A couple weeks ago, while I had my AccuQuilt fabric cutter out, I chopped up a bunch of Christmas leftover fabric into some 4.5" squares. Some of the smaller scraps, I turned into 2.5" squares.
I love that my cutter turns out these standard cuts so quickly!
I can get to the sewing right away and the pieces are so precisely cut.
The few 2.5" squares, I sewed up into 4 patches.
I always try to find ways to use up all of the bits and pieces.
This project is starting out as a large piece of patchwork. I quickly laid out the larger squares on my design wall, and then scattered the 4 patches throughout the piece.
I wanted to sew this up quickly so I decided to chain piece more than one row at once. This can get a quilter in trouble pretty quickly so I thought I would share a little trick I use.
I pull all the pieces off the design wall by row - with the far left square on top. I place one pin in the center of the top square for the first row and two pins in the square for the second row. (you can add pins if you want to work on even more rows...)
I then place the stacks in front of my machine with the first row to the left and the second row to the right. I then start chain piecing. I start with the stack on the left, sewing the first two squares. Then I piece the first two squares on the right. I then grab the pieced row one off the back of the machine and sew on a square from the left stack. The pin always goes to the far left so you never have to worry about sewing to the wrong end of your strip. And if you loose track of what stack you are supposed to trim from, you just have to look at the number of pins in the strip.
Even if you are working on lots of projects at one time, you will always know where you are at.
It works great!
***********************************************
Now it is time for you to share your scrap projects. Here are the details for linking up:
- This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
- You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
- If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
- If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
- This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
- Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do!
<a href="http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54Z8EyMCoCg0j1sBoz_APBotiRQveh32vQoL2dCSO4nQFAi8du60IuUCQp3Hb18vGD8IrM0W6_vmuufImGcr4Pf2Ve2dNIWd5LbQJfyDTRjtcekT6coT7c2nSCOG_9dvjiKGVAnuTN70/s1600/Oh+Scrap+Button.jpg" alt="Quilting is more fun than Housework" width="125" height="125" /></a>
So if you love scrappy projects, feel free to grab my button for your sidebar or posts and get ready to share all your wonderful projects from scraps. And if you have a great idea for using scraps and would like to be featured, feel free to contact me!
Follow Me on Bloglovin' Follow me thru Email Follow me on Feedly
Linking Up:
Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts (Design Wall Monday)
Cooking Up Quilts (Main Crush Mondays)
Em's ScrapBag (Moving it Forward)
25 comments:
as soon as I get my sewing table up and the machine moved to that table I need to get my accuquilt back out as well and get a pile of scraps cut that have gathered from the last two projects.
What a great tip! Thanks for the tut, going to use that for sure.
That has to be a Bernina 830 in the picture. I treasure mine as I bought it in the early seventies on a trip to Hong Kong. Has every attachment in the world. Most of which I never used. How long have you had yours.? Enjoy your blog and great tip today.
I have a Bernina 830 Record exactly like yours. I bought mine brand new in 1971. I hope you love yours as much as I love mine.
Great minds think alike. I use that trick too. I keep one safety pins in the first sewn square of the first row and two safety pins in the first sewn square of the second row just in case I get distracted. Can't wait to see more of this new project. Enjoy! ;^)
That's a great idea. Hope I can remember it.
Time do the same with baby patchwork quolts, but sew all rows at once. It works because there are usually only 7 - 10 rows! Great tip.
Simple patchwork is always my favorite to work with - perfect for Christmas scraps!
Sounds like a good system! The important thing is to not sew over your marking pins :)
I just thought of an improvement, maybe, to your tip. Personally, I'd be knocking the unsewn stacks off the table. To prevent that, put a second set of pins (or better yet, clips) in the upper left-hand corner of each stack. Then if they fall off, you know which stack is which and how they should be oriented, and they're still in order.
I use a similar method. Keeping them in order is the important point, isn't it?
Thanks for hosting the linkup.
Great tip! I'll definitely give it a try next time I'm assembling a top. I've been doing one row at a time, overlapping and pinning the upper corners of the blocks together to make a long string, then seaming together pairs of blocks that are far enough apart that I have room to line up and stitch. (I'm not explaining this very well.) If I get interrupted, (and I do get interrupted) (squirrel!), the unsewn parts are still pinned together when I get back to it. Your system sounds less labor intensive.
Thanks for the great tip Cynthia, which is always appreciated. In checking out the photos, I couldn't help but wonder if the machine in the photo is a very old Bernina, that came with a mossy green carrying case, and weighs as much as a small car. lol I think I may have the exact one, which I use as a back up machine, but still works like a champ.
Guess I should have read the posts before asking about the Bernina. Sorry!
That is a great tip! And, boy it would go much faster than the way I do it. Must try this sometime. Thanks.
Great tip! I try not to grab too much to take to the machine. Better to be systematic than wasting time figuring out where everything went!
Isn't chain piecing fun! I do it with everything I can, especially wither the Geese Migration. I do the squares in vertical rows to line up better with the Geese. I join the bottom two, then the top two, then snip off the bottom pair and add the middle one to it and so on. Can chain the whole three rows without breaking the chain. I like to challenge myself that way. You always inspire me.
I've got some new Accuquilt dies in my drawer that are begging to chomp up my scraps, too! I played with my GO! Baby when I first got it, but haven't gotten around to making anything with it yet. Too many WIPs already going on, and too many shiny objects distracting me so that I never seem to finish ANYTHING...
Maybe that's my problem...I don't have a design wall and just sew everything together randomly!
I have been cutting little squares too from my old scraps but the old fashioned way and slow way! I keep thinking I should get one of those machines...it would sure speed up the process. I'm sure this will turn out lovely, Cynthia.
I love my Accuquilt Go for the same reason. It is such a time saver.
What a great organization tip. I'll confess to sewing just one row at a time due to past cross over errors.
So wish I could have an accuquilt!!
Still yo-yoing on these projects! Hopefully done before the weekend is over so I can move on to many other projects.
Excellent tip! I've marked the 'corner' before, but hadn't thought of 2 pins in row 2. I'll try that next time!
Post a Comment