I was thinking today that, sometimes when my spirits are low, all it takes to lift them again is to ask myself one little question: “What is beautiful about this moment?” And, you know what? The universe always has an answer for me. In fact, the universe usually has several. Two of today’s beautiful...Read More »
Make the most of your small fabric scraps by turning them into crumb quilt blocks! You can combine blocks to make a full crumb quilt top!
UPDATED JULY 6, 2022 — CLICK HERE TO SEE MY CRUMB PIECING TUTORIAL TO LEARN HOW I SELECT FABRICS AND SEW MY CRUMB BLOCKS. INCLUDES A VIDEO TUTORIAL. A little over a week ago on February 22 I …
Make A crumb quilt block. Crumb quilting to make new fabric. Crumb quilts ideas, ideas for patchwork quilt using fabric scraps. Use all your scrap fabric to make crumb quilt blocks. New fabric from scraps. Quilt craft ideas. Quilts made from scraps. Scrap quilt ideas.Scrappy quilt ideas. Crumb quilt patterns free. Crumb quilt tutorials. Crumb quilt as you go with this easy sewing tutorial to make easy crumb quilt blocks.
ideas on crumb quilt layouts. Scrappy crumb quilts are the perfect way to use up all those little tiny scraps.
Check out these fun crumb quilt ideas - let's use those little pieces of fabric you aren't sure what to do with. Crumb quilting is a delightful and resourceful technique that involves piecing together the
Most quilters can’t bear to part with scraps of favorite fabrics and tend to keep them in little bins and boxes for future use. Crumb quilting, although not a new idea, is enjoying a resurgence now as we try to use up all those bits of fabric we’ve been saving.…
Crumb Quilt Ideas (Part 2) Do you keep really small scraps of fabric? That is such an ongoing issue for me. I HATE throwing away...
September and October has been busy, fun and nervous time. It started when my friend Myra Dunn from Myfluffybag visited the end of September. I had a fun packed activities awaiting her. First was Quilts in the Barn's annual exhibition. The next day was Geelong Fibre Forum, a yearly event. The last day of Myra's visited I took her to ours favourite Niko Kafe in Oakleigh. What the little time we had left. We managed to play in the Treehouse Studio creating two quilts that we got inspired from Quilts in the Barn's exhibition the vintage crumb quilt. The evening before all these activities Myra mentioned the word "crumb quilting" which we looked up in Youtube, but it wasn't until we saw a vintage crumb quilt that we were in-loved with it! You might also want to know about my nervous time? I had a small surgery on my back to removed infected cysts. I had that done a couple of days after Myra's left. I was a nervous lack for couple of weeks prior to the operation. I'm not a fan of hospital, doctor or pain! It was over in a couple of hours while I was knocked out, phew! I'm now home on sick-leave for 2 weeks. The pain had gone with the help of strong pain killers and a course of antibiotic. I'm up and about because sitting is not the most comfortable position when you have surgery on your back! I can walks and stand though! Now back to the Yellow Crumb Quilt. After returned from Quilts in the Barn exhibition both Myra and I were all inspired by 100 or so vintage quilts. One quilt in particular was a yellow Crumb quilt. With tone of scraps I've accumulated from quilts such as Rags to Riches and Handkerchief Corner quilt. We started to tackled our crumb quilts. I choose yellow base and Myra chooses red for hers. The block to be 5" finished so I cut the 'F' fabric (feature fabric), which is yellow 3" wide strip, but instead of crumb piecing the whole length of strip as per YouTube's instruction I pre-cute my 3" strip into 3.5" pieces. I chain pieced all my blocks until I finished. If you are quilters you would be able to make this quilt by looking at my photos. I will try to explain under each photo what I'm doing. Enjoy! I will need 230 block for a single size quilt. I will not put them together until I finished piecing all blocks. Myra's Red Crumb Quilt Crumb units. Very simple and not too many pieces. Attach 3.5" 'F' fabric onto crumb pieces. Crumb blocks ready to trim. Crumb units trimmed and ready to assemble. Block complete, now make 229 more blocks! Imagine using Japanese fabric! I'm using my beloved Singer Featherweight to pieced this quilt. I love using it for memorable quilt. Here are the leftover crumbs. It's time to discarded them. Vintage crumb quilt. Closed up of the vintage quilt. Even closer look! I can't see why you can't make larger blocks or make a modern looking quilt with it. I imagine using those bright and modern fabric in a quilt like this, but I love using vintage and recycled fabric so this version is perfect for me. I hope to piece all the blocks by the time I return to work. It's a lot of fun piecing the blocks. There are so many variations of piecing I can do. With all the scraps I pre-cut for the previous quilts. It makes the process going faster than I have to cut everything from scratch. Until next time Nat
Crumb Quilt Ideas (Part 2) Do you keep really small scraps of fabric? That is such an ongoing issue for me. I HATE throwing away...
