When you are cutting
your fabric, you trim, and then you trim, and then you trim, and you make a lot of scraps. Today, we were heading back
to MT. Scrapmore because I had made several videos on
what to do with the big pieces. But today's video is all
about the small pieces, the irregular shaped ones,
the less than two inch ones, which we often call crumbs. So here are seven ways
to use up your crumbs. So stick with me and I'll
show you how to do it. (pleasant music) Hi there, I'm Karen Brown
of Just Get It Done Quilts. I give you tips, tricks and strategies to help you make the quilt
that you want to make. And if you like what you see, please hit that subscribe button. And I'd like to thank
today's sponsor, SkillShare. For all of us, scraps
have different meanings. I know people who consider anything less than a fat quarter, a scrap, and on the other extreme,
I have people horrified that I throw out anything
less than one inch. Everyone has a zone that
they're comfortable with. The important point is
you should have a purpose for your scraps and not
just put them in bags and hide them in the closet. So I have done a previous
video on scrap management, where you decide where and
how to use up your scraps. Scrap sampler blocks, scrap strip blocks, or in the back in and after quilt. But I have yet to deal with the crumbs, which are those irregular and small pieces that you have left over after you've done all the other stuff. (pleasant music) It is a good habit to
have to start your sewing with a leader in place. They don't need to be square and they don't need to be the same size and you can use them over
and over and over again. If a thread nest happens,
it happens on the leader and not on your good fabric. It also gives your piece in
something to butt up against, to support your fabric
as it initially hits those feed dogs for straighter sewing. They're also good to use
as markers between section. Like if I'm doing columns of pairs, I will use a leader to mark in between the different columns. It's important to have a
place for all your crumbs. So you don't have to go
rummaging through larger pieces to judge if it's really a leader material, just keep them all in one bucket so you can just grab and go. (pleasant music) You can also sew chains of
crumbs together to make strips. You start by sewing like pairs together. Then you sew those together
and then so those together. (pleasant music) These strips can be
used in blocks, such as pickup sticks or coin blocks, but they also can be incorporated in more sampler-like blocks, like log cabins or churn dashes. (pleasant music) You can sew several crumb chains together to make crumb squares
and crumb rectangles. You can also simply grow your
block from all your crumbs, letting it grow organically
from all your different shapes. You can then use this as a
block or use it as fabric to cut another shape from, and don't worry about any wastage. It can be used as the
foundation for your next block. Many people sew their crumbs to paper when they're doing this
to help secure the pieces. I personally love using
adding machine tape. I had a box of abandoned
rows at the office, and I was trying to figure
out what I could do with them. I, at some point made a
decision to make my strips 18 1/2 inches long and I usually work two to four strips at once to
postpone trips to the iron. So I use short fabric
strips and crumb chains that I made in the previous step. Sometimes I throw in old HSTs. Basically anything goes
that can fit on the strip. And then when the strip is complete, I trim it with a quarter inch
seam allowance all around. And I honestly work on them just whenever I don't feel like
working on anything else. (pleasant music) You can also use crumbs in applique. Take any fusible webbing
like Steam-A-Seam. I use my offcuts and
fuse my crumbs to them. (pleasant music) You can add these crumbs to your blocks, use them an applique on
top of your quilting, or have fun and make
postcards out of them. I keep a stack of card stock, batting scraps and ugly fabric on hand so I can always make postcards. Layer your batting on
top of your ugly fabric with your postcard background. They should be just slightly
larger than your card stock. Then place your crumbs
and your desired design. (pleasant music) And with the second paper
removed, fuse with a hot iron. Alternatively, you can
just use a glue stick to attach the pieces. Quilt as desired. Then glue the card to
the back of the piece. Then trim to the same
size as your card stock. To bind your postcard, use a tight zigzag. My width is four millimetres wide with a stitch length of 0.75. Trim any threads. Then I send them as I would any postcard. Now, before I get to the last two, let me tell you about SkillShare. Skillshare is an online
learning community with meaning. With so much to explore and
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picking up SkillShare every day and just choosing random courses. I was watching one on how
to write comedy sketches. I was looking at another
one on cake decorating. And so many more. These classes are designed
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of SkillShare premium. (pleasant music) We all have items in our house
that are less than colourful, or perhaps you just want
to disguise what they are and make them your own. Now I know you don't need an excuse to buy a Pringles can, but I use these two at my office as thread catchers. Yes, I always use two. I use one for my left hand and
I use one for my right hand. I use two parts craft
glue to one part water, and often I will just be Mod Podging while on a Zoom call. It's fast and easy to make. It will take a little time to dry. And I have a couple of foam board projects that are less than beautiful
that I like to do soon. Stay tuned. (pleasant music) Now I don't personally do them, but I have so many quilters that write in and tell me that they do. They keep a pillowcase
beside their sewing table and into it goes all their
crumbs and all their cutoffs. Then they make dog beds out to
them for their local shelter. LoveBug Studios has a
great blog post on it and I'll leave a link in the notes below. (pleasant music) There's no defined line
between scrap quilting and improv quilting. It all kind of just blurs
together at some point. Crumb chains, crumb blocks, crumb applique can all be incorporated
into an improv project. The biggest bonus for
me, when I do improv, it lets the left side of my brain rest. For those of you that have
long to do lists and deadlines, or just living a life of precision with little margin of error, improv can be yoga for the brain. You can let your
analytical left brain relax and let your right side do all
the stretching and bending. (pleasant music) Just because they're crumbs, doesn't mean they can be neglected. It's still very important that you use a good ironing technique so
that your pieces lie flat and therefore your work will lie flat. Now I know that there are
those of you out there that think I'm crazy for
using all these small pieces. Don't feel any pressure to use up crumbs. If they give you any stress,
just put them in a paper bag and donate them because
there's tonnes of people that would love to have them. If you want more information
on what to do with your scraps, I'm going to leave a
link in the notes below to my scrap management playlist. And if you haven't seen
my new interview series, Karen's Quilt Circle, I'm going to put a link in the notes down below there too. This week, I'm talking with Geeky Bobbin about how to get published
as a pattern writer. So hit that subscribe button so you'll be notified when it goes live. So if you like this video,
please give it a thumbs up. Don't forget to subscribe
and hit that bell beside the subscribe button so that
YouTube will notify you when I make new videos. You can also find me on Facebook,
Instagram, and Pinterest at Just Get It Done Quilts. All my stash buster patterns
are available for download on my website, JustGetItDoneQuilts.com. So take care and I'll see you next time.
