Welcome once again to ScrapHappy Day!
It’s the day my friend Gun in Sweden and I host ScrapHappy, a day for showing something made from scraps.
This month, I’ve been short of sewing time and low on energy to do it, thanks to a short, sharp kidney infection. After a third antibiotic was added to my daily cocktail, I’m on the mend. One thing I did find energy for was gentle hand stitching, something I could do even when feeling unwell and in pain.
A little background: As most of you know, I’m now sewing for Days for Girls. Last time I joined a group sewing session, I noticed they were throwing away perfectly good pieces of irregularly-shaped fabric about 3 x 2½ inches. Gasp! The pieces were too small for anything needed for the DfG kits, but they shouted ‘hexies!’ at me. One of the ladies took away a shoebox of them, and brought it back full of neat and tidy square-ish pieces.
I supplied hexie papers – I have about 2,000 of them stashed away in a drawer, all used many times before but still perfectly OK. And this is the result of my labours, and actually, only the start. These will be turned into a quilt top. I hope someone else will step up to machine quilt it, I don’t think I have it in me to hand quilt another one for the time being. It’ll get auctioned to raise funds for DfG, to buy more fabric, help with training materials and education and so on. Now that’s what I call a proper use of scraps.
ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Either email me at the address on my Contact Me page, or leave a comment below. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join. We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long term commitment or even join in every month, just let either of us know a day or so in advance if you’re new and you’ll have something to show, so we can add your link. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.
Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).
Kate (me!), Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Johanna,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen and Connie
See you again, same time next month!
talltalesfromchiconia 
Well spotted, a wonderful save, and terrific use of those pretty scraps. Ooh, kidney infections are nasty, and leave you feeling quite poorly. Hope you’re on the mend now and feeling much better. I’m hoping to have a post up for SHD this afternoon.
It’s all the bits from round the edges of the fabric they use for the shields, and you get quite a few from a couple of metres, so an excellent source. The left kidney’s all better, the right is still sore and tender but well on the way to recovery, thanks! I shall look forward to seeing what you have for SHD 🙂
Just wanted to let you know, because you wrote about Days for Girls I found a group in Houston. I had a wonderful, long talk with the leader. I’m now working on some of the flannel parts of the kits. It’s a wonderful organization and I’m glad you introduced me to it. Thanks so much Sarah
Thank YOU! Many hands make light work, and I really enjoy my Saturday morning sessions with the the other ladies, lots of coffee and cake and laughter. I do most of the actual sewing at home, peacefully, and try to sew my hopes and wishes for a happy future for each girl into the pieces I make.
Great save on the fabric bits. And a great thing to make the hexies into a quilt to be auctioned off to help the organization.
It’ll give me many hours of quiet TV stitching before there’s enough to make anything much, but some other ladies in the group have decided to give it a try too, so we’ll see how we get on.
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A perfect use for scraps, a quilt and a fund-raiser 🙂
Plus, something to do with my hands while I watch TV, always a bit of a waste of time otherwise. Also, it makes the most of all the fabric gifted to Days for Girls.
[…] what ScrapHappy is? Have a look on Kate’s blog here and join us once a month – or less if you can’t come up with a duplicitous way round it […]
gosh that’s a lot of fabric you’ve made ladies save, and a great idea to make a quilt for auction!
It is a lot, isn’t it, I don’t think they realised how much was being thrown out, or what its potential was.
Ah…..hexies! Who ever came up with that idea, should have a star in heaven! It´s one of the best way to use up scraps and you can take it with you where ever you are!!! I love hexies 🙂
Diamonds are good too, but they’re harder to make. I just love EPP…
Well done on using the scraps for a hexie quilt. And then to sell to raise funds. This month I haven’t got anything to share, but no scraps have entered a bin.
That is just as important in its way. How much better not to have scraps at all!
Those ladies are obviously not patchwork enthusiasts otherwise they’d have realised the potential in those scraps. Lucky they have you!! Hopefully, that doesn’t mean there’ll be nobody to quilt it when it’s finished – somebody must know somebody and I think you’ll have done enough by the time they’re all joined together.
There are quilting ladies, but not EPP-ers. Most of them didn’t realise how easy it was. I brought a load of papers to the session, and left most of them there for the others to use. I’m hoping for a few more flowers to add to the boxful I’ve already got. The LQS involved in the DfG group is bound to be able to find someone who’ll stick it on a longarm and do the job.
Love your hexies. You’ve been very busy!
Glad you’re on the mend, Kate. ❤
It doesn’t feel that way; I can make these without even thinking or feeling as if I’m doing anything. Feeling better every day 🙂
Ouch, that sounds painful , a kidney infection. So happy you are on the mend again! The hexes are glorious, always love the colors you use! Cheers to your good health, Johanna
It was painful, and I felt very unwell, but I’m almost back to as normal as I get! It’s a lot of fun making hexies from lots of random scraps, fabrics and colours I’d never normally choose.
Your hexagons look so cheerful and colorful! I’m so sorry about the infection, as I know that is miserable. Not only is it a proper use of scraps, but it will provide both more dresses AND more scraps to make more hexagons to make another quilt to raise money for more fabric, and there you go! A self-perpetuating system!
Exactly!
Oh, well done you! I’d have my son do the quilting if we lived closer (a lot closer!). Instead, maybe when you have the quilt parts ready you can put out a call for monetary donations so we can all pitch in and help get the job done. I’m also pleased to learn you’re on the mend finally. Now to get my Scrap Happy post up… 😉
That’s certainly an idea. But I think my first move will be to ask the LQS that participates in DfG to put up a notice in their online newsletter, asking for a volunteer to do the quilting.
I especially love the hexie flowers where the petals are co-ordinated fabrics, not all the same. They will really add a spark when mixed in with the others, I think! Wonderful project!
So do I 🙂 I really enjoy the challenge of picking over the scraps to see what will work together. There are some where I only have 2 or 3 squares, and others where I have 10 or 15. The latter will obviously have to be whole flowers, but those are also very pretty.
You are so dedicated and generous, to be doing this for a really good cause! I’m awfully glad you’re feeling better, finally!
Kate, I’m sorry to hear you haven’t been feeling well. A kidney infection sounds painful. I hope you are truly on the mend.
It was miserable, but it’s over and I’m virtually back to normal (as normal as I’ll ever get, anyway!). But as you can see, it didn’t stop my hands being busy…
Normal is so overrated. 😉
I LOVE this! Reminds me of my old quilt from the 20s or 30s. It’s falling apart, but my grand aunt made it so I feel it’s a bit of history.
I think any hexagon quilt made from scraps is going to remind people of their heritage quilts. Unless the colour is controlled and the palette limited, it just has a lovely vintage feel. Of course, if you do a very controlled one it can look sensational, but to me it defeats the point, which is using scraps!
You know me. I love the scrappy ones. My afghans always look like an explosion in a paint factory because I apply the same principle.
🙂
Awesome work x 3 lots of antibiotics- what a beast! I missed scrap happy this month – I’m only just catching up reading about them! Hugs Hx
Yes, it wasn’t fun, but I’m all better now. And the scrappy fun continues, I have the Days for Girls sewing group cranking out hexies from their scraps too. There’ll be a raffle quilt to raise funds one of these fine days!