selvage play

As some of you know, I'm on a self-imposed, non-necessity fabric buying ban until I make a dent in my selvage stash.  Back when I made that commitment, I envisioned finishing the selvage 16-patch I started last spring and calling it a success.  (The idea being that it'd be impossible to finish that particular quilt if I kept adding new selvages to my "collection").

Then along came Victoria Findlay Wolfe's workshop prep for SewDown Nashville.  First up on the supply list?  "Scraps - a nice big, generous bag of colorful scraps."  Turns out the only (organized) scraps I had on hand at the time were about a dozen ziplocs full of color-coordinated selvages that were either too skinny or too short for my 16-patch project (I'm using 2" x 8.5" strips for those blocks).

So naturally, I gathered them up and took the whole grocerybag-ful down south last month.

Being me (and thereby predisposed to monochromatic color schemes), I initially set out to make my 15 Minutes of Play fabric from one bag at a time.  And then as I found myself working from my cool blue bag, my (hilariously entertaining) workshop neighbor Jessica (@alittlegressica) offered me a purple Lizzy House print.  I hesitated a moment, but figured what the heck, purple and blue are analogous, so I used it right away and switched back to my blues.  And then another purple came my way (this time an AMH).  And a few minutes later, Jessica handed over a generous selvage off of a mustard AMH print she was using for her own "made" fabric.  I again happily accepted, but this time proceeded to dig around for the appropriately-hued baggie so I could put it where (I felt) it belonged.

But before I could catalog that scrap, a little voice in the back of my mind said something along the lines of, "Self, VFW's whole idea of 'play' is about breaking out of your comfort zone and facing your fears head on."  So I took that mustard scrap and nestled it right next to the blue and purple strips I'd been using.  

And you know what?  I kind of like it :o)  And while I won't have Jessica around to throw in any more contrasting curve balls, I do have a nice little assortment of selvages that Daisy of Ants to Sugar just sent, so I'm thinking random pulls from those will be a nice (albeit less witty) substitute.

Of course I have absolutely no clue what these will ultimately become, but it's safe to say I'll be crossing things off my "not to do" list with each new little panel of "made" fabric.

Here goes nothing!

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!}