I sat down after work tonight and decided to start working on a bag made from the crumb panels I made last night. It went together really easily and it turned out so cute! It’s a nice generou…
You might also be interested in some other ways to use up your fabric scraps... If you are anything like us, you probably have loads of small scraps of fabric that you just don't know what to do with. You don't want to toss them out but they are too small to actually do anything with. That's where the crumb quilt technique comes into play. With this technique you can use up all of those small bits of fabric to make beautiful, colorful fabric that you can use to make quilts, cushion covers, applique, bags, table runners and more. Watch
Get started with this beginner's guide to crumb quilting. Explore the materials, techniques, and tips for completing a beautiful quilt!
Make the most of your small fabric scraps by turning them into crumb quilt blocks! You can combine blocks to make a full crumb quilt top!
Here it is! The long-awaited crumb piecing tutorial. There are some preliminary things I’ll cover here in this post, and then there’s a looong video, included below, to give you a look inside my cr…
I've been slowly making these blocks with my scraps, and I thought I'd share my process! I cut notebook paper to 8" squares and use that as a foundation for my blocks. This is my preferred method of improv piecing, as the paper makes the process so much easier! Supplies: The scraps don't need to be cut into perfect squares or rectangles, but I do trim 1 raw edge of each scrap piece with a rotary cutter and ruler so that I have a nice, straight edge. It will make more sense later in the tutorial, but the raw edge to trim is the one that you will stitch your seam along. I trim mine as I go. Begin with 2 scraps. They don't have to be the exact same size. Place the scraps, right sides together, somewhere on your paper foundation. The straight raw edge of each scrap piece should be aligned as shown. Stitch 1/4" from the raw edge using a slightly shorter stitch length than usual (2.0-2.2 works well). Stitch through the scraps and the paper; the paper is acting as a foundation for the piecing. Press the pieces open. Now add another scrap. Trim 1 edge so that you have a nice straight cut, line up this scrap with your other pieces, right sides together, and sew 1/4" from the raw edge. Don't worry about all of the edges lining up; just sew 1/4" from the cut edge on the piece that you are adding and you will have nice, straight seams. Here's a close up of the stitch line. Notice that the raw edges of the first two pieces don't line up exactly with the raw edge of the piece that we just stitched down. That's fine! Press the pieces open. Continue adding scraps to fill the entire area of your foundation paper. Sometimes you may be a bit short, especially on the corners. Just add another scrap to cover the corner! Here's how I covered that corner: After I stitched this corner piece down, I trimmed away some of the solid underneath. Feel free to do that any time you have excess. Press the piece open. Continue adding scraps to your work. Press each piece open. When your entire foundation paper has been covered, it should look something like this: Here's the back side: Trim off any fabric that hangs over the edge of the paper foundation using a rotary cutter and ruler. And now you've made your first scrap block! I like to keep my paper foundations on my blocks at this point. This technique results in lots of bias edges, and the paper helps to keep the blocks nice and square. After I sew the blocks together I sit down in front of the t.v. and pick out all of the paper pieces. You can use this same process to create string blocks. Also, if you prefer straight lines over the wonky look, cut your scraps to perfect squares or rectangles before you add each piece. I love this method because the blocks sew up quickly and there are so many possibilities!
Place a handful of scraps on your work table. These are scraps that most quilters would toss in the trash because they are too small to do...
A couple of nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night, and, in that semi slumber state when I was letting my mind wander while trying to go back to sleep, I thought of a solution to a puzzle…
Place a handful of scraps on your work table. These are scraps that most quilters would toss in the trash because they are too small to do...
