I have a problem. Some call it being frugal or economical. Some call it being a hoarder. Blame it on my Dutch heritage - I'm cheap, I don't throw anything out. But if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much. Long story short, I found myself with an incredible supply of tiny Loulouthi scraps left from Spring Quilt Market sewing. So I collected them all and started sewing them together.
Then we moved into our new house, my sewing fell by the wayside while I painted my new workspace, and the bits and pieces were left waiting rather impatiently.
Good news folks! My sewing desk is set up, not in it's permanent area and it needs a paint touch-up, but I'm sewing again. Which means all those bits finally got picked back up and I finished the last of 25 blocks last night.
Wanna know how I did it? It's a lot of fun, and a really great project for all those tiny chunks of your favorite fabric.
I started by sorting my scraps into sizes - crumbs, chunks, and legitimate pieces.
Then I just stitched the crumbs together, two by two, until I had a bunch, which I then started sewing to each other. This is a great excuse to do some major chain piecing!
Add more pieces as your work them, trimming to get a straight edge for the next piece.
I didn't think too much about the fabrics I was adding, just tried to make sure I had a good mix of patterns & colors.
As my chunks of crumbs got bigger, I started taking pieces from the other piles to grow them into 6" square blocks.
I did this a couple ways - a round-about log cabin style of adding strips around each side, and sewing chunks together.
This sometimes meant chopping off larger sections to get a square edge - but don't fear, just sew that into another block!
There is no planning in these blocks, creating lots of crazy angles and tiny pieces. Just keep sewing everything together - it's very relaxing!
(and you will make a basketful of the prettiest trash ever.)
I ended up with 25 blocks, all 6" square. I'm not sure what kind of layout I will do with them yet. I've considered sashing them, checker boarding them, or just piecing them randomly with neutral fabric to make a hodgepodge quilt in the spirit of the blocks.
I LOVE these fabrics and would like to make this a quilt big enough to enjoy myself. If that's not possible, I might turn it into a baby quilt for a future Lil' Anderson. (Future as in, I don't know when in the future .. no, I am not pregnant .. putting that disclosure in there because I know my family will ask.) I think it would make an amazing focal point for an otherwise subdued nursery.
Either way, I am happy to say my Loulouthi scrap pile has greatly decreased. And although my hubby hates multicolored quilts, he commended me on using only scraps to construct the blocks (aka "Thanks for not buying more fabric honey.")
Go forth and use up those scraps people! But before you do, please enter my giveaway. It's a nice thing to have in your back pocket. Happy Hump Day!
