Scraps + Quick Pattern = Christmas!

Eye will Revive Eye Pillow

When the holidays come around, I always have good intentions of having sewing gifts made, however, somehow it is always creeps up to 1 week before Christmas when I actually get started.  Case in point...Today is the 22nd, and I have about 4 gifts left to finish.  Hmmm...do I think I can get this done?  YES! Why?  Because I am inspired to get these done.  If I wasn't inspired to make these gifts, I shouldn't even try and you could then call me The Grinch, because there would be no way of them getting finished prior to the 25th.

However, I am hopeful, I am listening to some of my favorite Christmas music, drinking my coffee with egg nog, and gazing at the sky, willing more snow to come falling out of it.  I have officially psyched myself up.  So, I am sure you are asking "what kind of project can I possibly get done between now and the 25th?"  Well, here is a really quick and easy gift, no seriously, REALLY EASY gift, like "1 hour to make 4 of these", Easy Gift.

I got my inspiration from this book-

Denyse Schmidt Quilts

This is the Eye Will Revive Eye Pillow, it is filled with Buckwheat, Flax Seed and Lavender for a relaxing break to anyone's day.

I made 4 of these, all the be given to 18-30 year old women.  These would be really nice to be paired with a hand written note about the importance of self-care, and taking time out of their busy schedule for themselves.  It would be such a nice personalized gift, and really low fuss, also very economical, as we are using SCRAPS!



There are so many great ideas out of Denyse Schmidt Quilts book, and they lend very well to scrap projects.  I took the general idea of the Eye Pillow, and the finished sizes and then went to my twice-leftover scrap bin to use up all the tiny little pieces.

Ok, so what is that?  Twice-leftover scraps are the little weird shaped pieces of scraps that are created after you think you have used your scraps up as much as you thought you could.  These are pieces that are odd shaped, or sizes, and would have to be pieced together with lots of other pieces to work well in most projects.  You will have lots of these especially if you are using your scraps for things other than quilts.  Like stuffed animals, pillows, or pincushions.

My scrap bins are wire bins that I sort my scraps in based on style.  So all of my fabrics that are New-Vintage, like Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Denyse Schmidt, Joel Dewberry are all in one bin.

When I go to pick for a project it may have a piece from each different designer in the project, but they truly work together because the style is similar.  This is really convenient for finding a storage spot for all my leftovers.


Here are some of the bins that I have:

New-Vintage
Batiks
Brights
Flannels
Civil War
Pastels
Whites/Creams-Backgrounds
Garment weight-knits, rayons, wool

Some of these bins grow to two or three bins, and then I work with them for awhile, and they shrink back down to one bin.  But it is so much easier to be able to work out of one bin at a time, then trying to sort through ALL of your scraps every time you want to work on a project.

 I love these little surprises that can happen with scraps when you are working on a project.

I saw this opportunity with the stripes when I was trying different layouts with the scraps, and knew that I had to try to match these up!

Keep your imagination open when looking at different combination options for your scraps.

  

The backs and fronts of each of these eye pillows are different fabrics, and designs.

When I was finished with the layout of the fronts and backs, I fused Shear Magic to both sides.  This is a knit fusible interfacing to help reinforce the fabrics, and keep the contents from working their way out.  Then I clipped the corners, turned and filled with the relaxing combination of natural filler. (Complete instructions, and quantities of filler product can be found in the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book)

Eye will Revive Eye Pillow

Here is another really important step for me when sorting my fabrics: Sort them often.  Since all of my scraps are stored in bins, I am able to just sort one bin at a time, and every time I sort them, I am checking to make sure I still love all the fabrics in them, if I don't, they go into a bag to be donated for making charity quilts.  This is called "Scrap Management".  Have you always wanted to be in charge of something, but never feel like you are?  Well, now you can be.  I am naming you Official Scrap Manager of your stash.  There, now go and sort your scraps, you will feel better...

A GREAT Idea!

So, I have a GREAT idea.  Lots of times I come up with ideas, sometimes they are good ideas, sometimes they are bad, just ideas, and occasionally they are GREAT ideas.  I think this is one of those times that I have a GREAT idea.

