Hello NeedleWork community! This is my first post on this forum though I have been following along and enjoying all the other posts and tutorials. I thought this would be a good opportunity to share about one aspect of crafting that all sewers can relate to ... what to do with the overflowing scrap pile:
From cut offs of clothing taken in, to left overs from sewing kits I make, to off-cuts from a local sewing supply shop there are lots of colors and textures populating my scrap basket.
Of course, the pile is ever growing as I upcycle and makes so I wanted to do something to showcase the diversity of fabric I have acquired over the years.
As a child I admired the quilts passed down to my mom and the new quilts she and my sister made and always wanted to try making one myself. At the moment, more than a blanket, my greatest need is to update chair cushions that are worse for the wear with permanent stains from idk what.
So, a quilted cushion it is!
Let's begin - Lay flat the base fabric you will be quilting over. In my case it is a pillow case though you may use a square or rectangle fabric to make a blanket or table mat.
Then, start to plan the patched layout. I wanted to highlight the natural shapes of the patches and the eclectic theme of our kitchen, so I used a variety of shapes and patterns right out of my scrap baskets. With the help of an iron I then pinned down the patches, being sure that they overlap with now raw edges showing.
The first pillow I made I put together with a sewing machine which was fine but for the second pillow I wanted a more rustic look at secured the patches by hand with embroidery floss. For a large project, like a quilt, sewing with the machine would be most practical though hand sewing adds a lot of character.
An important note about embroidery floss - in many projects you will need to split the floss for it to actually fit through the eye of the needle and through tighter fabrics. For this quilt I used three strands, in other words half the floss.
And then, simply, sew! This is such a relaxing project to do outside on a sunny day or by the fire on a rainy night.
In the end I am so happy with the resulting and glad to have found a use for my collection of scraps before they outgrew the basket. And for those long, thin fabric scraps, not to worry, I have another scrap-cyling project coming soon! Happy Crafting <3