ScrapHappy April

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.

I had to leave the shop name in!

Anyone who remembers this coat and the bag I made to match will not be surprised that there were luscious scraps to be used up.

The fabrics were so pretty and the pieces so substantial that I simply couldn’t bear to throw them out, although I couldn’t immediately think what to do with them. They’re also backed with grey wool batting, so not suitable for lighter purposes. They’ve sat in a bag until I had a brainwave. The coat itself is very warm, too warm for our northern climate, but something less substantial would work well.

I have an olive drab fleece gilet/ bodywarmer/ hooded waistcoat. It’s a good one, a 30 year old vintage Airwalk I bought in my early 30s, which comes out year after year on the chillier days of our mild winters. I don’t like the colour much, but it’s so useful. You see where I’m going with this, don’t you? I have just enough scrap left from the coat to cover the body part in a stained-glassy sort of way, with the joins covered with black bias tape.

This is where I’m at so far. The pieces are stitched down directly onto the fleece with strong quilting thread and the larger ones are also quilted down to make them stable. I’ve pinned down the bias tape, which I’ll hemstitch carefully on either side to cover the raw edges. It’s extremely fiddly, but also extremely satisfying, and by the time winter arrives late May/June, I should have it done. I’m still debating what to do with the hood. I never use it, and I’m contemplating cutting it off and forming a sort of rolled collar. Or not. I’ll see how it goes.

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 genuine scraps is eligible (including food). 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). Fellow ScrapHappy posters, please update your lists to match the one below, as things have changed recently.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

 

ScrapHappy March

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.

OK, this is a weird one, even for me. I got caught up in, well, life, and at the 11th hour realised I had nothing for ScrapHappy Day. And then I looked down at what I had made for dessert today…. So, as the adjudicator of this group, I’m giving myself permission to be ScrapHappy about food. And now, so can everyone else going forward.

I had wrinkled, flabby peaches with mushy spots (It was the chickens or me. I won). I had a handful each of dried apricots and pitted dates lurking in the pantry. And I had leftover and going stale mini hot cross buns. I wanted dessert today. It wasn’t a promising look, I admit, and even less so when photographed. I chopped the fruit, sprinkled with a tablespoon of flour and a dash of cinnamon, and added a splash each of hot water and bottled lemon juice. I took the three buns, which were still batched in a row of three, and cut them through horizontally twice, to give me three bread-slice- thickness strips. I buttered them lavishly, pressed them down onto the fruit mixture and whacked them into a preheated 160°C/320°F oven for 25 minutes to get the top crispy and the fruit acquainted and squishy. And then we demolished, it with cream. It might have been scraps, but it was extremely tasty, and I deserved it so much more than the chickens.

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 genuine scraps is eligible (including food). 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). Please note that the list differs from last month’s; Susan and Cathy have asked to be removed, so if you are posting, adjust your lists to reflect this.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

 

ScrapHappy February

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.

Remember back in August’s ScrapHappy, when I showed you the panel of tiny hexies I was going to stitch onto my laptop case? It’s only taken this long to actually do it… But now it’s done, I wonder why it took so long! Actually, I do know. It was incredibly fiddly; I had to take all the final edging hexie papers out, keep the thing lined up and as straight as possible, and stitching into/through neoprene is kind of bouncy and weird. Please excuse the poor lighting, I don’t have my usual set up with me.

Almost a cop-out, but not quite, but you’ll have to forgive me, as we’re on the road and I don’t have access to my usual gigantic generous stash of scraps. I nearly didn’t have something to post – this is the eighth year of ScrapHappy for me and I haven’t missed on yet – but thankfully got this done in time. I do have another scrappy/hexie project along with me, but a handful of hexies isn’t enough of a peek into a future project for me to show, in my opinion, so that’ll have to wait for another ScrapHappy day.

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 genuine 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, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

 

 

ScrapHappy January

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.

I found something in the bottom of a box I was clearing out. What is it, you may ask? It’s a glasses case.

Many years ago I got a pair of Timberland prescription sunglasses. They came in this seemingly flat bit of brown cardboard. Well, it’s not totally flat.

With the aid of a couple of magnets, it turns into a rather spiffy firm glasses case, and then back to a flat object again. Not only space saving, but also made from recycled materials (except the magnets).

So I thought I’d have a go at making my own. As you do.

I haven’t got very far with it, but I have managed to make a pattern (it’s actually two pieces, hence the pins holding the bits together).

Also, I’ve picked out some of my very brightest scraps, on the basis that it’ll be hard to lose in the depth of my purse.

I have my fingers crossed that I can make it work. I have some magnets somewhere. I have some sturdy card. If I can, it’ll be featured in a future ScrapHappy. If I can’t, you probably won’t see it again unless I decide to decoupage all over the existing item!

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 genuine 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, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

And to everyone who only joins us for ScrapHappy Day, a very Happy New Year or other seasonal celebration of your choice.

ScrapHappy December

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.

It has been a bit exciting around here, what with preparations in case Tropical Cyclone Jasper hit. Fortunately, he decided to wander off northwards, so we’re safe, if very wet and gusty. I needed to keep myself busy so I didn’t check the Bureau of Meteorology website every.single.minute. I picked up quite a few gingham fabrics when someone was selling her mother’s former stash. There was rather a pretty coffee/cream version, and another orange/white version. There wasn’t enough of either of them to make what I wanted. Yes, yet another Butterick B6024 top. But there was enough to make it using both fabrics. But is this a scrappy project, you ask? No, not the top, but the decoration I made for the top definitely is. I don’t normally like stuff like this, but I thought it would look cute.

