Ask Joi: It's Salvaged. Now What?

Rachel F. sent me this email:

I've heard about quilters making things with the salvaged end of their fabrics. Exactly how do you do it and what do you make with them?

Oh, Rachel,  I just love the idea of using every little scrap in quilting. And quilting with salvaged edges is one very creative way of using up everything you've got. 

For those who don't know, a salvaged edge is that piece of the fabric that sports the designer name, fabric company, those little color dots, and whatever else fabric companies like to put on there. It's the part of the fabric that most people would just cut off and toss. But quilters- being the clever bunch that they are- found a way to use these fabrics ends to create their own stylish fabrics for use in a variety of things.

Craftsy and Quilting with Nancy both offer great tips on how to save and sew your salvaged ends

(photo credit: busybean)

There are many quilters out there in love with using the salvaged ends of fabric. And lucky for us, they are not afraid to share their passion. Diana Weirich is one such person with a lovely collection of salvaged edge projects that she has gathered on Pinterest. This is where I discovered this cute little pincushion by AngelaGreenwald on Flickr

The Salvage Edge Boutique is an entire blog dedicated to the fashionable use of salvaged pieces. Just look at this cute tote from their site:

In working with salvaged ends, you are basically creating your own fabric, so you can use it an any way that you would normally use fabric. The creative uses are really only limited to how much you have saved ans how much you are willing to save.

Salvaged Hexagons (photo credit: salvage blog)