I was looking at Pinterest last night and saw a bag that I thought was interesting. So I followed the link and eventually found a free pattern for the bag. I was pretty sure I had figured out how t…
Want to wow everyone with your applique then check out how to create interesting fabric for applique pieces - tutorials
FREE PIECED FABRIC MAKING OK players! Got your bin of scraps? Here's a step by step of 15 minutes of play... Put those strips of fabric away and dig out all your little bits... This will be 15 minutes of sewing... They go together quickly, Don't think, just sew! I have a box under my sewing table that I put all my itty bits in that I save for making fabric. Grab a handful of various sized scraps. Sew one on, press open. This is a good place to add in angles. Is it looking to straight up and down? Lay your next piece on at an angle.... You don't have to line up your seams. I stitched a piece on at an angle, now trim off the bit that sticks out... press it open. Always press your pieces as you sew them on, this will keep your allowances smooth and flat on the back. Keep adding bits... at odd angles, you do NOT need to follow your fabric edge when you do this. THINK ANGLES at all times... sew it on, trim off the bit that sticks out... Keep adding around and trim off pieces that stick out. SAVE the BITS and add them in other places or use to start a new block. Working on any edge that you can add to, keep adding bits and pieces to your made fabric. I am NOT focused on making a SQUARE, I am focused on making a usable piece of FABRIC. Once you have a piece about 7", lay your ruler over the fabric and cut your shape. Here I just followed the size of my ruler. Makes for easy cutting! At 15 minutes, I have on my ironing board, This fun block to play with. When you cut out your squares, try to cut the blocks that will give you the most angles. Save the bits you have cut off to start your next 15 minute fabric process... If your edges get to Curvy or crazy, just trim them to a straight edge. Just don't focus on making them square. You may find you are working with a pentagon or hexagon shape or some unrecognizable shape... just keep adding where you can. If you find your piece, as you practice, does not lay flat, then cut off the wavy bit. Once you cut that wavy part off, you will find "THAT wavy SCRAP" will lay flat after you cut it off. Save it and use it on your next block. You can continue adding to your blocks with made pieces and make even bigger blocks these blocks below are 13 inches square. Often times, I had 4 bits of made fabric that I pieced together... See if you can figure out where I sewn the pieces together. this one above started with the lower right hand section, I squared it off into a pentagon shape then added the top strip, then the LEFT long strip. Use strips of made fabric... You can make strips of fabric and join them around a funky shaped piece of made fabric... Can you see how this block came together? This last one, I had two large pieces of made fabric, and one strip. I cut them on curves and joined them together, then made one more strip of fabric to go across the top... The more angles you use the more interesting your block will get... and it you've made something that you can then try a new idea with! Sometimes you find a piece that is just so perfect and you don't want to cut it down... that is were your Y seams come in... or rather, PIVOT points... If you think of Y seams as pivot point it makes them seem less scary... And it's far better to try Y seams here then on some big fancy project... See where the fabric leads you... It's a good way to practice your sewing techniques that you may otherwise avoid... or not! Like I said, CUT IT OFF, and add something else... That's what your scissors are for! :-) Have a go... Hope this helps.
A blog about fabric, quilting, patchwork, sewing, embroidery, quilt shows
A couple of nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night, and, in that semi slumber state when I was letting my mind wander while trying to go back to sleep, I thought of a solution to a puzzle…
This winter I'm in a bit of a sewing slump. I've decided instead of buying more fabric--I want to use what I have on hand, but use it differently. I don't have lots of solids, but I do have lots of fabric. Research: I've been gathering photo ideas to build Modern Scrappy Quilts this year. I'm looking for random--unexpected color combinations and simple construction. Here are some quilt photos from Pinterest that caught my eye. This first one I like. Its simple, simple construction. Take an oversized square, slice it, add some skinny strips, slice it again, and more skinny strips, and then square it up with a 10.5" sq. or 12.5" sq. acrylic template. No rules, just slicing and sewing. No sashing. 📷 The quilt below is so do-able as far as construction. Random. Improv. Beyond the white-black-gray bits for contrast, I see ORANGE dotted with this and that accent colors. Going shopping out of my own stash is fun. Using up lots of sub assemblies already sewn and ready to modify and use in another quilt. I am aware "stash diving" makes a huge mess in the studio. 📷 📷 Calling all Squares . . . calling all squares . . . come in squares. Above is the perfect solution for using up a half yard of this and that. Anything goes . . . but I'm drawn to the use of green, red, and papersack colors in this one. Works for me. 📷 Certainly I've collected lots of silly themes and strange patterns fabrics like this quilt shown above. What is most interesting? Look at the use of red and white fabrics paired with those weird fabrics. Liberally repeating red and white fabrics pull it all together, making sense of all the other weird fabrics that were added. It could just as well be blue and white fabrics paired with the weird fabrics. What I like most about this scrappy quilt is its simple construction, no sashing, alternating four patch. This light airy quilt is so pretty. I think I'll try this quilt concept right away!
