Sew Joy: reusing

A couple weekends ago I decided to play with some of my most recent selvages and make this heart pillow.

Fortunately for me {not so much for my husband's wardrobe!} one of my husband's new shirts shrunk. It's 100% cotton and feels soft, maybe it's brushed cotton?

My husband's second comment on discovering the shrunken state of his new shirt was "Why don't you make something with it?" So I did.

I know you can guess his first comment!

I used the heart template from my Pockets of Love pattern and changed up the layout for a simpler, more modern look. I did make the 'top' heart into a pocket by not sewing down the curves when I sewed the heart onto the pillow.

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I enjoyed playing with the stripe selvage. I made two, 5 inch by 10 inch rectangles with 5 different selvages. I changed the positions of the selvages on each rectangle to give me 2 sets of hearts.

My husband is a pretty big guy. This was a XL dress shirt so I had no problem in cutting a big enough piece from the back of it for my pillow. I've even saved a few 5 inch charms cut from the rest of the shirt to play with on another weekend.

It was a pretty quick project to make and I really liked using the shirt front as the back of my pillow.

I think I see some more shrinking shirts in my future!

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

There are lots of ideas being blogged lately about using up scraps.
Here are a few of my methods.

My string blocks are made each week from fabrics I've been using that week. When I started I had to reach into my strip bin to find enough. But it lives right under the cutting table,

So my strips and storage is always close. {The bin is divided with a piece of cardboard to keep foundation scraps on one side. And I will admit to another small bin of scraps beneath the strips that still need to be sorted} The fusible batting lives in there for now because I really want to try Gudrun's tree she did {called Sweet Trimmings} during LAST Fall's Cross Country Christmas blog hop! I finally found some fusible batting when I checked out a little gift store while we were shopping for a new car!

My liberated Churn Dash was made on the spur of the moment. It was easy because my scraps were already sorted by colour.

Some of my scraps end up in reused strawberry containers that I've cut the lids off of and put in the top drawer of my storage unit. I sort them by colour and it's a great place for me to find that one piece I need to add to applique. In this case, I enjoyed the challenge of using the scraps I already had sorted to make a bright, fun block.

June's Block Lotto blocks have given me the chance to use up some odd size scraps. These are ones that won't make 2 1/2 inch squares or larger pieces.

I store lots of my scraps in different reused strawberry containers. These ones have waste triangles, 3 inch strips and Christmas scraps separated from various projects. The middle bottom one is where I found my scraps for the baskets.

At one point I even went through and measured scraps to make more of Nanette's cottage houses. I noted the number of pieces and the size required on the sides of the bins. I do have some bigger pieces I should spend some time cutting for this project. I think some cottages and liberated baskets would be happy together in a quilt:)

I have a larger freezer baggie pinned above my cutting table. I put my selvages in it as I work. Once it's full and I"ve played with some, I dump them into this bin. It's getting full so I will have to do some more selvage projects again. I'm thinking of pulling out the Christmas ones to make a stocking.

Lots of scraps in lots of places. Even if you try just one, it will make play time that much easier.

This is my latest scrap cuttings. I am cutting 2 1/2 inch squares in the hopes of making a watercolour quilt someday. I have always liked them and felt I would have to start collecting a whole different type of fabrics to make one. Wanda suggested to just start cutting from what I have - and I'm happy to say I think I will be able to make my very own SEW JOY Watercolour quilt one day! I'm finishing up another quilt so I can start to keep these cut blocks sorted by colour on the tray I'm using. Maybe for my 40th birthday {wow! am I really going to have one of those} in a few years I'll have enough. It's either that or a 'real' applique quilt.

With Joy,
Sarah Vee