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Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Raw I ~ Beyond Scraps. Borderline CRazY!

I'm going to say up front ... this is probably the craziest, insane, bizarre, brainsick, psychotic, certifiable thing I have ever attempted in quilting!  Using scraps gives me a certain pride, you know, making something from a pile of bits and pieces.  

Define scraps?  When is small too small, or when does a scrap become useless?  A few weeks ago I would have given one answer, today ... I am almost ashamed to say, there is no scrap too small!  

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.  When life gives you scraps, you make a quilt?!


RAW I
18" x 20"
Let me take you on a trip inside my head.  Several weeks ago I had a beautiful pile of hand dyed 'shavings' from half square triangles.  A beautiful bowl of ... crap, garbage, unusable slices of beauty!



I looked at this pile, and wondered what could a creative person do with it?  Initially, I thought nothing.  How could you even sew these together?  You couldn't!  But there had to be some use for them.  (my brain is going in to overload) 

If you are not familiar with Mister Domestic or t_Jaye on Instagram, please take the time to check them out.  Both take bias strips and weave them into the most amazing pieces.  This is where I found my inspiration, my crazy inspiration for this mini quilt.  



What started as an experiment, soon became an obsession!  Raw Edge Weaving.  Could I really weave these pieces into blocks?  One block led to another, and another and another! Before long I had a pile of 2 1/4" - 2 1/2"  blocks.

Mister Domestic and t_jaye, they know exactly what they are doing and where they are going. With me, I was just going!  I liken it to english paper piecing.  I love having something that keeps my hands busy during the evening.  Sewing on a binding or EPP.  I was so addicted after my first weave...I seriously couldn't stop.  


Raw Edge Weaving
My blocks varied after weaving.  It depended on the size of shavings I was using.  In fact, I wasn't even thinking about size...does it really matter?!

With I finished each block, I fused it with a light weight interfacing and stitched just less than 1/4" around the block to keep it together.

The blocks were set aside until I could figure out what to do with them.  That day finally came.



Starting with 1/2" pieces of fabric, I pieced strips together with good old Kona Snow.  I knew using such skinny strips that the lines would be far from perfect, completely intentional.  

The 'X's were hopefully going to be another element that would bring this piece together.  


I played, rearranged and played some more until I found what worked for me.    



The lines on the left represent the first step in weaving.  Strips.  The 'X's became the process of weaving.  Interlacing the fabrics together.  A loose interpretation, but it is improv after all!

I was sure this was it, finished and I was pleased.  Or so I thought.  After posting a picture on Instagram,  someone commented that they thought the strip separating the panels interrupted the flow.  Hmmm...which made me rethink that decision.  I went to bed thinking about it.  And woke up thinking about it.  I love feedback, it is always welcome in my book!



I was determined to figure out this puzzle, new ideas were brewing and I had to see it through.

I spent the morning fiddling.  Adding and subtracting, slicing and dicing.  For some reason I needed or really, really wanted that strip separating the panels.  


Free motion quilting was my weapon of choice here.  With the funky lines and crazy weave, I knew my skill (not perfect) would fit right in.


Grid, matchstick, ghost quilting.  It fit.  The questionable strip...I tackled that with a woven diamond.  




The pieced binding was the final straw.  As you can see it is not perfect and very bulky. 


The back shows the quilting detail better.  I finished with my usual method for hanging and called it done!  



I think the boundaries have been sufficiently pushed!  It's exciting when an idea or insane idea comes together!

LINKING:

55 comments:

  1. YOU ARE UNBELIAVABLE! I am so excited and inspired about this art quilt! I think white line 'puts the xxx in order and that's why it looks good. Just fantastic idea to weave the strips! Your colours are perfect as always and the quilting is fantastic! I can't wait to have time to try this. I have some materials that have been waiting for years what to become so thank you !!! Hugs! Teje

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    1. I'm not sure what came over me! When I saw that bowl of trimmings I was so inspired to figure out a use! They were so small the only thing I could do was weave them or toss them!

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  2. Right about now I'm regretting all the times I've thrown away tiny trimmings. Your quilt is wonderful!

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    1. I'm not sure if I will continue to save the shavings from blocks, but it sure was fun to experiment and see where it would lead me!

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  3. Definitely a prize winner in my book, Jayne! The process, in itself, is fascinating.

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  4. Your creativity always astounds me Jayne! Beautiful quilt.

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  5. that is a very neat idea for scraps - the smallest I save are 1.5 inch squares that I turn into postage stamp quilts - I have two of them now although I am still working on a wool applique border for this one - the quilt will be queen size when I am done. Just keep cutting 1.5 inch scraps from your scraps put them in a shoe box and when it is near full get started sewing.

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  6. Love reading about your process. Who knew those little trimmings could create something so beautiful? Amazing work, Jayne!

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  7. This is wonderful! I have been saving little scraps just like this for a while now. I keep them in little sandwich bags and I've been thinking of what to do with them. Great inspiration!

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    1. I would never have thought that the trimmings from blocks could be used for anything! How wrong I was!! I'll admit, I wasn't sure it would work out and turn into something!

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  8. I adore this piece!!!! I love its organic nature, that you tried something new, stuck by your gut and just went for it. Your quilting just takes it to another level, one I like very very much!! and yay for matched binding! ;-)

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    1. Every once in a while some hair brained idea strikes and I have to give it a try. In this case, it actually worked! There is something very satisfying about that. Just when you think there couldn't possibly be something new in the world of quilting! It seemed like the perfect piece to free motion quilt, I like to think of my skills in that department as improv too!

