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| Scraps sorted by color before starting on Colorful Crumbs |
I've had several questions
about the foam plates
that appear in many of my
work-in-progress photos.
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| WIP photo from the making of Wind Farm |
Here I used the plates to sort and then keep
sets of four block-quadrants together.
By doing all of the sorting first,
I was able to sit and power-sew
the blocks together.
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| free pieced letters from The Stroop Project sorted by color |
Here I used the plates to keep
the color groups together as I worked on
the design wall layout for The Stroop Effect.
I am lucky to have dedicated work space
but I also deal with Quilter's ADD
so I like being able to quickly move
one project's pieces and parts
out of the way in order to work on another.
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| pieces sorted to sew blocks for Plaid-Mania |
In this case,
I started with the plates laid out individually
so I could sort/distribute scrappy pieces
as I was cutting from the many different plaids.
Once each plate had its necessary parts,
I started stacking the plates and,
when they were fully loaded,
I moved the whole pile to the sewing machine.
I used the plates again when I cut scrappy squares
to make four new Christmas pillows.
I find it easier to distribute the colors into groups
when each group's space is defined.
(loose piles that tip over and run into each other
just don't work well for me)
So why do I use foam plates?
They work hard.
They're cheap.
They don't take up a lot of space
between projects.
They're lightweight and easily portable.
When loaded,
they allow me to take advantage of
vertical space instead of having things
scattered all over my sewing surface.
They can be used over and over again
and, should one crack or wear out,
they are cheap and available
year-round at lots of local stores.
Quiltdivajulie
14 comments:
When I was teaching art, elementary through middle, I bought in bulk styrofoam trays from a food supply company. I used those for projects, supplies per table, pieces of work in progress, etc. They stacked well and were inexpensive. However, when I tried to use them at home for quilting fabric pieces, there was mass destruction due to a styrofoam eating cat who attacked all of them, chewing and strewing. Never found a good substitute.
My father in law would be happy about this. A child of the depression, he saved the foam trays from meat to use in various ways--though never for quilting! It would warm his heart that you save them from project to project. Good idea, too.
Good idea! I used regular paper plates at one point, but they aren't sturdy enough so I tossed 'em. It never occurred to me to try styrofoam, doh!
dughhhhh!...Just put them on the list for the dollar store...Working on a project with lots of different shapes in the same color/print. This is going to help a lot
It's a wonderful system you have there! I ran across some canteen trays at a yard sale, and bought several of them for projects.
That's a great idea. Ill keep that one in mind!
I can see them helping at the design wall. Thanks for sharing your genius with us.
Hugs
What a clever way to organise yourself as you work. I need to take several leaves out of your book.
I really like the vertical concept! It's so fun to see how quilters organize - thanks!
Yes. I like the vertical concept, too. This is a great way to keep things separated. Thanks, Julie.
I've been saving and using the cardboard inserts that come in wall calendars much the same way. They can tend to be weak in the middle and start to bend but they're free and not toxic by the time I get to them. ;-)
I avoid styrofoam like the plague as it is an environmental disaster. Why not find something that can be recycled?
That is a really excellent idea Julie, in the past I've used flat pieces of cardboard but it wasn't really successful, the plates would be way better.
In my neighborhood, styrofoam plates are on the list of acceptable items to put in our recycle cans. :-) They take any styrofoam item except packing peanuts.
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