From Scraps to Keepsakes

Last night was interesting. I hosted a casual family dinner for my cousin, his fiancee and my best friend. So nice to be around people you enjoy and care about, to share what's up and to co-miserate about what's down. Mostly we have "ups" and interesting projects to talk about. For me and my best friend, it was sharing with everyone what we've recently completed. We are both on a mission to complete projects ideas from the past.

When Phyllis arrived I was so excited to share the new apron. She countered with a quilt top she had completed made from the floral scraps left over from shorts she had mass produced for her eldest daughter. The quilt was beautiful and amazing and will be a gift to her child when backed and bound. Can you imagine what joy she and her daughter will have remembering events and life's journeys based on the fabric of that quilt. It will be transformed into "The Fabric of Our Lives" as a fabric memory book. My friend does such an incredible job taking scraps and turning them into keepsakes.

If I've learned nothing else over the last year of quilting, it is to rethink what I call scraps and to not to be too generous in what goes in the trash bin. Phyllis has taught me to keep what is 1" or wider and keep it because those make beautiful quilts. She has taken what I would discard and made some wonderful baby quilts that can be sold. It never occurred to me that scraps could be someone's next keepsake quilt.

So the moral to the story is, short of being a pack rat, save you sewing scraps and create Fabric Memory Books. It will be a journey well worth taking.

This the quilt I finished yesterday. It's soft petite floral prints framed in tea stained muslim--perfect for the little girl it was made for.

One more project down, and I can hope in my heart of hearts it will become a keepsake for the baby it is intended for. It will be fun and exciting to see the mommy's reaction to this quilt.

For now, it's back to aprons. There are another three to be done for my sister-in-law. Love the creative time and playing in fabric.

Foot Fetish II, A Journey of Discovery

So today I was surprise to find my two new sewing feet in the mailbox. You have to imagine that I day dreamed all day about using them. It was a day filled with anxiousness as the hours ticked by so slowly.

Once at home with my little package I tried out the 1/4" roll hemmer first. The results are amazing. In quick order the new ruffler was installed on my machine and I gave it a whirl. Wow, my ruffles and pleats need work but still the beginning of this learning experience is well underway.

During a free moment I visited a site today, CreativeSewingSolutions.com. Here they have little mini videos of the different feet they sell and how they work. It was heaven. In between teaching webinars I learned something new myself....Hurray!

Kudos to my sister-in-law, Lynnette, for loving the aprons I mailed to her. We can only hope she gets as much joy out of wearing them as I did sewing them. I have visions of more aprons dancing in my head.

Happy sewing, happy fabric.

Sewer's Prayer

Lord forgive me when I sew
There is so much that I don't know
Gadgets, rulers, and special tools
Sometimes make us feel like fools
When I acheive that special look
Then I will write a nice big book
But for now I continue to grow
My ever changing talents as I sew

Society for Fabric Appreciation is Here

Hello all! For sewers, quilters, and crafters alike I've started our own blog...S.O.F.A. which stands for Society of Fabric Appreciation. This blog is where we can share ideas and information with each and every person who visits.
Topic for today, organization of your fabric.

Recently my best friend, Phyllis, and I went on a mission to get control of our fabric. We each have separate reasons and separate uses for our many fabric "finds." Needless to say, we are truly the original S.O.F.A. members and we have appreciated fabric to the fullest extent our pocketbooks would allow.

Phyllis purchased three drawer plastic containers that were 35" wide from good ol' Wally World (Walmart) for just $16 each. She placed two side-by-side and stacked them two tall for the ultimate wall of storage. Then she placed her fabric in organized and folded fashion in the container drawers. It was so impressive I turned around and did the same.

Phyllis is a quilter and designer so she saves bits and pieces with visions of quilts in her head. I sell my fabric on eBay so I'm collecting for the next Big Hit item. My containers were three deep and two high and I placed shelving above the container.
This has been the best project ever. We both feel accomplished and have thoroughly appreciated our fabrics and getting to go through them again. Now they are safely put away and ready for use when we need them.

More ideas to come.