save time) and used decorator weight fabric instead. Those are the hardest scraps for me to use, so that's a bonus! Also, the size of the scraps dictated the finished sizes. Use. it. ALL! :)
#44
A quilt as you go pot holder. (Instructions from my friend Tara's awesome craftsy class.) Must. make. more.

There! Now I should be all caught up. I hope this inspires you to use your scraps! It's great fun.
The custom quilt has been delivered. It was MUCH appreciated and they love it. YAHOO!!! (I'm so relieved!) My original time calculations were wrong. Apparently the power quilting I did on the quilt fried my brain. :) The totals have been updated in the original post, if you want to check it out. Thanks for all your positive comments on the post, too. You guys are the best cheerleaders. Ever.

37 comments:

Sarah @ mila+cuatro said...

Inspirational scrap usage there! I've just finished project 101 on my own Scraps 101 journey, so I have a way to go but making things with scraps really is a lot of fun.

Vicki said...

So much fun! I am so inspired to go and get all the scraps I can find to see how creative I can be.

Kathy @ Kwilty Pleasures said...

Very inspirational. I am doing at least one small scrap project ans at least one quilt each month.

Hope said...

Ooh, so many pretty things! Great post, thanks :)

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Let me know if you are running out of scraps!!

Unknown said...

So I feel quite silly. Rice bags? There must be an obvious use for these, but for the life of me, I'm having a moment. Would someone enlighten me? Thanks in advance:)

Becki said...

Your scraps are so much prettier than mine!!!!

Amanda Jean said...

Gigi,

The rice bags are warmed in the microwave for a few minutes. I use mine to warm my cold feet at bedtime. :)

AJ

Izzy said...

Oh my you are so inspiring with these projects! Did you use a specific pattern for the thread catchers? The guild I belong to is doing a thread catcher swap so I'm looking for a quick and easy pattern. Thanks! :-)

Amanda Jean said...

Izzy,

Yes! Thanks for asking that question! I used my thread catcher pattern. I just updated the link.

Hope that helps!

AJ

Mama Urchin said...

Do you have muslin rice pillows with covers? If so, what do you use for the closure on the covers? If not, how do you wash them? I need to make some more since we were fighting for the two we have during our recent bout with the flu.

Anonymous said...

Yes---please share more information on the rice bags. I live in Iowa, and it is unbelievably cold here right now. I am also trying to get organized for Christmas next year---my goal is to make one gift per month so I'm not trying to sew and knit like a crazy woman into the wee hours on Christmas Eve. Anyway---your book and blog have really inspired me and encouraged me to jump in and QAYG.

Spangled said...

When I make rice bags, I use muslin or some other non-cute fabric for the bag. I usually leave a little extra room in the bag- not totally stuffed w. rice- so that it's easy to close the final seam. Then I make a cover. I have a lot of rice bags for my dog, he loooves sleeping on them, so my covers are all fleece for washability and durability. There are tons of instructions online, have fun!

Spangled said...

Oh, and if it's not obvious, you'd never wash a whole rice bag, just the cover. Sometimes the dry rice has been microwaved too many times and smells funny, and then that rice has got to go. I usually just make a new one that will fit my cover.

Vera said...

Your projects are lovely and all the pictures are like eye candy. Love it!

Blue Moth said...

I love that your projects are all useful and beautiful.

Gemini Jen NZ said...

I guess one good thing out of that major weather system you've got going on is that you've had the chance to share all your cool projects! They look great!I hope the weather improves for you all soon, I just can't imagine what it must be like to be going through such extreme conditions (we don't have anything like it here thank goodness!) Best wishes, happy quilting!

charlotte said...

Great projects and great inspiration. I need to make a couple more of those thread catchers too. Seems I need them in more places for trimming. I made one for my kitchen to hold the paper trash from the stevia packets my husband uses for his coffee. I got tired of picking them up off the counter. It works like a charm. It's a great pattern.

margaret said...

so much yuu have completed, congrats, you put the rest of us to shame, when I think about all the blocks I have, mind you they are not good enough to make into a quilt but at lest I now know how to make them

SarahZ said...

So fun to see all your projects!!! My MIL will be spending some time in a rehab facility and I thought of one of your little nametags (along with a quilt, of course!) would be a fun touch for her while there... :)Thanks for all your ideas along the way, always something new and scrappy to think about :)

marcella said...

Wow, those are awesome little projects! I love every one of them. It's so fun seeing all the little things you come up with to use your scraps.

Moneik said...

Great job! I've finally got a dedicated spot for my scraps now and I hope to find time to use them now. Thanks for the inspiration.

Unknown said...

I am really enjoying all the cutie projects! I will be sad when you reach 101...but wait...I can start a goal of my very own. ;) Inspired!

Susan said...

WOW! These really are inspirational! I am trying not to buy new fabric until I use up some of my stash/scraps! Now, I don't have an excuse at all! I have a simple patchwork cushion and a charity quilt planned! Thanks for sharing your beauties with us!

Anonymous said...

gorgeous little scrap finishes you have there, the weather looks extremely cold, hope it eases soon :)

mascanlon said...

Great projects, its always so satisfying to have a finish, especially ones that are as cute and useful as these. thanks for sharing them with us.

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Annie said...

Wow, that's a mighty lot of scraps. You're so clever at making them into beautiful things.

sarah elizabeth :: {no} hats said...

W-O-W! So much wonderful inspiration here :)

sarah elizabeth :: {no} hats said...
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Jackie said...

I love all these cute ideas!

sonia said...

Love your ideas!

Suzanne said...

I love all your scrappy projects! So fun. I should do little projects more often for some instant fabric happiness.

Live a Colorful Life said...

This is one of my favorite posts. Oodles of inspiration. I just love using the word "oodles."

Unknown said...

i LOVE #38, and the quilt-as-you-go potholder! i'll have to try that!

Unknown said...
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Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Amanda, looking at what you have put together with your scraps inspires me to use more of my pile. Mine is much smaller than yours cuz I'm a newbie, yet they will continue to accumulate if I don't use them. I'm making potholders with them. I found some Insulbrite cheap and have enough for a dozen 8x8 inch potholders. Tomorrow's project-we'll see how far we get.

Happy 2014; will continue to subscribe and enjoy your blog into the next decade I hope. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.