If you work with fabric, I bet you have a huge pile of scrap pieces. I certainly do. And they are all jumbled up in a huge box, which I find much easier to pull out all over the floor than to put back tidy!
I recently read a fantastic book about scrap quilts (and how to sort your scraps) and am completely inspired. I've set a date for sorting my scraps (when the winter nights start coming in) but in the meantime I'm going to make a start on using them productively.
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| Upcycled denim with vintage scraps |
I do use my scrap pieces - especially the larger ones - but it mostly tends to be to trim or accessorise a project I am making from my stash of fat quarters or yardage. So the scrap box gets even fuller.....
I have been deliberately using larger scrap pieces on the
denim jackets I've been up-cycling.
On this denim waistcoat, I hand sewed panels cut from Tana lawn cotton scraps in a gorgeous poppy print. My mother-in-law had been storing these pieces of fabric for years - I think she had made a blouse with the original material, but the scraps were just too precious to throw away.
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| Ohio Star and Nine Patch Blocks |
But I want to do more - I'm starting to do specific scrap projects, where the main purpose is to creatively use up scraps of all shapes and sizes. And I want to have a go at more irregular, random creations.
I am pretty good at improvisation - nearly everything I make is designed and adapted from my head rather than planned out in advance, but they are still ordered or structured and I like things to line up and be balanced.
Which is why I love doing patchwork with traditional block patterns and repeats, such as my
Gettysburg Ohio Star quilt. I used reproduction American Civil War prints in blues and tans and designed the quilt top using Ohio Star and Nine Patch blocks and geometric borders.
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| Scrap Fabric Challenge |
But I'm being increasingly drawn to the fabulous random scrappy quilts I found in the book. They look stunning and I really want to make something similar but the deliberate mis-matched seams, random placements, assorted colours and different shapes scare me pretty silly.
So I think I'll have to set myself challenge next year to create at least one scrappy project each month - which will have both the benefit of reducing my scrap mountain and help free up my creativity in different ways.
And here's one to start me off, a little drawstring bag for storing underwear - inspired by an offcut of fabric featuring vintage style bras.
OK, it's still based on squares and it's all carefully co-ordinated colour wise, but it is completely made from fabric I found in my scrap box, including the striped backing and white lining. And the patchwork placement is (almost) random - I admit I did play around with it a bit to get a reasonable balance, but it isn't in an ordered pattern.
I'm happy with this one - it is early days.....