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  9. This is really fabulous, Jayne, and it was a delight to watch it come together on Instagram. The detail in the binding you added is awesome, and I love the texture of the quilting and weaving combined. Bravo!

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  10. This is really fun -- I love the creative work you put into it, and how well you describe the steps. The raw edge weaving is so cool!

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    1. I have been so inspired by the weaving I've seen lately, but wasn't quite ready to delve into a serious project like that. The bowl of shavings were taunting me…so I got creative!

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  11. Wow! Now that is thinking outside the box! What fun it was to see your thought process on this wonderfully unique creation and I bet you had fun making it too.

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  12. It's crazy beautiful! Thanks for sharing the whole journey, it's very inspirational.

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    1. I am thrilled with this finished, I never would have thought it was possible to use those scraps in anything!

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  13. Okay Jayne, you already know how I feel about this piece. I have to tell you that I've been thinking about doing some fabric weaving type deal for some time myself, but I never thought of using little tiny pieces like this AND as you can see, I haven't done it yet either. I wasn't going to use raw edges, but now I see that it can so work. Again, there is something about this piece that just makes me so happy! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

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  14. Jayne, you crazy girl! While I would never attempt this myself I love it. You are truly an artist!

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  15. I have a paper grocery bag of small scraps in different shapes and sizes that I have been brainstorming about lately. I love your scrap quilt. Simple and modern which I like. Debbie

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  16. In a shocking turn of events...I LOVE THIS! Hhaha okay maybe not so shocking. I love that you're pushing boundaries and trying new things and making it work for you! I'm so inspired, I've been weaving for the last year and never considered weaving fabric!

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  17. This is AMAZING!!! I always enjoy reading about your processes.

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  18. you're my kind of sew-er! applause, applause
    No scrap is too small for me... I like the weaving thing, and sewing teeny little strips into place for a pop of color. Your design work is great on this. So very interesting as per usual. LeeAnna

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  19. I love this quilt!!! The colours and movement are just perfect. And the quilting just adds to the overall effect. Love!!! Love the idea of using my hst trimmings - no waste!

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  20. A beautiful piece of art! Sometimes those abandoned bits call to us "use me" :) Love this very much!

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  21. Crazy. . . no doubt! Brilliant. . . absolutely!

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  22. As usual, I love what you've done, Jayne. I really like the little stripes going into the binding, even though it makes it bulky there, & then carrying those stripes to the back. Very artistic! I hadn't heard of "ghost quilting" before, so you've shared a new design element for my consideration. Very clever. I love those tiny fab strips & keep them myself to use in projects. Now I'll look forward to weaving...my little brain is pumping! :)

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  23. Love it Jayne. It's so pretty!

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  24. Love this, Jayne! Amazing work.

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  25. Yep, certifiable. But OMG, in such a FANTASTIC way!!! Love, love, love this!

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  26. Yep, hate to sound like I'm repeating what everyone else is saying, but I'm repeating what everyone else is saying...you've created something amazing & I too love love it!

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  27. Oh. Just. WOW. I'd like to think that maybe the seed for this was the woven placemats you might have made with construction paper in elementary school?? But this is way beyond that for sure! Love it and the way you just kept going with the design. The quilting really ties it all together. (And now I will be forever feel guilty when I empty my scrap bowl.)

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  28. Oh my goodness this is amazing. I love your work and how you explain your thought processes...😀 this is a work of art. Well done and thank you for sharing with us. Xx

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  29. That is absolutely incredible. I love it and glad you acceped the challenge to try it.

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  30. Great idea! Love it! Thanks for share it ;)

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  31. Wow. Like you I would have thrown those cut offs into the trash. This is stunning and a great way to stretch yourself.

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  32. Thanks for the links - I didn't know either of these guys. I like what you have done a lot - and the explanations of how you got there, and for my money leaving that joining strip on the left was the right call. I also love your spirit of adventure.

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  33. This is just amazing! I love it! The woven sections, the skinny improv piecing, and the quilting are awesome!

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  34. Love your idea and will put it to use.

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  35. Very interesting project! Love the results;-)

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  36. That's really super. I love the mini weavings especially.

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  37. I should have sent you my skinny scraps. My mouth is still open. Your work is always so new and so unique. It is refreshing...as usual. Must you always stand out?
    Hugs,
    Preeti.

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  38. Everyone googling weaving and mesh workflow??! I am!! Love your work X

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  39. Saw your pictures of this on instagram and just love how it turned out. Really different and striking. Love it! :0)

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  40. Ha, it's great to see someone saves smaller pieces of fabric than I do. One inch chunks are the smallest I keep. I have been known to cut a triangle out of a 1/2" strip and fuse it in place. That was in a paper pieced design where the pieces were too small to paper piece, so fusing had to be the method for completion. Now the question for you is, are there still more of those skinny strips left? If yes, what to do with them?

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  41. Just catching up after a couple of weeks away from blogland! WOW!!!!! I have seen this in progress on IG but wonderful to read this post. This is insanely brilliant!!

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  42. That is a truly fabulous quilt. Ive been wanting to play with raw edge strips myself as i think they will fray nicely when washed and add some cool effects to the quilt top. Nice job. Would make a great quilt with some addition size.

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  43. Absolutely incredible, from beginning to end. This is so inspirational. Thank you for sharing it!

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  44. It's beautiful...thanks for the inspiration!

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  45. This is stunning! I loved watching your process and the final reveal!! It is a beautiful finish!!

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  46. How did you make the little weaved square? I know how to weave but how do you hold them to weave? Beautiful, love it. Thanks for sharing. Great job.

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