Spring Cleaning Fever

Ok, so Friday Night's Sew-In didn't go the way as planned because

I came down with a fever. In some places it is called

 "Spring Cleaning Fever"  and it can be contagious.

As I sat in my sewing room on Friday all set to begin

my project,  I looked around and became depressed.

Things had really gotten out of hand.

I've been wanting to clean my sewing room for quite some time.

By clean, I mean not only clean it, but really do some organizing.

 I've read about different ideas on how to manage scraps,

but have never found a system that works for me.

So, armed with good intentions I dug into my boxes of

miscellaneous  fabric scraps  and tried to come up with a plan.

 (By the way, the above photo is by no means an indication

of the size of my scrap piles. LOL!)

My previous "system" was to throw all the leftover fabrics into

a container  at the end of a project, so the coordinating fabrics

would  be grouped together. The problem with this system was

that I had containers everywhere.

A little fabric here and a little over there.

When I actually did sit down to make another project,

 it was difficult to see  how much fabric I had to work with.

So here is what I did....

For scraps about the size of a fat quarter, I used my

5" x 24" ruler as a folding guide.

First, fold the fabric along the edge of the ruler.

Once the fabric is folded together, simply slide the ruler out from

 under the layers of fabric.

                                                                                           

Then place the ruler on top of the folded fabric

and fold over the remaining fabric. 

The  fabrics can then be placed into a container for storage.

Although the folding job isn't  perfect...

an inventory can quickly be taken.

(I used the same basic concept for folding larger

 pieces of fabric as well.)

For smaller scrap pieces, I decided to cut the largest square

possible. The squares can be used in many different patterns

of scrap quilts, and certainly take up less space for storage.

So, for the past week I've been cleaning my sewing room

and finally feel like things are getting under control.

Do you have a system for managing scraps?

 If so, I'd love to hear about the system what works for you.

Don't Forget: Friday Night Sew In!

Just a reminder. Heidi is holding a sew-in on

Friday, March 19th.

 It's a great motivator to work on unfinished projects

 and set aside some time to relax. Be sure to take lots

of photos and post them to the Flickr page to share with everyone.

I've got my fabrics ready, and hope to make some new liners for

a few of  my longaberger baskets.

Will you join us? What are you planning to make?

Doll Quilt 8 Received!

It's here! The  package I've been waiting for!

 And oh my, how pretty!

Back in January  I signed up for Doll Quilt Swap 8.

I went through the  process of "stalking"  my partner Megan 

on her website  to learn more about her and

the style of quilts she enjoys.

I ended up making this quilt for her.

(You can read the details of how I created

the quilt at this post.)

So imagine my surprise when I receive a package from a name

 I recognize.  In fact, I made a quilt and sent it to her and she made one

and sent it to me! How fun is that?

So this is what I received.

 It has tons of tiny half-square triangles and is completely

hand quilted! What a beautiful little quilt and....

she sent along this lovely little roll of fabric that I can use

 to make another project.

Thank you Megan! I totally love it!

For those wanting to learn more about

Doll Quilt Swap 8

 be sure to check out this link to Flickr where you can

see many more creative little doll quilts.

Scrappy Stars

I ran across this pattern about a year ago and was drawn to the scrappy look. I'm still not totally sure of the official name of the block, although I've seen it listed several places as "Stretched Star". I had seen this pattern in basic cottons, but for the purpose of this quilt I chose to use flannels. I just love the timeless look of flannels. Especially when making quilts for men.

The block is actually quite basic. It is formed by using a square piece of fabric and sewing two smaller squares across the corner. When pressed open, the smaller square replaces the corner of the original larger square. I found an awesome tutorial on Bonnie's blog that helped me with all the details.

I sewed together the blocks, and then I got stuck. It looked so plain and I couldn't

seem to figure out what was needed to pull it all together.

In January, I purchased EQ6 and began learning how to work with basic designs. Although I am far from knowing everything it can do, I found a similar block to the stretched star and used it work up a visual. Once it was on the page I could see what was lacking. The inner border was needed to frame the blocks before the larger border was attached.

I kept the quilting simple by using straight lines along the edge of the blocks.

For the border, I chose to vary the lines in the same size as the blocks. I got the idea from a quilting book that listed popular quilting patterns in the early 1900's. I'm pretty happy with the way the quilting turned out, especially when you see it from the back.

On the back, for fun I used a row of the waste triangles that were left over from making the blocks.

The triangles were teeny, tiny...but then again so is the recipient of this quilt.

This is my youngest grandson. Isn't he a sweetie?

Hopefully some day he will look at this blanket and remember that his nana loved him:)