A waste of fabirc?
03-27-2011, 06:45 AM
#11
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Madison, AL
Posts: 1,998
Originally Posted by gaigai
Originally Posted by beewild
First I would like to say thanks for all of the invaluble tips that I get from this site. It has made me a better and smarter quilter in soooo many ways! I don't post much but MUST read every day to make my life complete. LOL. I need to know if I am crazy or just plain stingy for thinking this way so please help! OK here goes. I made a queen size quilt from the Brasstown Star blocks. The pattern had me cut 4.5" squares from fabric 1, and from fabric 2 & 3, 2.5" squares. Take a 4.5" square, place a 2.5" square on opposing corners and sew across the diagonal of the small square. cut off the corner 1/4 away from the seam, flip and press, repeat on the remaining 2 corners. what you end up with is a 4.5" square with a 2" square in the center of fabric 1. Now as I was working on these blocks and my scrap pile was growing I got more annoyed that I was wasting so much fabric! With all that being said this is my question.... would you have altered the pattern and cut the pieces to the correct finished size and done it that way or would you have followed the pattern? With the prices of fabric these days that added up to a lot. I figured that I wasted appoximatly half of the fabric used to make these!!! I did finish the quilt but it costed me almost twice as much? After my very long winded explaination my question is what would you have done?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
03-27-2011, 07:22 AM
#14
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Sturbridge, Ma
Posts: 3,992
Save them. Make small blocks, sash or border for a charity quilt.
Pattern makers try to do the fast way sometimes regardless of waste. I often think those who "design" quilts for the magazines have an unlimited amount of fabric to use.
Pattern makers try to do the fast way sometimes regardless of waste. I often think those who "design" quilts for the magazines have an unlimited amount of fabric to use.
03-27-2011, 07:27 AM
#15
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 7,529
I am in the process of picking fabrics to make this block ( all from stash & scrappy ). I save my small pieces for a friend that weaves throw rugs. She has made me 4 small ones for all the scraps I have given her. They are very well made and hold up good, we have dogs.
03-28-2011, 04:02 AM
#20
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: DC area
Posts: 417
Hey, slow down. As fabric becomes more expensive don't throw it away. That is money....saying you will never use it is like asking for trouble. The word...Never... always makes a fool of you. I just cut for a drunkard path and had so much waste that I took time to cut the pieces in to lovely squares and stored them neatly stacked in plastic snack bags ready for use, all washed, ironed and the same size. Such pretty colors could go into a border, in to a mug rug, into a doll quilt, a framed print, or matching pillow. Even if you send them on to someone else, do them the favor of keeping them neatly useable without having to iron out small pieces...that is treating a friend (and fabric) with dignity.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
