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.