I cut out 12 circles from scraps of the orange gingham and 2 from the coffee gingham, stitched the orange pairs together for the petals and the coffee for the centre, ‘glued’ them together at the back with a scrap of iron-on interfacing, and added an orange button for interest.

I think I like it. And if I later decide I don’t, I’ll take it off, add it to a hairslide and wear it on my ponytail to match the top.

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 genuine 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, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

And to everyone who only joins us for ScrapHappy Day, a very Happy Christmas or other seasonal celebration of your choice.

ScrapHappy October

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.

Here’s the next few in the series for my armchair quilt. All scrappy, but some scraps larger than others. Personally, I like the ones made of small and even tiny bits:

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 genuine 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). The list below is the most current one I have, so if you’d like me to update something, let me know in the Comments. Please note that Jon and Edith have asked to be taken off the list due to other commitments, but hopefully they’ll be back when time allows.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

ScrapHappy September

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.

Well, there’s a long and winding intro to this one. The Husband loooooves his comfy recliner after a hard day. Me… not so much. It’s nice to put my feet up, but I have no need to tip myself backwards. But I’ve put up with an increasingly uncomfortable chair with bony wood and metal bits sticking out of the padding for some time. The cover is still fine, but it pokes me constantly, which is counterproductive in a chair, I feel. Which all goes to say that we’re donating my recliner and I’m getting a new, non-tilting chair. Ta-dah!

Isn’t it gorgeous? Not at all scrappy, of course, but blissfully plush and comfy. Apparently it’s called an armchair chaise. I call it heaven.

Anyway, to the scrappy part of this post. I’m planning to make a quilt to throw over the chair to preserve the cover as much as possible. And because the chair is teal, the quilt will also be teal.

I have these blocks already, 4 scrappy ones I made earlier. I’ll be adding more, since my supply of teal scraps is pretty overwhelming.

And to the teal I’ll be adding other blocks in pink, orange and navy. Not sure about the arrangement or if it’s going to be totally random, but bright colour will punctuate the teal, picking up on the touches of colour in the teal scrappy fabrics. Like this one:

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 genuine 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). The list below is the most current one I have, so if you’d like me to update something, let me know in the Comments. Please note that Debbierose has asked to be taken off the list due to other commitments, but she’ll be back when she can.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

ScrapHappy August

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.

I have been obsessed (in a minor, totally non-toxic sort of way) with teeny-tiny hexies ever since I received Kjerstin’s contribution to the This Teal’s on Fire quilt for Ovarian Cancer. When I had to go and buy more thread and pins the other day (why is it that the heads come off flower-head pins so easily?), I spotted packs of the tiny papers and I bought 200. Yes, that is a lot, but they’re tiny and 200 doesn’t make a big piece.

In fact, it makes this size. Which is just large enough to decorate the front of my boring black neoprene laptop case. I have the usual holes in my fingers from the process of joining them, so I’ll be waiting till those heal till I hand-stitch this panel on, but meanwhile, I’ll be unpicking all the basting threads. I belong to the school of stitching the fabric through the papers rather than around the papers, since I find it gives me much sharper corners, but it does add the extra stage of unpicking all the threads. Tedious, yes, but worth it.

What gives me the greatest satisfaction about this pretty piece is how many of my gorgeous but teeny tiny fabric scraps it munched up. Less loveliness going into landfill, more loveliness wrapping my lappie. ScrapHappiness achieved!

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 genuine 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). The list below is the most current one I have, so if you’d like me to update something, let me know in the Comments.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

ScrapHappy July

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.

I decided to make good use of some of the Husband’s old work shirts. Normally these are cut up and used for patching, reinforcement, etc. Also, those who’ve followed this blog since the start will recall that I’ve also made not one but two quilts from old work shirts (both now appropriated by His Mouseness for car rides and visiting). This time, however, it was something a bit cushier.

This is similar to how the Husband’s ‘office’ looks. His truck has a sleeper cab; you’ll see that behind the seats there’s a narrowish bunk. Slender individuals can squeeze through and take a nap. The Husband, however, is built on more generous heroic proportions. In his truck there’s a fridge unit between the seats, and suitably padded, it allows him to lie down across the seats and snooze during a break in his 14-hour driving day.

He’s had a variety of ‘suitable padding’ over the years, and the last lot has just been retired. They had become too disgustingly dirty (a combination of engine grease, mud and coal dust due to work environment) to get clean any more, and have been relegated to the rags bin at work.

These are the replacements. I simply sliced across the body of the shirt from the hem to under the sleeve venting, cut it to fit the pillow pad, and zoomed around the outside with the serger/ overlocker. Stuff in the pillow pad, do up the handy buttons, job done. A good use of old scrap shirts and a bit of comfort for a hardworking Husband.

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 genuine 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). The list below is the most current one I have, so if you’d like me to update something, let me know in the Comments.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,
Amo, Alissa, Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

 

ScrapHappy June

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 busy with the latest Ovarian Cancer fundraising quilt, so naturally, there’s been an awful lot of teal scraps around the place. And I felt the need to make something with the scraps that were too small to be useful for anything around this year’s theme. So here we are. Four scrappy teal blocks. I haven’t a clue what I’ll use them for; they may find a home on this quilt, they may be the start of a future quilt, but I’ve reduced a bit of waste, recycled some leftovers and turn bits into useful pieces.

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 genuine 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). The list below is the most current one I have, so if you’d like me to update something, let me know in the Comments. Please note that Nanette has asked to come off the list as she will be working on other projects for a while.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,
Amo, Alissa, Lynn, Tierney and Hannah