Leftovers never looked so good

Leftover fabric from the table runner I made for a friend

Leftovers from the beach quilt cut into a charm pack, the tiny leftover scraps I can live without!! Made several charm packs with leftovers this weekend

Kara's Christmas quilt top finished, now on to the quilting

Kara's favorite book is about a kitty, this $2.00 a yard fabric is prefect.

Remember the chenille rug I made in class? This is the leftover fabric made into a reversible dress, have 2 more cut out as well

Reverse side of the dress, I should have ironed it :)

This weekend was all about leftovers, fabric that is I am out of leftovers in the refrigerator so it looks like I will be cooking today! It makes me crazy to have leftover fabric, it is nice sometimes to use on small projects but I have so much, I needed to figure out a way to use some of it up. Since the heat index was over 100 all weekend I was stuck in the house with time on my hands so I began tackling some messy piles.

I started with the little pile of leftovers from the chicken table runner I made for a friend, turned out I had enough fabric left with substituting a different fabric on the binding and backing to make 2 additional runners. That's what I call using it up.

The scraps from the beach quilt didn't strike me as something I would want a coin purse or some other little project made out of. Then I remembered a tutorial I saw awhile back on making a baby quilt using a charm pack with a little additional fabric for a border. I know I have a book or magazine with patterns for using charm packs on a quilt, the cute little things run $9.95 at our local shops. I made a few of my own from different projects I have finished. I will be using them up at some point on a charity project I want to participate in.

I had a nice size pile of scraps from the chenille rug I made awhile back but nothing big enough to use for a purse or something I might really use, it was to much of the same fabric to make charm packs out of, then I remembered the cute reversible dresses I made for the girls. Woohoo got 3 little dresses cut out with not a speck of leftovers, I can't make a mistake on the dresses since I have 0 material left! Paired with a shirt and leggings the girls can wear these all winter then use them for cute tops next summer.

Last but not least I found 60 in wide children's fabric on the clearance rack Friday night for $2.00 a yard!!! I picked up 2 yards of each of the 4 different prints to use for the "Linus Project" I want to participate in eventually, check it out http://www.projectlinus.org/faqs.html. As I was moving and sorting fabric I realized the kitty piece would be perfect for Kara's Christmas quilt, checked my stash and came up with enough fabric to use for the shashing without leaving the house or spending a dime. I worked her quilt top up the same as Karsyns, simple easy and sturdy to hold up to the lovin these quilts will see over the years. I will put the super easy recipe for the quilt at the bottom of this post.

I worked so late last night I didn't have the energy to post after I cleaned up the huge mess I had made. I'm thinking as soon as I get all these leftovers worked up I need to go back in my room of sin and dig a little deeper, who knew using it up, wear it out or do without could work in your fabric stash so beautifully!!

Today I am off to deliver the pillowcase dresses for Haiti as well as a load of veggies to the charity soup kitchen then over to the quilt store to get some tips on dressing up the quilting on the Aromatherapy quilt. From doing some google searches it looks like I will need to invest in a special presser foot, fingers crossed that it's not one of the $200.00 feet!! I am doing so good on our weekly budget I don't want to blow it on the very last day!!!!!

Children's quilt;

used 1/4 inch seams, measurements are in inches

This top can be done in a morning!

Main blocks cut 12 7 1/2 x 7 1/2

Shashing on top and bottom of blocks 2 1/2 x 7 1/2

Shashing on each side of blocks 2 1/2 x 12 1/2

build quilt squares by adding top and bottom shashing, press, add shashing to each side

connect blocks in rolls of 3 you will have 4 rolls

then connect rolls into the quilt top

I finished the binding by machine stitching it on, figure these things are going to be receiving lots of wear and tear they need to be sturdy!!