Got 15? make fabric

After three weeks of not having a proper sewing space, I unpacked
and had that overwhelming feeling of
uuuugh... where do I begin??

I put up a few BASICS quilts that I need to finish up...
that was a good start...


Then I Dug these SUPER DUPER CUTE blocks from Kathie
also to be finished up for donation quilts...
aren't they spectacular?? thank you Kathy!
I can't believe you could give these up!!

I dug out this lap quilt I made at my cabin, (not an easy feat) to get the binding on it.
This quilt is for one of the ladies at my cabin area
that gave me three boxes of vintage fabrics...
She was sifting through this box and I noticed she had a hard time putting
this blue boat fabric into my bin...

I later pulled it out, since I knew she liked it, to make her a thank you gift...
She later called me and said, "You know that blue boat print?"
"Do you think you could pull that out and save it for me?"

I said, "I already did! and would it be OK if I made it into a quilt for you!"
She was more than pleased. So I want to get it finished ASAP so she can enjoy
it at her cabin this summer...

OK, that's 4 projects already in the works...

then I started something else I've been percolating for awhile now.
But will save that for another day...

I took the scraps from that project though, and did my 15 minutes of
making fabric.

I had a few questions recently about my process
when I "Make Fabric"
Making fabric to me, is taking all my crumbs,
and scraps and making blocks out of them...

So here's my 15 minutes for today...

MAKING FABRIC


I like to start like you would a crazy quilt. with a 5 sided scrap piece.
This will help give you many different angles to your scrap fabric.

I start by adding pieces around, rather like a scrappy log cabin...
But I like to take various size pieces not just strips...
Sometimes I trim as I go to keep various straight edges so I can easily keep adding pieces...

It's an "add and trim" process...

Add in some varied size pieces... and I always finger press...
Getting up to iron every bit is to much...
sew, finger press, sew, finger press...

It's OK if things start to get wonky...

Keep the bits you trim off, as they may be perfect somewhere else...

Like this...

I stop when I reach and approximate goal of my block that I want...

Then trim my block down, in this case I made a 6" block... in 15 minutes...
And have some nice scrap pieces To use when I start my next block...

Be mindful of you squares, if you pull on them you'll pull the seam loose.
I love the randomness of the seams,
and prefer that to perfect horizontal and vertical seams...

They are rather like putting a puzzle together... and even though you
think you are using up your scraps, you will make much much more!
just smaller bits! ;-)


Might you like to do a 15 minute a day
"make-fabric-sew-a-long" with me?

leave a comment here or hop over to the SAY CHEESE blog,
where we will be able to post our progress and see what others do to finish their blocks...

by the end of summer you'll have enough blocks for a very happy scrappy quilt!



Send me an email if your interested...

Happy sewing!