Every year I have the privilege of spending a week with Kaye England studying the Nifty Notions Cut for a Cure rulers.  We use the rulers for patterns that Kaye has designed, but my favorite part is looking at traditional patterns, and translating them to the Smart Piecing™method of cutting, where maximizing your scraps, and precision construction is King QUEEN! During the time I have spent learning and experimenting, I have become very passionate about using the Nifty Notions Cut for a Cure Rulers exclusively.  I am so excited to share this GREAT idea with you, because I want you, and every quilter to find as much joy in cutting and piecing as I do.

Ok, are you ready for my GREAT idea?

I am so excited to share with you that I am kicking
off the War of the Scraps with the Bread & Butter Society!  In order to make this plan of attack successful, we have organized monthly Society meetings to plot our strategy.  At each monthly meeting, I will be introducing a new pattern designed specifically for the Bread & Butter Society.  Also included in your monthly Society dues, you will receive a fabric kit to make a small project using the featured pattern and Bread & Butter Fabric designed by Kaye England.
During the Society Meetings, we will be devising plans to maximize our efforts with the newly learned technique to use up as many scraps as possible.  The Bread & Butter Society program uses the Nifty Notions Cut for a Cure rulers, and has pattern instructions written for Smart Piecing™ as well as traditional cutting, so you will be able to mastery Smart Piecing™ techniques.




FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q: Who should register for the Bread & Butter Society?
A: EVERYONE!  This is a great program designed for the beginner or advanced sewer.  We will begin each Society meeting with basic cutting and piecing information, and you will decide how advanced you are interested in becoming.

Q: How many Society Meetings are there?  How many projects?
A: There will be 6 Society Meetings, starting in January (Dates and times HERE)  There are 7 projects that are part of your Society Membership (pictured on poster above)

Q: What if I don't live near the store?
A: You can still be a part of the Society, even if you can't attend the monthly meetings.  We can mail your pattern and kit to you every month, and your will find additional support material, and tips here on this blog-War of the Scraps (WarOfTheScraps.blogspot.com)

Q: What if I miss a meeting?
A: If you can't make it to a meeting, we can mail you the month project, or you can pick it up in the store anytime, your Society Membership will ensure you will have a kit and pattern waiting for you.

Q: Do I have to fill out a registration form to join the Society?
A: Society Membership requires a valid registration form for each member.  Registration form includes a credit card authorization form and your monthly dues will automatically be charged each month, making it much easier to pick up, or have your project kit and pattern shipped.

Click here to get more info and download Registration Form

War of the what?

Ok, it is official, I am declaring a war on scraps everywhere.  You are invited to join me, if you don't join willingly, you may be recruited.  This is a war, but it is a very peaceful war.  Sometimes it is even relaxing.  The goal of this War of the Scraps is to promote change, whether it is a change in how you collect scraps, use scraps, or even just in your perception of how you SEE scraps.  

Ok, so here's the down and dirty of War of the Scraps.  I have scraps, lots of scraps.  It sometimes is intimidating to look at all my scraps at one time.  So I have bins, lots of bins.  I have some bins that are hidden away in other people's houses, and are a pleasant surprise when I come across them, like a found treasure!  

I sometimes spend hours just looking through my fabric scraps, and dreaming of what they may, or may not become.  Some of my fabrics will be permanent scraps.  I have some pieces of fabric that I bought with the sole intention of them forever being scraps.  That's allowed.  Then I have some pieces of fabric that are perfect for every project that I work on and I try to incorporate them into several different things. 

The goal here is to show you some of the ideas that I have of how to use up scraps, sometimes I use up big scraps, and sometimes I use up tiny little pieces.  (These nine patches are finished 3/4 of an inch square!)  I also have some ideas on maintaining your scrap collection.  It is after all a collection, and like any good collection, you need to nurture that.  

Come back and visit often.  I have lots of fun dreaming and creating with fabrics.  

Are you ready to declare you War of the Scraps in your sewing space?

~therese