Sunday, August 26, 2012

Sunday is for Scrap Vomit

In an ongoing (probably vain) attempt to reduce the scrap collection, I have decided my "Leaders and Enders" project for the rest of this year will be a "Scrap Vomit" quilt.

Now I know that sounds awful, but the SV quilts I've seen look beautiful!

The original design and QAL is from Katy of "monkey do."  Katy is probably the most fun blogger you'll ever read -- she is from the North of England and has lots of tattoos.  Here is a photo of her original "Scrap Vomit" quilt:

scrap vomit mock up - bigger version


and here is the link to the QAL.  Even though the QAL is two years old, people are still making this quilt!

I love the color of Katy's "B" block, so I copied her.  I used my June Tailor "Shape Cut" ruler to cut all my blue, black and red squares.  I love this ruler, it is absolutely the fastest way to cut a lot of 2 1/2" squares.  My blue fabric is Kona "Peacock," the red is Kona "Red" and the black is my favorite Michael Miller blacker-than-black "Jet Black.

Here is a quick mini-tutorial on using the Shape Cut ruler (or you can click here to view the YouTube video).

Fold your fabric lengthwise twice, so it is about 11" wide and four layers deep.  Place the shape cut ruler on the fabric so that the "0" line is on top of the fold, and the vertical "0" line is just to the right of the left end. 

Notice the little orange tabs at 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10?  That's so I don't accidentally cut one strip 2" wide -- this would be the voice of experience! 

Continue across the length of your fabric, or until you have as many strips as you need.  Then unfold the strips once (so they are two layers deep) and stack them three high (now you will have six layers of fabric).  Place them on the cutting board horizontally and cross-cut across the full length of the fabric.  Here you can see that I have four stacks of three strips each:

Et voila!  A whole pile of 2 1/2" squares!  I counted them out in stack of 8 each (each block needs 8 solid blue squares).
 
 
If you read Katy's tutorial, you will see she has a clever way to put together the blocks so the blue, black and red solids are in the right place.  Since I'm doing mine as "Leaders and Enders," I will have to lay them out next to the sewing machine as I get pieces sewn together.

I did make a sample of each block, Block "A" and Block "B," just to hang above my machine to motivate myself!


Each "A" block takes 49 2 1/2"squares, each "B" block takes 28 -- wonder how long it will take to make a dent in the 2 1/2" square scrap drawer?

From the desk of your auntmartisignature

6 comments:

  1. mmm not too sure why "Scrap Vomit" - I think the end result is great and a great way to use up a LOT of scraps. Happy vomiting!!

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  2. Catchy name for a quilt, caught my attention. Can't wait to see what yours looks like!

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  4. I have been working on a scrap vomit quilt for some time. I am 8 squares away from finishing. I have already started cutting black and white fabrics (straight black and white, no accent) to do one with lime green, I already have the fabric.lol I love this quilt! I love that anything goes!
    Can't wait to see yours!

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  5. I am so in love with the term "scrap vomit"! LOL! Colorful in more ways than one! :) Don't you just LOVE the Shape Cut! I think every crafter who works with fabric should have one. It's such a time-saver & is wonderful for measurement accuracy. It can take a beating, too. I've had mine for about 7 years & it's covered with scratches from my rotary cutter but it's still in one piece & I still use it all the time. No cracks or breaks or splinters. It's a wonderful tool.

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  6. not long, I've done a bunch of quilts using 2.5 inch squares, Just keep putting them through the machine... Done before you know it

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