Scraps 101 - Real Scraps!

A few years ago I made a few Valentines Quilts that I collected Red and Pink fabrics for. I love Valentines day..my birthday is in February..so I made a few of them and gave them away. But alas I bought too much fabric and still have a large stash of Reds and Pinks. So I drag them out every so often and make something. I made a nice Log cabin last year to try out my Log Cabin tool...a later blog. But the other morning I woke up with an idea of a collage piece then cut up into hearts to make some cards out of. I am trying to start early for the PAC show in December! So here is my process:

I cut a red piece as the base fabric..if any background shows through or raw edges at least it will be red and not muslin.
Then I cut random pieces and laid them over each other. I put variegated or red thread in the sewing machine and machine quilted over the peices. I just randomly stitched to make sure the edges were sewn down and it was pretty solid in the stitching.
I made a heart template to fit on a A6 card size. ( I have lots of red envelopes left from Christmas...using the fat of the land so to speak). I cut with scalloped scissors, wavy scissors and straight edge for variety. Then made a small bow from strips and a small shell button. I think they came out really cute and can't stop making them! I need to move to another color.....

Scraps 101 - Yo Yo's!

I was not sure if I liked these little things until I went to my local fabric store where Clover was having a demo on their fun products. I love Clover, lots of great sewing tools. This Little yo yo maker was the coolest tool I had seen in a while and thought it was another great way to use up my scraps. So I bought two sizes, large which finishes at 1 3/4", and a small which finishes at 1". The gal also demoed an oval shape which I bought as well. When I got home I dug out some scraps and started making some while I watched TV. I had a little baggy full before I new it. While I was making them I thought of some different ways to use them, one is to make a little black tunic and sew them on the front and back. Now this picture is of them on top of a little tunic top I have so the finished project is not done but wanted to show my idea. I think it would be nice done with yo yo's in neutral colors as well with a nice linen tunic. I went and bought an extra small template as well to fill in the small gaps. The yo yo's can be flipped with the smooth, non gathered side up as well. I thought it might be cool to put both sides up. I think I will get out my batiks and do one in all batiks with a nice black rayon tunic. Also what about a small bolero vest to wear over my solid color tunics tops with a t-shirt. My ideas come faster than I can make them.