Scrap Sewing Continued

I am happy to say that I worked with the pile of scrappy strips that I shared yesterday. 

Last night I sewed a few strip sets.  

As you can see from the picture taken after they were pressed, the edges do not need to be even. The length of the sets needed to be approximately 12" for the long ones and 8" for the short ones.

The 12" strip sets also needed to measure at least 11" tall.

The 8" strip sets also needed to measure at least 11" tall. 

I decided to work with the long sets first. I am presenting some demos at an upcoming event at Chestnut Ridge Sewing, so I decided to "practice" one of my demos using scraps, rather than yardage. I'll have a sample of how I used these strip sets with me. If you are in that area Thursday or Friday, stop in and see me. I'll be in the classroom. :-)

I am sure many of you have made bowl cozies, but I will admit that I made my first ones this past summer and really enjoyed making them. Here are a couple of pictures of one that I made. 

I used the Creative Grids Bowl Cozy Template Set and love the fact that I can make two sizes with it. I like the scallop edges, and think it makes picking up the cozy really easy. Plus, I just like the way it looks. :-)

I decided to make a small cozy using scraps and I really like how it looks. (There is a a template available from The Gypsy Quilter for use with 2.5" strips, but I really wanted to mix and match strips widths.) I also used the pre-cut 100% cotton batting, which made this cozy go together very fast. (Taking pictures of this is NOT easy.  LOL)

Just because I can, I am going to share a few pictures showing my process and a few of the adjustments I've made from the original pattern. One of the reasons I had not made any of these prior to this summer was that quite honestly, I was never much impressed with them. I always felt that they kind of looked sloppy and I didn't like the "fullness" or "not fully quilted" look of the ones I've seen. I am a quilter and while I don't like overly dense quilting, I really don't like quilting that is spaced too far apart. (Yep! I'm picky.)

Ok...back to the process. As you can see from the strip sets below, there is no real rhyme or reason to my strip sets, other than that they should measure at least 11" high by 12" long. I do prefer to have a wider strip on the ends and not a really narrow one, like 1". I think that makes any needed trimming easier. 

I squared up the strip sets to 11" x 11", as per the instructions on the template set. (I've seen instructions that say to start with 10" - 10.5" squares, but that is too close for comfort for me.) 

Using the instructions on the template set, I folded and cut the strip set to end up with this odd looking piece. The cut out V sections are for the darts that will be sewn after the pieces is quilted. This, and the curved sections create the scallop look that I like so well. (I'm not going to show how to cut the template. It's pretty straight forward if you follow the instructions on the package. That, and the fact that I forgot to take pictures. LOL) 

Using a chalk marker, I drew the lines I wanted to quilt. This is more than usual, but as I said earlier, I like these cozies to be more heavily quilted. 

For this scrappy cozy, I also stitched in the ditch of all the seams. Here is a picture from the back, showing all of the lines of quilting that I added. It looks like a hot mess, doesn't it?  

Here is a picture of the back of the original cozies that I made. This shows that I sewed a few "extra" lines on those from what is suggested on the instructions. I really like adding the stitching that creates a square along what will be the bottom of the cozy. I feel like it helps them stand more upright. Honestly, you can quilt as much or as little as you like. It doesn't matter. You can even use decorative stitches, if you want. You are the decision maker here. :-)

So...here is my scrappy bowl cozy. I like it and have enough strip sets sewn to make at least two more. I am also going to make a couple of the large cozies. That strip set will measure approximately 17" x 17" and be trimmed to 16" square. I'll follow the same procedure, including using the large pre-cut batting.  

Now...off to work with the small strip sets. That project is a little different, but along the same lines. It will also be used in the kitchen. :-) 

Working with Scraps

As I've recently posted, I have been very busy with "work" type quilting and I really want to sew something that is "just because." I know that the project needs to be quick and mindless, yet fun. 

So...while trying to clean up and organize my sewing area, I started playing around with an idea on a way to use some of my "smallish" pieces of fabric. You know what fabrics I mean, right? Those pieces that are too big to throw away, but too small to put in the tub with yardage. I know that I could (and I have) cut them into small segments to have on hand for scrap piecing, etc. Bonnie Hunter calls it her Scrap User's System, and I've used that on occasion. But honestly, I want to sew something and not cut and organize my overwhelming pile. (Yep, I'm kind of being a baby right now!) 

I needed to simplify things and just do a little bit; so I pulled out a bunch of small pieces of fabric that remind me of Fall colors. I pressed what needed pressed and reviewed my project idea. I made some notes, decided what I needed and felt pretty good, knowing that I will soon be creating/sewing something.

I will be working on two projects at the same time (of course!) and decided that for one of the projects, my strips need to be 12" long and for the other project the strips need to be 8" long. (Those lengths may be adjusted after I figure out what I'm doing.  hahaha)

I cut what I could lengthwise and then cut a variety of widths of fabric ranging from 1" up to 2 1/2". I put the strips in a pile, based on the length size. 

Here's what I have. 

I'm not going to lie. It feels pretty darn good to have cut up a bunch of fabric! You might recognize some of these fabrics. There are Kim Diehl fabrics, pieces from recent projects, and even some very old Thimbleberries fabric. I have no more of these fabrics in any yardage or even large pieces, and that feels really good. I am feeling better already and I haven't even sewn a stitch yet. LOL

Next, I'll review my the notes I made for the projects and start sewing. I'm still finalizing my project details and process, but I'll sew a test later today and go from there. I may try to sketch out something in EQ, but I don't think I want to do that right now. I just want to sew...

I'll take pictures and share my progress over the next few days.