Friday, October 31, 2014

Friday's Frequently Asked Quilting Questions --- FFAQQs

What do you do with your thread scraps? Save them or throw them away?


I belong to several facebook quilting groups from Fabric Crafters U-Bid Fabric Destash to Quilting and Sewing Enthusiasts  to  Professional Long Arm Quilters and Long Arm Quilters Groups.  In one of the Long Arm Groups one of the members shared her empty spools and a container of all her worn out needles.  

Well....I saved all my thread scraps from the past 11 years years of long arm quilting!  I started saving them, because I did not have a wastepaper basket next to my long arm machine. I would clip threads and put them on a piece of batting as sometimes it would stick to my hand with static electricity. I thought it looked so pretty, so I grabbed the globs of thread and put them into a glass jar.

It reminded me of the colored sand in the jars from the 60's and 70's! 


I just kept filling jars!


I love how they look!  Oooo all the wonderful colors!

What do you save and how do you save them?

Scraps of threads?  fabric scraps and strips?  empty spools?  bobbins?

Remember the post about my jars of fabric scraps? These are scraps from the first quilt I quilted on my quilting machine.


Enjoy the colors around you!
Marcia

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I always feel that I am wasting my thread when I toss it in the trash. So with that being said, I'm digging it out and saving it from now on Thanks for the encouragement.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I was thinking about you the last few days - hope all is well. I have been thinking of saving threads for some thread play and now seeing your lovely jars - just have to do it!!

Helen@Till We Quilt Again said...

Love your collection of thread--it is a art rainbow!

Katie M. said...

I save all my machine embroidery threads and I will use them to make 'fabric' for artsy quilts such as fabric postcards or mug mats. I will spread the threads out on a white fabric, lay tulle or sometimes a sheer fabric such as chiffon over that and free motion quilt the dickens out of it. Then I can cut it to the shape I want. I end up with texture and color. I've also sandwiched threads between layers of water soluble stabilizer and done the same thing with the quilting. Then wash most, but not all, of the stabilizer out. lay flat to dry and I have 'fabric' of a loose weave to use.

Rosemary B❤️ said...

Rosemary B here:
Aren't we a creative bunch.
I thought I was the only one....
I have also put fabric slivers in a pot and saved all of them. In Spring, I put them out for the birds to make nests.
It is interesting to see which birds used them.... and there is always one next I have to continually destroy, the mocking bird nest in my forsythia. They are community destroyers. Robins and Blue Birds are the most peaceful birds.. and the finches and doves.
Your collection looks absolutely delightful, Marcia

Farm Quilter said...

I have saved my threads from my longarming in a pint canning jar. When that gets too full to mash any more in, I empty it into a plastic baggy to save! I'm going to try the tulle over a solid fabric with thread embellishment!!! When I am hand sewing anything, I dig around in that jar for the right color thread and use it up that way too.