Fabric Scraps Obsession, Special Events

Two Quilters and a Bed Full of Fabric Scraps

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I know you’ve been waiting…and here is the follow up to my 03/30/18 post  Scrap Party! , where I had a special birthday celebration play-date with my fabric-scrap-loving quilting friend.

It started with this plastic bin of my fabric scraps:

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More fabric scraps crammed in here than I realized…

Dumped onto my bed (the bed has a plastic sheet from packaging material covering it):

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A king size bed filled with fabric scraps (awesome or terrifying?)

Before we dove into this delicious (or suspicious) pile of fabrics, first we needed to fortify ourselves:

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I might have a small studio but I can always make room for tea and cookies (made by TTQH!). 

After a few minutes of frolicking in the fabric scraps, my quilting friend pulled her initial stack and got to work on making improvisational blocks. As a challenge, in addition to access to my crazy fabric scrap collection, I assigned my friend these pieced block discards/trimmings to try and incorporate into her improvisational blocks:

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During our fabric scrappy play day I thought I would also take the opportunity to practice paper-piecing (Not the fun “English Paper Piecing” type but the “flip and stitch” type of paper-piecing that I suspect is what you have to do all day in the “Underworld” if you are bad in life and go there after you die…um, I would like to choose the “fire & brimstone” instead please…).

I signed up to participate in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show’s 2018 Wish Upon A Card Fundraiser & Fabric Challenge sponsored by Robert Kaufman Fabrics. I needed to make a 4′” x 6″ fabric postcard to donate to the fundraiser, incorporating the two feature fabrics provided by Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

In general I love Robert Kaufman fabrics, but I was completely underwhelmed by the fabric pieces they sent me to make the postcard:

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Um…what am I gonna make with these?!??!

Thank goodness my friend helped me pick out some coordinating fabric scraps for my postcard.

Here was my first (actually second, as the first was a legendary-paper-piecing-screw-up disaster) attempt at paper piecing a little house for the postcard:

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Hated it!

Here is my second (okay actually third) attempt and the final version with my embellishments:

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“Visitor Arrives” by tierneycreates 2018 (note the back of the postcard is fused blank muslin covering the stitching so that it can be used as a postcard)

I mailed it off yesterday to Wish Upon a Card and I will not be offended if they say they “never got it in the mail” or they accidentally let it slip into the trash can – ha!

Now I bet you are curious: Did we make a dent in the pile of fabric scraps? Not really. Here is the tub of fabric scraps cleaned up from the bed and put back into the closet after my friend left:

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It appears I have enough for another Fabric Scrap Party (or 200+ Scrap Parties)!

Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

40 thoughts on “Two Quilters and a Bed Full of Fabric Scraps”

    1. Thanks so much! And thanks on the postcard! I consider you a “real artist” so your positive feedback makes me hope they won’t accidentally toss it in the trash when it arrives to the Wish Upon a Card Charity fundraising group – ha! 🙂

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      1. They WILL NOT throw it in the trash. I think they will be happy. I think it’s something you could make more of and I’d love to see them, that stash is crying out to be postcard material, I think because the pieces are small, and postcards showcase a fabric or two at a time, I think. I’m already envisioning you to be sitting in front of the TV arranging these things (oops, I think I’m getting you to do it because I want to. Oh dear, I just can’t be getting back into fabric, I’ll sink…)

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    1. Thanks so much it was a lot of fun, though I was strangely completely exhausted after putting away the scraps. For a moment I thought “hmm I could just toss them all in the trash bin or donate them all” but it was okay after they were all put back in their bin! Thanks on the postcard, we’ll see if they hide it in the back of the fabric postcard display at this year’s Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 🙂

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  3. I knew it would be SEW fun! The postcard is cute…hope you kept the one you hated to use for something ( oh, I bet it 8s in the scrap bin, at least!) , as it 8s cute. The final one feels btighter and more cheerful! A successful scrap party!

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    1. Thanks so much! Well the one I hated got ripped apart as I wanted to reuse the fussy cut bird in the window (it was from a small scrap and I did not have another section of the scrap like that one). The rest got thrown away as it is only a 3″ paper pieced block so you can imagine how small the pieces are!

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  6. What fun! It’s great to do things like this with a buddy, especially one that comes with her dog! I like the first (second?) postcard too. The blue fabric makes a very dynamic sky.

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  8. What a cute postcard – I love the little story it tells, with the little house. Is the visitor-bird arriving for a scrap party, too? (hope so, looks like it was tons o’ fun). 🙂

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  9. You made me chuckle with relating your feelings about paper piecing. I’m taking a wild guess that you won’t be doing that again for a while. It does seem like a rigid technique and that is not my impression of you. There is no end to scraps no matter how hard one tries nor how many friends come over. And perhaps that is a good thing!

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    1. Thank you and I should try and paper piece again. Like the saying goes “What does not kill you, makes you stronger” – ha! I think my only solution is to stop accepting new scraps for my pile (I have a wonderful quilting friend who buys awesome fabrics and does not keep her scraps when she is done with a project – she gives them to me….but they are so yummy – hard to turn down!) 🙂

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  11. Tierney, It sounds like you had a great time with your friend and the dogs. How awesome to have someone to sew with. I’m not at all surprised that you needed refreshments before starting. We quilters simply can’t focus until we’ve sufficiently filled our bellies. I must say that I totally would have accepted all three of your postcards. Each one has a beauty all it’s own. Pretty clever to hand over the orphans to your friend. Many problems those problem children are better left to the hands of someone else. I really enjoyed seeing the new pieces you two were able to stitch together. No surprise that the tub essentially looks untouched. I think the scraps multiply while we sleep. 🤣

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    1. Thank you and Cindy and yes I am pretty sure the fabric scraps are “breeding”! The cookies were delicious and gave us energy to dive into that pile! I appreciate you reading and commenting 🙂

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  12. Your postcard is AWESOME! I can see why you were underwhelmed by the blue and green fabric, but what you made of it is incredible. What a fun surprise to see the cool result of that questionable (LOL) fabric. Thanks for the share – it was a fun read.

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  14. Yay! It looks like you had a blast… And you certainly made a dent in the scraps stash! I think your two postcards are awesome (although you’re right, the second/third one is better), especially since the fabrics they sent you didn’t float your boat at all! Now I’m looking forward to the next time you raid the scraps for inspiration 😀

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      1. Aha! At first I thought not too… But I checked the before and after photos, and the evidence is there! Well, unless you were sneaky and packed everything back in more neatly this time. It’s a shame there’s an ocean and a continent in the way, or I would happily come over and help myself to fabric scraps! 😀

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