Just a few simple ideas of what you can do with those fabrics in your stash
- If you have long thin pieces left over from previous projects, cut them into 2 1/2" strips and when you have 40 coordinating strips use these in place of a jelly roll. There are lots of patterns designed for jelly rolls. If you do this as you use the fabrics, when you are ready to make a strip quilt the strips will be waiting for you.
- If you have different sized strips (each the whole width of the fabric) you can just sew the strips together to make a strippy quilt without cutting them to the same width- without the preciseness of having to cut them into 2 1/2" strips.
- Cut 8" squares. When you have enough (about 128 for a lap quilt) you can make a shaggy edge quilt. This is quick and easy to achieve and suits a scrappy style.
- For your smaller scraps try some english paper piecing - hexagons are a good place to start. Just make a few each day whilst watching TV
- You could even try your hand at yo-yos - the clover yoyo makers make fast work of this (and I can even get the kids to have a go too). Make a variety of different sizes. Great for embellishing a bag or quilt. There are also yo-yo animal patterns available.
- If you have leftovers from a particular project cut the fabric into 2 1/2" squares (or smaller!) and sew them randomly together to make the centre of a scrappy backing for the same quilt
- Sew fat quarters together in a grid to make a pieced backing (or front come to that)
- Gather together 9 fat quarters that coordinate, making sure that you have contrasting fabrics. Make a stack and whack quilt
I'd love to make this a list of ten things. Do you have any other ideas? Please post an idea using the "comment" button directly below this post.
