Quick Garland with Scraps

In the previous post Use It or Lose It I shared how I was trying to use my scraps in a timely manner.  One of the items I made from the bag of scraps was a quick and easy garland.  Here is how the garland was made.

The finished scrap busting garland.

 

It starts with the remaining pieces left from cutting out quilt squares for another project.  The pieces were random sizes but roughly the same width.  I sorted the scraps by color and cut the pieces down into approximately 1" x 4" strips. As you can see in the picture some of the strips are less than 1" in width.  As long as they are all the same length the overall look will be beautiful.  The point of using scraps is to allow for the quirky not make everything uniform.

 

The strips are the same length but various widths.

 

Next I then lined up the first few strips in a pleasing pattern and sewed down the center of the strips with a wide zig zag stitch.  Be sure to keep the strips close together as you sew down the center.  You do not want large gaps between your strips.

 

Keep the strips close together as you sew.

 

Repeat the pattern until you run out of strips.  I varied the placement of the slightly thinner strips so there was not a big group of them together.  The length of the garland will depend on the number of strips you cut. 

 

A wide zig zag stitch is all it takes to make this quick garland.

 

Not only does this garland go together quick, the fact that all the scraps came from a previous project means the fabrics are already coordinated.  So grab your scrap bag and whip up a fun garland for your next celebration.

 

Danna

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Lamberts Lately

Use It or Lose It!

As I stretch myself to begin the process of using the things in my home that I love and tossing the things I don't I have a new approach to my craft supplies. You have probably figured out by now that I am a person who does not like to have any waste or scraps from project. I tell myself there has to be some use for those left over pieces.  This thought process has served to uproot my deepest creative ideas and bring them to the surface. I am beginning to learn in this journey that some things you really just need to use or lose.

All of my friends in quilt group know that I will take the scraps from their projects so they will bag them up and bring them to me.  I really do love this, but in the past I would bring the bag home and stuff it in my cabinets to deal with at a later time.  Well, now I am forcing myself to bring them home, sort them and decide right then in what projects they will be used.  It is a slow and steady process but I am beginning to see that it has great benefits down the road.

Here is an example of a recent scrap bag gift from my friends and my new process.  In the bag was a selection of selvage strips, some small pieces cut off the end of quilt blocks, several drop out circles of fabric and larger pieces from a baby gift, and the scraps of a twister quilt.  So my process begins.

1.  Take all the selvage strips and place them in the jars above my work station sorted by color.  I really do use these all the time to tie up gift baskets, ties for gift tags etc.

2.  Pull out the larger pieces of fabric and place them in my fabric stash drawers so I know what fabrics I have to use for future quilts and projects.

My smaller pieces of fabric.

For more info check out this post Fabric Storage.

 

3.  I took the small cut off ends and sorted them by color.  Since they were from a quilt project they already coordinated beautifully.  I cut the larger pieces down so they were roughly 1" x 4" strips.  I then sewed them together using a zig zag stitch down the center to form a garland.

 

Small leftovers from a quilt project. 

I will post more on how the garland was made later.

 

4.  The drop out circles were used to create as many Yo Yo's as I could get out of each circle.

 

Large circles left from a baby gift project.

I cut down the larger circles to create a selection of yo yo's.

 

5.  One batch of the twister quilt scraps were an odd shape cut on the bias.  I did not think these would work well cut into smaller squares so I used them to make a nice grouping of Yo Yo's.  I have a box I keep all my pre-made Yo Yo's in so when I am working on a project I can just pull one out and I don't have to stop and make one.

 

6.  The remaining scraps from the twister quilt were used to embellish a dish towel to be sold in my Etsy shop. I had just enough to create a great looking towel.

 

The blue and white fabric are the twister scraps.

The green yo yo's are from the odd shaped scraps.

 

There, all of the scraps were either used immediately on an existing project or prepared for use in a future project.  A bonus of this process is that I do not have a small bag of random scraps "stuffed" in my cabinets.  There was only a small amount of "trash" from the bag and it was easy to toss them. 

 

My plan is to keep this process going every time I bring home a gifted bag of scraps.  I do still have several "stuffed" in the cabinet I am beginning to work on now.  It is refreshing to use the things I have to create new projects and clear out some space in my cabinets.  Who knows what I will create using the next bag of scraps but I am excited to get started.

 

Danna

 

 

Items 27 - 30 (No Scraps Left Behind)

The last four items in I created in this great experiment were the Bag Tags and Pacifer Strap. 

For the pacifer strap I pieced a patchwork strip and sewed it together to make a tube.  Then I stiched around the outside edge turning in the ends for a finshed look.  Lastly I added a snap at one end and a keyring with clip to the other. 

The bag tags were larger pieces stacked with quilt batting sandwiched in between and cut with pinking sheers to give an edge that would not ravel.  I also stitched 1/4 inch in from  the outside edge all the way around.   I stitched a piece of muslin to the center with the baby's name stamped in Staz-On Permanent Ink.  A gromet was inset into the top of each tag so a clip could be attached.



Bag Tags and Pacifer Strap

Items 4 - 26 (No Scraps Left Behind )

 Thank You Notes, Small Note Cards, Gift Tags, Bookmarks and Mats

Thank You Note Cards

On the quilt I appliqued the name and flowers to the solid white section.  I used fusible webbing to apply the appliques.  After cutting out the letters and flowers I had a pile of scraps that had the fusible webbing on the back.  The note cards, tags and bookmarks were the easiest items I made in this great experiment.

 

I used the same process to make all of these items.  I gathered the fabric scraps with the fusible webbing on the back and let the shape of the scraps dictate each piece.  I fused the pieces onto white cardstock with an iron set to the cotton setting.  I then stamped the greeting on the front.  The inside of the cards were left blank. 

I was trying to attempt a modern "less is more" type feel for the Thank You Cards using the larger scraps and fewer shapes.  The note cards, tags and bookmarks were more from the "Confetti" more playful approach.  For the mats my approach was to have something for Mom and Dad.  In the future I might add some type of edging to give the fused pieces a more finished look on the mats.

Since making these I can see limtless possibilities for using up my rather large scrap pile from previous applique projects. This is a great way to use up every little piece from a project and create something that anyone can use.  The best part is it will coordinate with the original project.  So remember this trick the next time you use fusible webbing to create a project.  Save the scraps!

I would love to hear your ideas and comments.


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No Scraps Left Behind - Items 2 & 3

BURP CLOTHS -- What baby doesn't need more burp cloths, and why not make them beautiful.  I used the larger leftover strips from the quilt to embelish the burp cloths.  To give the edges a more finished look I added ribbon to the top and bottom of the pieced strips.  On one cloth I added a pleated ruffle using the coordinating fabric from the back of the quilt.  Embellishing burp cloths with ribbon, fabric or applique makes a great gift for a new baby.  

Burp Cloth with pleated ruffled edge

Patchword Pieced strip added to very edge

Finished and ready to add to the basket!