Welcome to Week 3 of the Use Your Stash QAL! In this email you'll find prize information, social media prompts, and tips for this week's theme. Each week I will send you social media prompt suggestions. Note that these are totally optional, but I'm hoping to spark greater community discussions with these prompts as we evaluate our stash habits! This week's social media prompt is this: Let's get honest about scraps! Do you keep them? Toss them? Love them? Scraps can be the bane or boon of a quilter's existence! This week we're discussing all things scraps. Some of us use every last scrap we generate, and some of us (hi, it's me) really don't like sewing with scraps. If you struggle with your scraps, I have some suggestions this week! 1. If you generally have a hard time sewing with your scraps, we have an excellent blog post by Rebecca Ricks of RRQuilts to share all about how to use your scraps when you're just not feeling very scrappy. I also love this community suggestion to make small projects with tiny blocks: - “I make tiny blocks and add them to baby sweaters to bust my scraps, however my favourite busting method is to make housewarming gifts! Think oven mitts, pot holders, coasters, pillows, blocks sold onto tote bags, etc.I have also made a tiny quilt for my cat, and she loves it- sort of like her emotional support blanket when she’s travelling somewhere. Donating little quilts to a shelter would be a great use of fabric you wouldn’t have a use for otherwise!” - @quiltblockbabies
2. Keeping your scraps well organized and ready to use makes it much more likely that you'll actually use them! Here are some tips: - "Keeping scraps organized helps me.immensly. I sort by colors and size so when I have something that needs less than a fat quarter or a quarter yard, I can find something in the color family I need fairly quickly. I also keep specific fabric collection scraps together. For instance, last year's art gallery Christmas fabrics I used, I pulled out that little box of scraps this year and made some scrappy small projects for a makers market" - @duenorthhandmade
- "Press your scraps. Small wrinkly bits don’t look very useful, but small freshly pressed bits look inviting to use." - @quiltfable
- This blog post by Diary of a Quilter has some excellent organizing suggestions as well!
3. When scraps are too small to use, there are numerous ways you can responsibly recycle them, depending on your location. - I personally recycle my own unusable scraps using Ridwell. It isn't available in all locations, but it's an excellent service that handles all sorts of plastics, electronics, and more! Check to see if you have similar services in your area.
- Many quilters use Retold Recycling for unusable textiles and scraps.
- "100% cotton scraps (fabric, batting & thread) can be composted in municipal yard waste programs. ” - @peteyandco
- "I buy what’s called Take Back Bags from the company For Days. They send you a giant mailer, and I fill it with my scraps I have no use for, or the leftover cuts of shirts from tshirt quilts! You can also put stained and ripped clothing in them. You get a shipping label and mail the filled bag back, and the money spent is credited back to your account to buy recycled textile/sustainable clothing!" - @ohsweetquiltofmine
4. Finally, you can always keep tiny scraps to stuff pillows, dog beds, or anything that requires stuffing! Cutting these scraps into smaller pieces can help. |
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The winner of last week's prizes is @seagardensewing! If this is you, reply to this email with your address. They will receive This weeks prizes are: - Quilter's Weekly Planner Pad, Customizable WIP Inventory Tracking Sheet, Set of 4 Aurufil Thread spools in neutral colors from Wild Plum Lane
- Fat Quarter Bundle from Fabric Worm
Winners will be chosen randomly every week using the #UseYourStashQAL hashtag on Instagram. Post every week for a chance to win! Note: it might seem odd to have fabric bundles or gift cards as a prize in a quilt a long designed to use your stash. However, week 5 of this QAL will focus on responsible purchasing and consumption, and these prizes can help accentuate your stash to make it even more usable! |
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Unlike a traditional QAL, we won't be focusing on some specific part of assembly every week - since everyone will be working with different patterns! Instead, each week I will be sharing tips, tricks, and resources around sewing more sustainably, using your stash, and intentional fabric buying. Each week we will also have optional prompts for social media posts that encourage you and others to think about you can use these ideas in your quilting throughout 2023. Share your progress each week for a chance to win some awesome prizes! |
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Note that by joining this QAL you are agreeing to receive emails from me. You can unsubscribe at any time, but please do not mark my emails as spam as that greatly impacts my business and others on my email list. |
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