Transform your scrap fabric into pretty new fabric or quick quilt blocks in just minutes with this easy technique. Great for all skill levels.
Transform your fabric scraps into beautiful new scrappy quilts by making string quilts. A tutorial from NewQuilters.com #stringquilts #stringquilttutorial
Check out these beautiful modern quilts made with scrap fabric you have from other quilts and sewing projects! If you want to learn how to quilt or simply looking for a new patchwork design then this is a perfect way to use up those scraps you have sitting around. Learn how to make these beautiful scrap quilts using these great step by step tutorials. Yep, Ladies it's time to do some fabric scrap recycling! {snicker} Today I'm featuring square patchwork, quilting in diagonal rows, things to make with fabric scraps like a beautiful baby quilt, what to do with fabric scraps
I had been thinking about making these fabric greeting cards for a while now and a couple of weeks ago found some of these cards in my local craft store. The cards are made for 4×6 photos. You…
Make the most of your small fabric scraps by turning them into crumb quilt blocks! You can combine blocks to make a full crumb quilt top!
I'm linking up with Nicky and Leanne for Scraptastic Tuesday this week because at last I've got a scrap project to talk about! ...
Make the most of your small fabric scraps by turning them into crumb quilt blocks! You can combine blocks to make a full crumb quilt top!
I totally do! The table shakes and all the fabric bits are flying everywhere. The fabric bits is where it begins.
Hi, all! As you probably already know, I was fortunate enough to attend QuiltCon last week. I signed up for a class called Dynamic Quil...
5 Ways To Use Up Your Crumbs - Scrap Quilting (Part 1) Most quilters I know have scrap collections. Since we tend to acquire fabric...
One of the quilts that I'm working on for my solids challenge is my biased quilt. I have had so much fun making the blocks, so I took some photos along the way that explains my process. I hope you find this tutorial useful. I can imagine this quilt stitched up in prints, too. I think it would be pretty fun! Supplies needed: A phone book (or other lightweight paper) for foundation piecing Scraps! A rotary cutter, mat and ruler A glue stick A scissors is optional, but helpful. An iron. Spray starch. Also, a working sewing machine. :) Before you get started, you need to choose a block size. My unfinished block size is 10" high (because it was the height of the phone book) x 6" wide (because it is the width of my ruler). No need to make it complicated! Cut all your papers to desired size. I'm making 88 blocks, so my quilt will measure about 60.5" x 76" finished. Please note, in most cases I used strings of fabric that measure between 1 1/8" and 1 3/4" wide. Let's get started.... Take a glue stick and draw an angled line on the paper. (Sorry that you can't see the glue. It's transparent.) If you use enough glue to see it, that will be bad news for your quilt! You only need a bit to temporarily hold the fabric in place. Place the fabric on the glue line and trim the extra fabric length with a scissors. I like to trim my scraps straight, rather than at an angle, because I'm more likely to use the little bits that way. Choose a second string of fabric that coordinates with the first one. Cut to length. Align the edges of the fabric on one side and sew a 1/4" seam, using the edge of the fabric as a guide. TIP: Backstitch at the beginning and the end of the seam where the paper edges start and stop. This will prevent the stitches from coming apart when you are removing the paper later. (It's a lifesaver!) Press the second string of fabric away from the sewn seam with a hot, dry iron. Select another string of fabric and cut to length. Make sure that it extends from the edges of the paper about an inch on either end. Repeat steps above to attach the third string to the block. Continue to add strings to cover the entire corner of the paper, pressing after each addition. Remember to backstitch. Once the paper is half covered, flip it upside down and add strings to fill in the remaining corner. Once the block is completely pieced, give it a good press. I like to use a little spray starch after the block is pieced to help stabilize it a bit. Now it's time to trim the block down to size. Place the block face down on a cutting mat and use the ruler to measure the block when trimming, rather than using the paper to measure. I've found that the paper shrinks up a bit when piecing, so this is a good way to get an accurately sized block every single time. Here you can see that the paper shrunk a bit...about 1/16 of an inch. Not a huge deal, but it sure is nice to sew blocks of the same size together. Once the block is trimmed down to size, carefully remove the paper backing. Your block is