Scrap Happy

I've been thinking about scraps today.  Scraps make me happy.  I used to be unappreciative of scraps.  I used to throw them away.  They had very little value.  I told myself I was being tidy.  No one can keep all this stuff, I thought.

Then  I discovered designer fabrics and Flickr.  It is amazing what one can do with scraps.  Take this scrap vomit pillow, for example.  It is not entirely made of scraps - I had to buy the gray Kona because I don't really like gray and so I have no gray scraps.  And my partner had requested some specific things I didn't have, so BD#1 gave me 5 charm squares, and I used about half of the pieces I cut from those.  But the rest of this pillow is scraps.  Talk about getting something for nothing!

Or the Ugly Quilt. I bought nothing for this quilt,except the backing.  It was all scraps. I even did scrap binding.  It was fun!  Exhilarating even! 

It is fun to sew with new fabrics.  I'm as fond of shopping for yummy fabrics as anyone I know.  It can even be therapeutic.

But the delightful thing about scraps is that they cost nothing.  They are scraps, after all.  Leftovers from another project.  Byproducts if you will.  And so, creating beautiful things from these leftovers is truly like hitting the jackpot.  I always feel so jazzed when I make things from scraps.  Proud.  Thrifty.  Lucky.  And Happy too.

I have been making lots of progress on my Santa Swap surprises.  (And, I have to say, having a great time!)  I went through my scrap bag and I was amazed at what I found.  Jack Pot!!!  So I stitched up some practical, useful, fun, and beautiful stuff.  And I haven't bought the first thing.

I have made some - I think - lovely things, entirely from scraps.

Now isn't that gratifying?

I think I'm gonna go see what else is in that scrap bag!

Scrapbuster Saturday - A Silk Purse {Out of a Sow's Ear}

Sometimes It seems like I have nothing interesting to say in this blog, but right now, it feels like there is so much going on, I don't know where to start.  Today, Amy of Amy's Creative Side is hosting the Spring Blogger's Quilt Festival, so today I will share my "Ugly Quilt".

Way back in January, Just A Bit Frayed proposed a challenge on Flickr called Save the Uglies.  It seems it wasn't a very popular challenge, and I believe I may have completed the only quilt entry, but just like the MIAGIA quilts I posted about here and here and here, the challenge is to make something attractive out of fabrics you don't really like or maybe wouldn't choose - or worse yet, you did choose them, and now can't seem to understand just what you were thinking.

Just a Bit Frayed sent me some fabrics that I just couldn't imagine how I would use.  One was a Halloween print, and while I don't have anything against Halloween, it isn't my favorite holiday, either, and I have no desire for a Halloween quilt.  So what was I to do?  I think BD#1 thought I was crazy to make it, but I had "won" the fabric, and I felt obligated to complete the quilt.


Along about the middle of March, I was browsing quilting mags in the Navy Exchange, waiting for WH to get a haircut, and I ran across a quilt pattern called "Box of Chocolates".  It combined brown and rust with pink and cream and turned into a really attractive quilt. Of course, those fabrics were created to go together.  Could I do it with these fabrics?

So a couple of weeks ago (yes, I am a procrastinator, but I prefer to think of it as managing my deadlines - LOL), I went through my scrap bag and picked some leftovers from several other quilts I made - some of them years ago.  The pinks are from a quilt I made BD#1 for her birthday in 2007, shown in the photo above.  She is actually using the quilt on her bed now, which makes me happy. 

Most of the other browns are from a log cabin quilt I made eons ago.    The one piece of "new" fabric was a piece of L'amour that BD#1 sent me a few weeks ago.  I actually think she was a little bit offended that I used it in the Ugly Quilt, but it tied the browns and pinks together so well, I couldn't resist.

 I finished the blocks just before I packed to come to Utah, and put them together the other day during nap time.  I think the addition of the pinks and creams hides the ugliness of the ugly fabrics pretty well.  I tried to make the Halloween pieces small enough that you weren't sure whether it was really  a Halloween fabric, or not. 

Friday night, after our day at Quilt Market, I assembled the back, made my sandwich, and did the quilting, and this morning, I put my scrappy binding around the edges and presto-chango - I think it turned into a really attractive quilt.

Even BD#1, who said that it contained "some really unappealing fabrics" concedes that the finished quilt "turned out very pretty".

 One of the highlights for me of making this quilt was doing the actual quilting on BD#1's Bernina QE440.  It was really a blast.  I am not great at FMQ yet, and while the Bernina FMQ feature is awesome, I had a lot of trouble with stops and starts and the weight of the quilt making "designs" I didn't intend.  But overall, it was a lot of fun.  And it went so fast!!  I love my machine.  It was a gift of love (which is probably a story I'll tell another time) and it has some really awesome features, but I certainly can't do FMQ this easily or quickly on it.

And I like that this quilt fits into my Scrapbuster Saturday category.  I used a TON of scraps in this quilt, in addition to the 2 ugly FQs, the L'amour, and the backing fabric.

My grandmother used to say that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and most of the time that is true, but maybe sometimes, you CAN make a silk purse out of a sow's ear - at least in a quilt.

Last Day for Week 2 Blogiversary Giveaway!

Don't forget that today is the last day to enter to win the Jelly Roll Market Tote and Sunkissed Charm pack for week 2 of my Blogiversary Giveaway!  Go here!

And be sure to check back on Friday, because I have something planned that I think you'll really like.

Have a great Thursday!

And We Have A Winner!

Well, I've been hinting about a special something for someone who made a comment on my 100th post, but only one person took the hint...  at least on the right post.  Ellyn, recent winner of the Stylish Blogger Award (see my post here and Stephanie's post here), is also the winner of my 100th Anniversary Post surprise for commenting on my Scrapbuster Saturday post, my 100th post in Blogland.

Your "surprise" is the very market bag I made for the tutorial on that post.  I hope you like it.

Congratulations, Ellyn!  If you'll email me your address, I'll get your surprise in the mail.

It is somewhat ironic to me that I reached my 1-year blogiversary, my 100th post, and my 200th Flickr photo within 10 days of each other.  It was totally random, unplanned, and downright coincidental.  Must be a convergence of the planets or the crafty muse's influence or something.

Anyway, I am really enjoying this adventure into craftiness, and the outlet that Flickr and the blog add to that.  I think my skills have really stretched since my first couple of swaps.  I am much more willing to try new things now than I was  before, and I think that's a good thing.  I was pretty much stuck in a rut. But I have created - and received - a lot of fun crafty items, and it is propelling me to improve.

I thought I'd take a look back over the last 3 months at the yummy craftiness I've received...

Pillow Talk Swap from Lexiloo

Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap from miniature quilter

Charm Squares galore from the Chronic Seamstress Charm Square Swap

Some cool fabric postcards from the Fabric Postcard Swap

Organizers from Etoile2b in the Urban Home Goods Swap

Pot Holders from sweetteamom in the PP6 swap

Beautiful Hexie Flower Blocks from my friends in the First Time Bee

Fabric, Hoop, Sewing Machine Cover and other yumminess from Suzettra in the Make Mine Modern Swap

Did I forget anything.  I don't know.  There's been so much craftiness going on, until getting the mail has become something of an event.  

And I've created a few things I'm proud of along the way.  I've learned that it's ok to submit an idea and get feedback - and if the feedback doesn't elicit exactly the response I desired, it's ok to start again...  and again...  and maybe even again, until I come up with something that works.

So I'm enjoying this venture into the online sewing and quilting community.  I hope you are too.