Welcome!

Welcome to my blog, we're talking about quilting and other good stuff. I'm glad you stopped by ... look around, add a comment, become a follower if you feel inclined, tell your friends about me, and come back soon!


Thursday, August 18, 2011

Scrappy goodness!

Sometimes the best-laid plans can go awry .. or awright ... or, as my neighbor says, "aight!"

Yesterday I had my day all planned out, but the beauty of being a retired lady is that if your plans change one day, you can most likely do those things the next day!  I meant to sort through my fabrics and cut some strips, getting fabrics organized for the cruise, but I didn't.

But I think it was worth it - take a look at this...
scrappy goodness!

A few weeks ago an African dressmaker made an outfit for me and I noticed they were tossing all the scraps in the trash!  Can you imagine?  Anyway, I asked if I could have them, if the owners didn't want them.  So Mary was kind enough to save all their scraps - and I mean ALL of em - for the next three weeks and yesterday she called me to come pick em up! 

There were some things I don't want, though, such as this crinkly-feeling fabric...
I'm not sure what the fiber content is, but this piece measures 30 x 56" - can you imagine tossing that in the trash??  I think this fabric is used to make those elaborate ladies' head wraps because it holds its shape so well.

And here's an interesting piece...

there were two of these pieces, they have some gold on the other side.  Both pieces were sort of an odd shape (hey - it's a scrap!) and each measured approximately 18 x 30".  I can get a lot of pieces out of this one!

These are a pretty shade of green...

it's two different designs, I had a couple pieces of each one!


Here's a fun one -
it's a Guinness print and it says "Drink Responsibly 18+".  I wonder what the rest of the design looks like?  I went back upstairs and looked at it again...

somewhere in this city, somebody is walking around with clothing made from this fabric on their body!  *shudder*   Probably a man, strutting with his shoulders back and a big grin on his face.

I didn't want these silver and white pieces, and there's a lot of it...

it's a blend of some kind, look at a closeup of the lacy edge...

someone is getting a pretty dress!

You can always use black and white prints...

there are three different designs, several pieces of each.  The largest piece is approximately 12 x 16", I think.

And aren't these pretty...

I like these bright colors!  There's a good bit of the left-hand piece - 4 pieces that measure roughly 8 x 58", tapering down to about 2" at the narrow end. 


And this is a keeper...
there's just over a half yard of this one.  The piece is actually wider, about 1-1/2 yards wide, but there are large whunks taken out of both the left and right sides.

And finally, this piece of homespun...

there's about a yard of it, but it's not really my cuppa.

I'm glad I thought to ask for her scraps, I had a double armful!  There were some pieces I didn't photograph that I don't want - a piece of pale yellow linen, some lining fabric and some gauzy kind of stuff.  Some shirting and organza too, I think.  I can't wait to see what she didn't toss out next month, woot woot!!

So that was how I spent my afternoon... sew forth and sew on til later!

9 comments:

  1. oooo you are so lucky to have found this great source for scraps.
    I love scraps!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is amazing to me how they can throw out large pieces like that. I'm glad you were there to ask for them, a rescue mission.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lucky you! I can't image throwing out such big pieces, but I sew for fun not for income. I can image that if I sewed a lot for others there would come a point that I would no longer have the space to store scraps. I'm not sure I could throw them away though. I'd have to find a guild, group or person to donate them to.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been following your blog for some time since I noticed your interest in African fabric. This entry made me laugh. I got hooked on African fabric several years ago on the first of what has become an annual teacher training trip to West Africa. Each trip we have new African clothing made and the dressmaker saves her scraps for about a month before we arrive (LOADS of scraps we carry home in foot lockers)even though she thinks we are crazy. We get new clothes AND scraps to bring back with us! We use the scraps to make items to sell here in the U.S. to support teacher training in Liberia. You are so lucky to get the scraps right here in the U.S.!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beth, omg you go to West Africa every year, wow! I went to Senegal and the Ivory Coast way back in 1984, long before I started quilting, so I didn't pay much attention to all the gorgeous fabric that I swoon over today. Good on you for bringing home and using the scraps!

    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  6. Once a month source! WOW! Christmas 12 times in a year!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a fun way to spend an afternoon! Reminds me of sorting Mardi Gras beads by color. And you get to do this every month! Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oooh Linda, I see a nice doll dress with the white silvery piece. Did you take Yetunde's doll class? You one luck girl.
    Debbra

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a score! I hope they will continue to save the scraps for you. I am having scrap envy!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for your comment, I like getting feedback! I can't promise to respond by email, but I do appreciate your visit.