Winter Blog Hop and Crumbs

Here on the Central Coast of California we really can't complain about Winter toooo much 'cause nature is pretty kind to us.  We do get the occasional high winds, power outages, and if it rains for several days in a row with high tides; low parts of the town have been known to flood (that really can be a problem).  But we've none of that bitter cold stuff or shoveling snow 'til you are so tired you could just spit.  But I'm happy to be in the blog hop just to say hello and exchange info. and ideas so here's my give away...

I've been playing around with jelly rolls lately.  Because I'm toooo cheap to pay someone else to cut my strips for me I've been making up my own.  So here's a bunch of strips I put together; 10 - 5" strips (one strip is hiding in the picture).  That's equal to 1/2 of a jellyroll.  I know-  jelly rolls are 2.5" strips but I figured you can cut them in half if you want or you can use the extra width for whatever you want.

All you need to do is leave a comment telling me something about what kind of quilts you like to make.

For a picture of my second give away read to the bottom of the blog...

Small scraps vs Crumbs

Some quilters call these little scraps crumbs.  But I figure as long as they can be sewn into blocks they're just ...

Now these ...

Are...

Now, why you might asked do I save these little slivers and shreds?!  Well there are probably some paper makers out there who have some ideas, but I use them to make other stuff...

like scarves and purses!  Here's how...

Bare with me this takes a bit of explaining.

I got this idea from a friend who was wearing a beautiful scrappy scarf, made by a local garment artist, Rosemary Eichorn. The scarf was all scraps completely held together by a thread  grid.  It had kind of a loose gauze effect with beautiful colors.  My friend told me the effect was created by sprinkling crumbs onto a sheet of Solvy, sewing a thread grid over the scraps and then washing the stabilizer away.  

Leaving only this wonderful lacy mesh.

It was soooo pretty I thought I had to try it.

So I went to my local fabric store and asked for a dissolving stabilizer. They sold me something that looked like clear medium weight plastic (there was no label on the roll).  I took it home, sprinkled my crumbs, sewed my grid, washed it but the Solvy did not dissolve!  

Here's what I got!  I had to laugh!

But when life gives you lemons make lemonade right?  So here's what I made!

I suppose it would have made a pretty scarf, but it makes a nice purse too! So this little purse is my second give away.

Since my first try I have experimented with this technique some more. I will cover that in another  blog 'cause this one is already way to long.

Happy Blog Hopping, cheers, Claire W.