I keep everything, which is why I have bins of stuff. When Julie suggested I make some drawstring bags with my leftover bits, it was fun to go through them and figure out how to use the fabrics. In the example above, the big print is the background of the Greensleeves quilt, but the orange print above it has been in my stash for over 40 years. In fact the red violet next to it is also over 30 plus years old.
In this arrangement, the big fabric was one I've had for a while. It was one of those that looks good when you buy it, but hard to place once it's in the studio. The birds above it was a backing for a baby quilt about ten or twelve years ago.
I've had this Ghastlies fabric in my stash for about ten years. I've used pieces of it in all kinds of places, but never in a big piece. So here it will be the body of a bag. My suggested lining is at left.
Eventually I replaced the pink fabric with this steampunk fabric.
Three of the fabrics in this arrangement above are leftovers from backings. The big one is the back of the Magic Carpet quilt. The one above it is the backing for the Jealousy quilt (although I later changed my mind about that.)
I guarantee I did not buy the sewing related fabric in the center here. But I decided to surround it with other sewing related fabrics. (The batik on the right is about 25 years old.)
I have about 7 of these bags in the works.
The rest of the scrap fabrics went back in the bins. The studio is neat.
By the way, as I was writing this blog post, I was "watching" the documentary about Leonard Cohen and his life through his song "Hallelujah" on Netflix. It was really good.
2 comments:
Must watch that documentary on Netflix! Your bags are going to be awesome - and you did not buy that sewing fabric, I did (many, many years ago as a brand new quilt maker when I first discovered Delta Patchwork - later sold and transformed into a different kind of quilt shop). I used it as a backing and sent the rest to you in one of our swaps.
I have enjoyed looking through your post and so good to know that other quilters have fabric saved from way back. I love the large print in the foreground - is this a Jane Sassaman?
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