complete! Troubleshooting (or avoiding trouble): Sometimes a strip gets a little wavy, for one reason or another. If that happens, it's not too difficult to fix. Flip the block face down and fold the paper back. Use a ruler and rotary cutter to straighten out the fabric. Fold the paper back into place and continue to add strings and strips to the block. Having a straight edge makes it much easier to add the next piece. TIP: When aligning a light fabric over a dark fabric, be careful to place the fabric on top ever so slightly over the edge of the dark fabric, to prevent shadowing. Conversely, if you place the fabric as shown below, you will get an unsightly line showing through the lighter fabric after pressing, also known as shadowing. (It's a little thing, but also the kind of thing that drives me crazy in a finished quilt. Might as well avoid it if you can!) This block had a little bubble issue....the pink fabric shown didn't lay flat when I added the next strip. Rather than press a crease into my block and leave it.... I removed the paper before trimming the block down, then gave it a good press to remove the wrinkle/crease. I was sure to use spray starch, too. Then I trimmed the block down to 10" x 6". In most cases, trimming the blocks before removing the paper is the way to go, although it is nice to have a way to fix it if things go awry. I had a few questions about how I select colors for my blocks, so I'll touch briefly on that. Generally, when I am piecing blocks like this, I try to use a mix of lights, mediums and darks. I do a lot of auditioning for each block. As far as what goes next to what, I try to let go of my preconceived color ideas, but I find that I do place the same colors next to each other over and over at times. (I'm soooo not ready to blindly chose scraps out of a paper bag! I have too many control issues for that. ha!) My rule of thumb is, if the colors don't make me cringe when they are placed next to each other, sew it up! In this quilt, I found I had to keep cutting more and more lights to balance out the darks, because I didn't want the quilt to get too heavy and dark. So far, so good! I think I'll leave it at that! I hope that you give this block a try! If you do, I'd love to see photos.
Is it really April 1 tomorrow? That seems impossible, but it's true. April means lots of good things. Tomorrow, my grandmother turns 89, and later in the month, we celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. And a wedding anniversary. And the second annual Stash Bash. It's also my month to plan the Love circle quilt for do.Good Stitches! It's been awhile since I've made string blocks. I don't know about you, but I always seem to have a pile of string scraps lying around. Last week, I divided them into two piles based on length, and made a bunch of blocks. Here's a few tips that might help, if you've never made a string block before. -Working with a foundation is best for string blocks, and I prefer paper. As Jeni pointed out, using a fabric foundation (even muslin) adds bulk, whereas the paper can be ripped away when you're finished. -If you have graph paper or an old telephone book, this works better than printer paper, but that will work, too! -Start with your center strip, and glue-baste this piece to make sure it stays in place! -To create a cohesive look, you can use a single color and width for your center strings. Or, you can mix it up to your heart's content! -The most important thing is to make sure you keep a 1/4" seam allowance throughout. -Make sure your strips are at least 1" wide. -With all paper piecing, it's best to leave the paper on until you've sewn your blocks together. It helps to minimize bias. -Setting your stitch length to 1.5 or 1.6 will make ripping that paper a little easier, too. -When pressing any paper-piecing, use a dry iron (no steam!). -Oh, and little triangle scraps are great for the end pieces! Any other tips? Did I leave anything out? Specifically for do.Good Stitches bee blocks this month, I'm asking for 8.5" blocks (so you can just cut a 2.5" strip off a sheet of paper to create that template!). For the center strings, I'd like 1" strips of any blue solid, and then the rest of the strings can be any width and any color. I'd love to see a mix of solids and prints. As you can see, these are addictive to sew! And my pile of strips doesn't seem any smaller.
Copy Right Anne Ibach 2021 (I’m really happy that a lot of people are making this bag! Since it’s free, when you post a photo of your bag on social media, please credit me, use the hash…
Over the last week I’ve been getting the same questions in comments here and in emails from blog readers. Here’s the most asked questions of the last week and their answers: How do I ge…
Get started with this beginner's guide to crumb quilting. Explore the materials, techniques, and tips for completing a beautiful quilt!
