Whilst I haven't been blogging as much as I should, I've definitely been sewing. I've spent more time than I'd like to admit stalking admiring Bonnie Hunter and the sheer volume of stuff she manages to get done in her day. I know she has a system of stash management, but I was too scared to start hacking into the fabrics I have on the off chance I may use them later. What if I need large bits? What if I need borders?
So, mostly my stash has got bigger and not been used at all. This has to change, I can't MOVE in the sewing room.
We had a bagful of fabrics left over from the shop (which closed five years ago) and I figured I have no emotional attachment to any of these fabrics, in fact I'm sick to death of tripping over them. Yeah, I could sell them on Ebay but that's all too hard. So I implemented Bonnie's system on a smaller scale with some of these fabrics just to see if it would work for me. If it's a disaster, it is no big loss - I didn't love any of those fabrics anyway and I'd be glad to see the back of them.
So the result is this:
Whoo Hoo! Apart from cutting up the strips, this is hands down the quickest scrap quilt I've ever made. I'd sewn the whole 42 houses in a day, the outer border the day after. None of this piecing for weeks on end stuff for me!
It's up on my design wall now, with a burgundy homespun behind it to see if I like that for the sashing. I'll probably end up doing that - it's not too offensive a border and honestly, spending money on the border and sashing kinda defeats the purpose of using up fabrics.
But I am totally thrilled to bits with it. I hope that last photo isn't too blurry, it's taken with my new Ipod and I'm still learning how to take a good picture.
Today I may get the sashings on, I may not. I've just spent the morning decluttering a few of my clothes, so I feel all good and virtuous so a sewing afternoon may well be on my cards. It's wet and raining and cold here today which is AWESOME! It's been too long since we've had rain. That's a constant theme where I live. I know you US girls are having the winter from hell but I'm so jealous of the snow and the fireplaces and the cosiness. Snow would be cool.
I hope your day is filled with quilty goodness, and I shall see you another day!
Suzie
What a great scrapbuster! What about adding a scrappy border, maybe like "piano keys" to use up more scraps? :)
ReplyDeleteI've been enjoying the rain we've been getting but I'm not liking the cold!! I'm all rugged up in my dressing gown and socks. Though i atleast get to use a bunch of quilts I've made as they're all covering the bed lol!
Thank you so much for your comments...I'm still mulling over the sashing and I hope by then the perfect fabric for the border will jump out of my stash.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you're not liking the cold, I have a feeling this year might be a bad one!