Crafting Treasure (aka "scraps")
I’m a hoarder because I’m a crafter. I see potential craft materials in almost anything! But we’re putting our house on the market and I’ve been forced to ask the question “Do I want to move it?” of all my crafting stuff.
The answer is usually, “No”, but I can’t bear to just toss things and I don’t know anyone local who can craft/sew for going the donation route. So, I’ve set myself the task of trying to use up as much as possible before the move. It’s much easier to gift made items than raw materials!
My yarn stash was satisfyingly depleted by crocheting afghans and shoulder shawls for a senior assistance organization. My stock of cone yarn (remnants of industrial weaving I picked up at a local re-use store) went into crocheting cat beds for the local Humane Society, who also received dog ‘quilts’ constructed from samples of upholstry fabric. Unfortunately, I didn’t snap pictures of any of them before they were donated.
The next material to be targeted was a bin of wool scraps. Having done historical re-enactment, I NEVER throw away natural fiber fabric, even if it’s a small scrap. (There are appliqued tapestries to be made, you know...) But we’ve stopped playing in the past for now, so it made sense to use up the fiddly bits. Enter a large piece of cardboard to be a makeshift loom to do a simple weave — throw rugs!
These wool throw rugs worked up very quickly!
Then it was on to the jeans that had accumulated, waiting to be turned into quilts like this:
This particular quilt is over 20 years old...they LAST!
But I was getting tired of just cutting out squares, so I searched the internet for ideas and started making totes, bags, dog toys, hot pads and stuffed animals from the jeans.
Not sure why this loaded sideways...
I’m also in the middle of making a ‘shag rug’ from the small strips of denim left over from cutting out quilt squares, but it’s slow going.
It will be spiffy if I manage to get it done
Then I got side-tracked into a t-shirt quilt project for my daughter. She has recently put on a growth spurt and most of her favorite t-shirts became much too small. Because they had significance as production shirts or just geeky stuff she couldn’t bear to lose, I created a throw for her and backed it with some flannel from the flannel pile.
When the shirt just doesn’t fit anymore...
Speaking of the flannel pile, I did a simple strip quilt with the remnants of making comfy lounging pants for my non-retail size husband and daughter, which she then decided was comfy enough to appropriate for her own use.
Flannel strips tie quilt
Then it was back to the crafting stash and finding something to do with fabric scraps that weren’t big enough for quilt squares. I’m a utility-quilt gal, so all my quilting is simple blocks and finished by hand-tying. But I tried a technique that wasn’t too fiddly; sewing bits onto a muslin square and then separating them with a simple black sash. I rather like how it turned out and plan to do another, but bigger. (I have LOTS of fabric scraps...)
It’s amazing how much the black sashing makes the colors pop
Oh, and I did turn some of the wool scraps and bigger fabric scraps into my usual block quilts, too.
fabric and lightweight denim tie quilts
wool tie quilts
Now the biggest challenge is to find homes for all these made items! There is some talk of waiting until my daughter goes off to college this fall and spreading the love amongst her dorm-mates, but it might mean moving the stuff after all if the house sells before then!
So, has the spirit of spring cleaning and the desire to “use it up” inspired any crafting projects for you?
