Bits-n-Pieces :: Improv Scraps

I have to say...there are never any scraps that are too small to use in my book!  And, I really have a hard time setting aside scraps from an original project.  Most of the time I share the projects from the scraps before I show the original project!  Maybe that's a little abnormal, or maybe that's me! 



All these original bits and pieces are from a project that I can share with you on June 4th.  I really, really hope you get a chance to see that one!  For all of you who swear you can't do improv...I swear you can!  I'm really excited about it and I think you will be too!  



After my secret project was finished, I was left with so many amazing bits and pieces!  It's not that I don't have plenty of other things to work on, but when confronted with scraps that are pure gold...a girl has to do what a girl has to do!  

As you can see, I was working with a rainbow theme for the secret project.  What ever was in the cards was going to be an explosion of color!



There were different shapes and sizes. Long skinny pieces and some larger chunks.  I was very confident that I could puzzle together each scrap and make something that was interesting.

I'm very comfortable working on projects without detailed plans.  I love the challenge and enjoy the process of figuring it out as I go.



My plan was to make a table runner.  I like making runners for a number of reasons.  One of which is they are relatively small and pretty quick to put together and quilt.  And if you only have a limited amount of scraps, you can easily stretch them throughout by adding background.

It's a good idea to have plenty of background fabric on hand when using scraps, especially if you need to make a little (scraps) go a long way.  In the case of this runner, I had a chunk of Moda Charcoal that I wanted to use and had to be very careful not to waste any of it.  Thankfully I had just, just enough to make a decent sized table runner!



I started with this panel of funky scrap shapes by adding strips of the background fabric in between each shape.  The results stretched the panel and evenly dispersed the color spots.



I tried to keep the larger scrap pieces as large as I could.  I didn't see any reason to trim them any more than I needed to.

  

The skinny uneven strips were trimmed down and separated with grey to extend the length.  For some reason I felt the need to keep these two sections true to a rainbow spectrum.  All the other panels I didn't worry too much about color placement.



I felt it needed a little more length before I called it done.  With a small chunk of background left at this point, I divided it in half and added a skinny strip to finish.




As you can see I have it basted and ready to quilt.  There isn't a design plan as of yet, but we all know I really like lines...I've never been adventurous!



It turned out rather crazy, don't you think?!   Gotta love those scraps!

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