Every Scrap is Sacred!

I have dedicated this week to developing my quilt kits. These have been in the back of my mind for years, even before working for Doughty’s! Now that I have a few patterns under my belt, I feel it's time to move on to pre-cut kits. I do love a pre-cut, and having spent time helping customers choose colours for their projects, I know that not everyone is confident when it comes to colour co-ordination. Enter the pre-cut - where the hard work of matching fabrics is all done for you and you can get on with the sewing!

After much deliberation, I have settled on what fabric I want to use, and am now working on getting some of the million ideas that go around my brain daily onto paper! As I am determined to actually try out all my patterns before publishing them, I like to practice with my own stash first before cutting into anything new and ‘special’. Today however, I really have outdone myself! 

A few months ago I ran a quilt workshop for Doughty’s on my Whirlwind of Colour quilt – one of my designs for John Louden. Before the class I had to pre cut some jelly rolls using my Sizzix Big Shot Pro and their four-strip die… a very nice bit of kit! Anyway, I tend to cut a metre of fabric at a time, so the only wastage are thin strips cut from the folded edges and I put these in a bag with a half-hearted idea of doing something with them one day... sad I know!

Now, as I was sitting with my sketchbook the other night, half an eye on the TV, something stirred at the back of my brain, and out popped this…. Something to do with all those strips!

I knew some of the block would have to be foundation-pieced, but felt to have the whole centre strip done like this would drive me mad when it came to taking the papers out. So I decided to try something I’ve not done before – string piecing, or stitch-and-flip I think some call it. I made up a couple of panels using muslin as a foundation. I then drew up the foundation block, worked out the measurements for the white strips and grey triangles, and made up four gorgeous looking blocks, don’t you love them!!!

I think I’ll border it in white, or maybe grey, I’m not sure… but definitely with more strips for the binding. Just goes to show, every scrap is worth keeping! Oh dear, what have I said!?! 

There will be a pattern for this very soon, once I've turned it into something... so watch this space.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings, thanks for stopping by – your comments are always welcome. Today, I’m linking up with Let’s Bee Social over at Sew Fresh Quilts, and Freshly Pieced’s WIP Wednesday.