Scrappy Bowl

My Sample Swap Loot

Recently while I was at Sew South Retreat in Charlotte, NC, I participated in a "Sample Swap." The attendees who so desired were invited to bring four of the same handmade gifts.  Participants split up into groups of five.  We then proceeded to give our gifts to the other four group members, and in turn we received four unique gifts.  It was great fun, and really interesting to see the different things everyone brought.  I happened to be toting a few extra samples and was fortunate enough to find another friend who had brought extras as well, so I ended up with 5 awesome gifts.  Score!!

The moral of this story actually has nothing to do with the Samples I received, even though they were all awesome.

My retreat sewing neighbor, who can be found at NautiStitcher.blogspot.com, brought these wicked awesome bowls that amazed everyone.  After begging for directions on how produce such a fabulous thing, I was excited to learn that this particular project makes excellent use of very small strips of scrap fabric!  Woohoo!  The prospect of making something cool out of scraps is music to any sewist's ears.  I literally have drawers full of scraps from my sewing day job which I find hard to utilize based on the theme of the fabrics.  Many of them are character or novelty related: not your typical quilting fare.  The great thing about these awesome bowls of scraps is that you really can't even tell what is on the fabric in question.  Observe:

Scrappy Bowl

Tah-Dah!!!  Behold...my very first scrappy bowl.  I finally managed to find the time to make one this evening.  I've been frothing for nearly two weeks, but busy as a bee.  Can you tell that there is comic book fabric in there?  I bet you can't!  Ha!

Basket of Scrap Strips

I was able to grab a fist full of scraps out of a drawer, cut them into 3/4" wide (roughly) strips, and go to town!  It was fun putting it together while watching House of Cards and sipping on a glass of fine wine.  I have resolved that there are plenty more scrappy bowls in my future.

Note to my family: Beware!  You will be receiving these as gifts.  So put on a happy face.  :)