Last week I shared this quilt with you. Mom and I cut this and 2 other kits from my fabric stash to make quilt kits. We used my Go! Tumbler die and cut 200 tumblers for each quilt (13 tumblers per row and 15 rows). I think it makes a great quilt for a charity quilt.
Today I posted at 3 Creative Studios about how I deal with news stress like the events in Japan. I have to accept that I can only do so much (donate money) to help those who are suffering. But I can use my "worry energy" in other ways to help people close to home. After all, there is always someone in need.
I decided that I would cut 4 more of these kits. Two for my Guild Chapter to sew on their community service sewing day in May and two for another group where I donate a lot of my scrap quilting fabrics. They make quilts for local, state and international charities.
The first step was to pick fabric and cut tumbler blocks. The fabrics for this kit came mostly from a single fabric line. I bought the fat quarter set at a quilt show several years ago. It has lots of bright, happy colors. You can get 6 tumbler blocks from a fat quarter. I fold and cut the fat quarter so that there is a wide middle strip left over. From those I cut 2.25" strips that they can piece together for the binding. All of this goes in a Ziplock bag for the kit.
But there are a TON of scrap pieces left from one of these kit cutting sessions.
Since I bought the fabrics, I certainly liked them so I decided on a small project for msyelf. I sewed some of the scraps into long rows, added some hand dyed fabrics and made 4 placemats! That's a surprise, isn't it?
I already had 4 hand dyed napkins that matched.
I wanted to have some fun with the quilting. I chalked lines across the quilt for every seam line in the strip section and then quilted over the chalked lines with variegated thread. I really like these a lot and I'm glad to have a little project for myself to remind me of the fabrics.
But there were more scraps!
I pulled out the Go! Value die and cut as many 4.5" and 2.5" squares as I could. I will give these to one of the sewing groups too.
I sewed every leftover sewable piece together into 12 5.5" crumb blocks and then took every other bit of scrap and made them into 2 confetti sheets. I did these confetti sheets on a piece of old fabric and decided to make these with some thought and planning. I used all of the purple, red and dark blue pieces on an 18" square and the yellow, green and light blue on a 9 x 18 peice of fabric. For the moment they are fused in layers with Mistyfuse with a layer of tulle fused on top. Once I come up with a project I will do some decorative stitching to quilt the layers together. By doing these on fabric, instead of stiff interfacing, I have more options for how I uses these sheets later.
I don't know what I will do with the crumb blocks yet either, but at least they are not in the trash!
On to the next set of fabrics! I hope I will have a noticeable dent in my stash when these 4 kits are done.
I also enjoy making tumbler quilts with the help of my accuquilt. I had thought of making one to donate to Japan, it would be scrappy, but it would be useful!
Love all the ways you've used your 'scraps'! They certainly aren't scraps now! The placemats are excellent = that would also look great as a band on pillowcases, wouldn't it?
Posted by: deborah kitts | March 22, 2011 at 04:40 PM
Wow, you really have used every last piece of that beautiful fabric!! :)
Posted by: Angela | March 22, 2011 at 04:53 PM
GIVING and SAVING is such a great title!
I love what you do with the scraps of the scraps of the scraps. . .
I wanted to make a baby quilt for Quilt Japan, but didn't really like any of my "baby fabric" choices and being too impatient to go shopping for fabric, I kept searching my shelves and found the PERFECT quilt top. I had pieced it several years ago and tucked it away - now I just need to quilt it and send it on its way.
Our Quilt Chapter will be happy to sew your tumbler blocks when we get together in May. Many hands will make it fast and fun. Thank you, Vicki.
Posted by: Becky in VA | March 22, 2011 at 04:55 PM
Love the placemats - what great inspiration for all those little color-sorted bags of bits I have saved!
Posted by: Cheryl K. | March 22, 2011 at 05:08 PM
Ya done good! I love all your ideas and I can see the energy you put forth. You are so generous to give those kits to various groups too.
Posted by: Debra | March 22, 2011 at 06:45 PM
I love the brown and greens together, I'm planning a 1000 Pyramid quilt using those colors and I think I'll cut a tumbler out at the same time while I have the fabrics.
I think the tumbler die is one of my favorites for quick donation quilts.
Posted by: Mary | March 22, 2011 at 06:58 PM
I forgot to say that I love the placemats too.
Posted by: Mary | March 22, 2011 at 06:59 PM
Wow, you have been a very busy girl! Love those placemats.
Posted by: Terri | March 22, 2011 at 07:11 PM
Wow, that's really impressive! I don't know how you do so much!
I love the crumb sheets! I have used them in a couple of quilts, I like the textur they add! Fun!
Posted by: Deb Hardman | March 22, 2011 at 10:01 PM
Wonderful idea for stash use. I got the small tumbler die, thinking it would be nice for children's quilts. I love the idea of giving quilts to kids, so hopefully I can get going on those and maybe some lap quilts for the elderly too. Love being able to use the dies to make quick quilts.
Debbie
Posted by: Debbie St.Germain | March 22, 2011 at 10:30 PM
Looks like you had a lot of fun! Thanks for the great ideas.
Posted by: Alycia | March 22, 2011 at 11:48 PM
Cool placemats and I like the way you did the quilting lines.
Posted by: Kristin Farwig | March 23, 2011 at 01:00 AM
Great way to deal with news stress and super use of your fabric scraps!
Posted by: Gina | March 23, 2011 at 06:06 AM
I am so impressed that you used EVERY bit of those fabrics!!!! I especially like the placemats....how cool!!!
Posted by: Frances | March 23, 2011 at 06:34 AM
Vicki...i don't know if i am getting like you....or you are getting like me.....but we both use up all those tiny bits of fabrics. so far i have 220 5" crumb blocks. love those.
Posted by: shirley bruner | March 23, 2011 at 08:23 AM
A woman after my own heart. I love to feel I've used every bit of fabric. You certainly have-wonderful placemats.
Posted by: Sandy Jandik | March 23, 2011 at 08:44 AM
That Go! Cutter has certainly seen its share of use!
Posted by: Kim | March 23, 2011 at 09:19 AM
What an awesome use of all those pretty fabrics...love those bright colors! A fabric food chain for sure!
Posted by: julie | March 23, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Two thoughtful posts, Vicki ~ I think all of us feel some degree of overload what with the overabundance of news (accurate or otherwise) so, like you, stepping aside from the TV or computer to do something tangible and constructive helps me cope.
Gorgeous placemats!
Posted by: quiltdivajulie | March 23, 2011 at 03:44 PM
What a great use of worry energy! :-) LOVE LOVE LOVE those placemats...fantastic mix of commercials and handdyes!
Posted by: twitter.com/CandiedFabrics | March 28, 2011 at 09:42 PM