Scraps & Quirky Bits with the Thimblebuddies

Last week the QuiltMobile was loaded up and headed south to Port St. Lucie, FL!

Just space left for my suitcase!

The Thimblebuddies get together monthly and have a covered dish dinner right before the meeting starts. What a great idea for the ones who are coming right from work! 

I had been asked to talk about scraps, so we discussed  "The Seven Habits of Highly Collective Scrap Lovers" (with thanks to Stephen R. Covey). Handouts included a list of the habits, some great websites to visit, and even a chart of How To Cut Scraps from Yardage, in case you don't have any.
They had plenty, though!

Two Quirky Bits on the left...what a load of scrap quilts!

We had a good time laughing and learning about the best ways to use scraps.
This guild has quite a few community service projects. To help everyone participate, they recently had a Cutting Bee to create kits for some of the quilts they make. That's a great idea for moving along fabric donations.

The following day, 15 ladies came for the Quirky Bits class. 
Almost everyone was using the 1.5" strips (which is cuter than using 2.5"). Variety is the key to success, so first we learned how to make Super Scrappy 9-Patches and really mix up all those strips!

If you're making a mess, you're not having fun!

The Thimblebuddies (and a couple from the Crazy Quilters, another area guild) were wonderful about trading to get the widest possible variety. They traded both strips and sewn sections. Besides strolling around the tables and looking over what each person brought, we also had a display where you could put up some sections to be "adopted".

Sew a few...take a few!

One lady was making a monochromatic red & white quilt, and was able to find quite a few new reds to supplement her collection. Another had rather solid-looking fabrics and decided to add more prints. Everyone quickly saw that the more fabrics you put together, the happier they all are!

Red, white & blue...always a classic scheme!

After lunch we talked about how to do a diagonal set, which is how Quirky Bits is put together.
I had half a quilt done as a sample, and rest in rows, so we could see exactly how that set works. 
Then there was a request for another Mile a Minute demo, as some of the ladies had not been at the meeting the night before...so we did that! 
And then I did a demo of rotary cutting when you have a huge piece of yardage to deal with.  I think the piece I brought was 6 yards long! One lady liked it so much, she asked to trade some of her black & white for some of mine. That's what I call a win-win situation! (Covey's rule # 4!).

By the end of the day we were just about all scrapped out. But it sure was fun!

Quirky Bits and friends

OK, now this is the place where Cherry-cherry would say, "You should mention that your Quirky Bits pattern can be purchased! Just click on the Patterns for Sale tab at the top of the blog!"
So now I have mentioned it!