Repurposing things
 

I have been looking for stencils to mark for free motion and not having much luck. It hit me today that I had a bunch of scrap booking shapes that I have not used in years, dug them out and surprise I found circles, diamonds and several sizes of wavy designs. Tired fitting them on a quilt I have ready to go and they are just right. At least now I don't feel so bad about having them sit in the cabinet.

Great idea and glad you could use them. I repurpose stuff too, cookie cutters for applique and shapes, old lids or cd's for circles...it's amazing what we can come up with if we use our noggins!!!!

Look around. All kinds of things can be used for quilting motifs and appliqué. I found some great foam shapes at the dollar store that I have used. Isn't it fun to find an old thing that becomes a new thing in a different setting.

I found that I had some really cute gift candy tins I put on the end of the ironing and cutting boards. They make great thread catchers. Decorative and functional.

Hmmmm, maybe I should go look in my scrap booking tote.......

Cookie cutters in the shape of --- hearts, dog bones, lips, gingerbread persons, trees ect..ect...

what awesome ideas. sometimes i am so linear. those never occured to me. thanks.

Great ideas! I like to repurpose what I can...

I got a 3/4" hex punch at michaels in the scrapbooking dept, i cut my paper pcs. out of old manilla folders.

I come from a family with many artists that draw and paint. I did not inherit that gene. When I was learning how to quilt I was taught to use household items for templates. Cups, saucers, plates, cookie cutters and just about any other kitchen item. Over the years I have used many things to trace around for making templates. My favorite shaped leaves for applique started out as a trace around a bic lighter. I even used one of my dad's ties and a juice glass to create my first Dresden Plate template.

we have been indated with high grade glossy card stock with political ads. I'm saving them to use to cut out trmplates. Like everyone above I use whatever is handy for circles etc. One extra step further : cut circle out of newqspaper first, fold in half then again into quarters, notch at folds then tape newspaper pattern to card and cut out. Notches help in placement on seams.

I like finding vintage plant holders, filling them with sawdust or sand and a piece of steel wool - then covering the hole with a piece of velour or co-ordinating fabric and I have a large, wonderful pin cushion. This is especially meaninful if the planter comes from the home of someone you care about.

Clever! I had a Big Shot sitting in my closet for 4 years. No one here to scrapbook/make cards with, so there it sat. Then I decided to research dies and am not cranking out 2 1/2" squares frequently! It's smart to adapt old things to new uses! :-)

I use cereal boxes for templates and I keep a medicine bottle with a hole just large enough for bent pins and old needles on my work space to discard old pins and needles. We buy our trash and garbage bags from Sam's Club and the boxes they come in are just the right size to cut the top off cut a u shape down the side cover with a pretty contact paper and I have a wonderful storage box for my magazines and catalogs.

Aren't we creative!! How fun to use something repurposed and not spend our fabric money.

I wanted to quilt a scallop design on each side of a table runner. Taped together old computer game CDs (knew I kept them for a reason) with duct tape - made a perfect continuous design. I also reuse the Truvia sweetner containers - great for small stuff storage.

I like to use children's coloring books for designs to quilt. They are usually simply drawn so small children can color them and they work well. When I find a design that is too big or too small for my purpose I use the printer to enlarge or reduce them. You can even use the motif in a variety of sizes on the same project.