BEDDING — Inside the Home

Quilted Shams

What Can You Do With a Quilt Block?

Do you find yourself with a bunch of left over quilt blocks? Whatever you do, don't throw them away! There are many things you can do with left over quilt blocks. Here are 10 ideas for projects using your extras:

1. Make small tote bags or purses. Add a pre-made wooden handle you can buy at your local craft store.

2. Make covers for special scrapbooks or photo albums. The are also great scrapbook page backgrounds.

3. Quilt your leftovers individually and make potholders and trivets. Use thinner batting, cut the quilt block down a bit and glue a thin piece of cork to the back to create a coaster.

4. Stitch or fuse a couple together, then use it as fabric from which to cut a Christmas stocking.

5. Make a small wall hanging.

6. Dress up an old jacket or cardigan by heat bonding a block onto the center backside. Use fabric paint to trim out the edges of it or add an anti-fray product to the edges. If you are accustomed to sewing, add a zig zag or satin stitch to secure the edges and add a nice finish.

7. Create dining room decor. Use single blocks for placemats. Piece several blocks together to make a table runner.

8. Make pillows. Single blocks are the perfect sice to create toss pillows for your sofa, loveseat or chairs. Make pillow shams for your bed by stitching several together to fit your pillows.

9. Quilt just one block and finish the edges. It will make a nice quilt for a child's stuffed animal or dollhouse comforter.

10. Make bookmarks. Cut the block into strips about three inches wide. Fuse them to another piece of fabric cut the same size. Hot glue rick rack around the edges for a no-sew finish. Crafty people comfortable with sewing may use a zig zag or satin stitch to finish them out. If hand stitching, use a blanket stitch to complete the edge.

In addition to the ten ideas for creating other items from your old or extra pieced blocks, you could consider donating your extras to charity. Local senior centers that offer quilting or sewing classes might welcome the gift of some prepared blocks.

If you are interested in keeping the money yourself, you can sell your extras. Advertise them in a local paper or in online classifieds. You should also consider an online auction. Try selling them in a yard sale.

If the 10 crafty ideas listed above have inspired you to make a few of those items, you can piece blocks specifically for these projects, or look around to find someone who has extras lying around. Check garage or tag sales, thrift stores and online auctions and classifieds to find spare quilt blocks.

If you will be piecing your own blocks from which to craft, experiment with some new patterns. You can find a library full of quilt block patterns online. You will find quilt block patterns for all levels of quilting, beginner to highly skilled. If you are new to quilting all together, look for quilting tips from a how-to-quilt website or find an online quilting coach if you do not have someone locally who can teach you the art of quilting.

About the Author

Penny Halgren
http://www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com
Penny has been a quilter for more than 27 years. She enjoys exploring all aspects of quilting and sharing her knowledge with others. A new endeavor is http://www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com which provides hundreds of traditional patchwork quilt block patterns.

Where can I find cool patchwork quilts for teens like they sell at www.pbteen.com ?

Where can I find cool patchwork quilts for teens like they sell at www.pbteen.com ??
similar to this :

http://www.pbteen.com/products/portobello-patchwork-quilt-and-sham/?pkey=x%7C4%7C1%7C%7C6%7Cpatchwork%7C%7C0&cm_src=SCH

Eagle Eye: One word... ew.

http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=41&f=850

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Kelsey-Cotton-Quilt-Set/4133030/product.html

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Desirae-Quilt-Set/4094517/product.html

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Puerto-Vallarta-Patchwork-Quilt-Set/3884967/product.html

http://www.thecompanystore.com/parent/Bedding+Girls+Bedding/5001/CX07X/&cm_ven=NexTag&cm_cat=Bedding-Girls_Bedding&cm_pla=ZEBRA_ROSE_DEC_PILLO&cm_ite=PN6916VELROS&code=macs=T9NXTG&srccode=cii_9324560&cpncode=18-39070337-2

http://www.smartbargains.com/go.sb?pagename=prod&deptid=3&catid=124&cpncode=24-46446917-2&program=13436&isrw=4&srccode=cii_13736960&prodid=3038514868&aid=660

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4800&f=29342

http://www.thecompanystore.com/parent/Quilts+Patchwork/3211/CX16X/&cm_ven=CJDF&cm_cat=Quilts-_Patchwork&cm_pla=SPRING_BLOSSOM_QUILT&cm_ite=CX16KMUL&code=macs=T8CJDF

Like any of these?

Jaipur Quilted Coverlet & Shams 3-piece Set

Tags: bedding, covelet, grandmas-quilt,, king size quilted shams, pillow, quilted shams, shams, white quilted shams, yellow quilted shams

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 3:57 pm and is filed under bedding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.