Tuesday, April 30, 2013

scrappy {selvage} st. louis 16 patch

I've been dutifully saving selvages ever since setting eyes on this lovely (you can see Jacquie's finished quilt here).  And by "saving," I mean {generously} trimming selvages before tossing the fabric into the wash (yep, I'm in that camp).


Let's just say that after four years of conscious collection, that s* adds up!  As in, almost seven pounds! {Not including the crate ;)}  To be honest, I always figured I would make that spiderweb quilt (still might!), but these slivers just weren't screaming spiderweb to me anymore.  Enter the st. louis 16 patch (aka BB #1102a, "Mosaic #20").  "Quick and oh so easy"?  Yes please!  Scrappily strip-pieced?  Sold.  And whadda ya know... just in time for string fever ;)

So my selvage elf diligently dove in, meticulously sorting through scraps...


That is, until she started nodding off on the job.


While she snoozed, I managed to pick up her slack in the sorting department...  {Imagine that!}


Get a little bit organized...


And even start sewing ;)


Okay, so I didn't get too far on the sewing front.  But I did manage to cut enough strips for at least 12 more blocks, so keep an eye out for those because this addictive endeavor is officially underway!


Of course, I hadn't been crazy enough didn't have the forethought to trim a full 4" strip along the selvage of each and every (or any) fabric, so I had to scale down the finished square size from 3 1/2" to 1 5/8".  Admittedly, doing so sort of negates the "quick" factor that originally lured me in as I'll need four times as many blocks for every one of Steffani's, but I think it'll be worth it to finally get some use out of these trimmings ;)

If this simple goodness sparks your fancy, be sure to check out Steffani's tutorial* for the "how to" and join Katy's flickr group for the "let's do this!"

*As I'm using selvage pieces, I did make a few modifications to her instructions.  I'll post a {modified} tutorial once I finish the quilt (I'm using very, shall we say, modest seam allowances along the selvage edges and want to make sure they hold up in the wash before I go on blabbing about how to do what I'm doing).

 ;)

Happy Wednesday!  So tell me, any other selvage hoarders out there or am I by my lonesome?  {And if you don't want 'em, I'll gladly take them off your hands!}

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

11 comments:

  1. Hah. Definitely not the only selvage hoarder! I had a box of them. Boxes, plural. And little containers with them stuffed inside. It was bad. BAAAAD. :)

    I'm intrigued by what you're doing with yours though - the St Louis 16 block - I've never seen that done before - lovely work!

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  2. Ooooh this is going to be fab! I do save selvedges but I only have a smallish bag - yours are amazing!

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  3. This will be interesting! Sometimes we need easy and quick. Quick even more than easy. ;) Btw, loooove the scales.

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  4. They will look awesome! Your little one falling asleep amongst the selvedges is too cute!!

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  5. Sorry no - I don't save selvedges even if I can certainly see I ought to :)

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  6. What a fun project! I've started saving selvages...but I have no idea what I will do with them.

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  7. Wow, that's a lot of selvages but looks like you'll be putting them to a great use!

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  8. Better than store bought toys :) I've been collecting selvage for years and finally came up with a reason to use them I want to sew fabric baskets to store my other scraps in - now I just have to actually do it.

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  9. So wonderful that you're using every last bit of your pricy fabric, and it's going to be gorgeous. Adorable selvage elf!

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  10. Wow, that's some selvedge dedication! It's a little inspiring because I'm a little jealous of the awesome quilt St. Louis you are making!

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