Fun with Scraps

Ladies and gents, my sewing space is a real mess.  I'm working with scraps, which begets more scraps as I pull other fabric to coordinate with the pieces already lying about.  But, as we all know, there is a time to be concerned with the mess and a time to just let the bits fall where they may.  This is not the former.  

In fact, I think the mess sort of acts as tinder for the creative fire.

I bought some candles on Friday at Kohl's at 50% off plus a discount coupon I'd gotten in the mail.  Good gracious, they smell divine. 

Their fall scents and colors inspired me to make some candle mats / potholders / mug rugs / mini quilts.  However you want to describe it.

I started by picking up some of the black and white quilt scraps piled to the right of my machine, as well as a couple triangular snippets of hand-dyed fabric from last week's pillow project, and just started sewing these to a muslin foundation.

I had a bit of Insul-Bright batting left over, so this first one became a potholder or hot pad.  At least that was the original idea.

Simple straight-line quilting, mostly because I didn't want to change machines, just keep the flow going.

I used a 10-inch square of black and white Heath by Alexander Henry for the backing. 

Norm really liked this one, saying, "You should frame it."  To which I replied, "It's a potholder."

Next, I dug through the box of scraps Jenny sent me earlier this year.  That always feels like Christmas morning, rummaging through a box of unexpected treasures.

Once again, it was foundation pieced on muslin, but this time I just used a flannel scrap for the batting.  Parallel diagonal lines for the quilting.

Today, I made one in a rectangle shape to coordinate with one of the candles I bought.  The aroma of this candle is so calming.  It's called Oakwood and Teak. 

I used more scraps from the goodie box.  I just kept pulling out pretty strips and putting them together.  It ended up a very subdued color palette, which goes well with the candle, I think.  

I'm using a piece of vintage Russel Wright Iroquois dinnerware as the candle holder.  It's one of a couple odd bowls I found at a flea market last year.   

This works well as a mug rug too.

So I'm having fun playing with scraps.  These little things are addictive to make and quick to finish for that shot of immediate gratification. 

What are you up to this week so far?