I think I've saved every tiny scrap over 1" square since I started sewing then I was 14 years old. Then I saved all my practice swatches of crocheting and knitting that I'd made. Saved pretty or unusual buttons, ribbons, etc. Everyone said I was a pack rat and just shook their heads at me. But my mother used to say, "There's a method to her madness."
Then I made my first cotton crazy quilt for a little girl. Ooh, those little bell-shaped buttons and wispy lavender ribbons had found the perfect home. It's nearly done, and will be as sturdy and useful as the deceptively dainty label on the back.
I used to go to garage sales and flea markets. I'd grab up the baskets of Great-Aunt Patricia's crocheting and fight to the near-death for that peach colored hanky. Get enough of these, and you will be able to make the perfect gift. Masculine or feminine. Even for QI's, official, and non-official. Any size.
I make my crazy quilts in a whole new manner. They're completely machine washable and begging to be used every day. Sometimes the recipient knows it's being made and will contribute a special do-dad of her own to be put on her quilt. Her first prom corsage ribbon, a newborn's burp cloth, ribbons from track, and other personal treasures. Buttons embellished with fancy embroidery. Even I can do a few fancy embroidery stitches if it's just for a little corner in a block. I usually do these as quilt-as-you-go. This makes it very portable and doable. I don't like to look at yards and yards of stuff waiting for me to haul it up and finish it. But if it's a small
12" block that I've attached 4" of red satin, and a lavender check, and a fuzzy yellow terry cloth, it somehow all goes together. The embellishment is what ties it all together somehow. Now I have an embroidery machine and that opens up a whole new set of embellishments.I did a large, heavy blanket with denim jeans. I left the pockets and zippers in. It was for a 13 year old boy, and I tucked little treasures in all the pockets. A matchbox car. Some Canadian coins that we had brought back from a summer camping and fishing trip. An old class ring from his dad. And, of course, some special dollar bills in those pockets. I was told he searched that blanket high and low for days! LOL
The one I'm doing now is for a preteen girl, who's a real tomboy, but still likes her Barbies. That's an easy one.
I use those crocheted practice pieces, tacking them down over a rather ragged little seam line. Over the years I've saved my ugly fabric and make yo-yo's out of them It's amazing how that ugly fabric is so perfect as a perky little yo-yo, giving that sassy little flower some real oomph. Tiny jingle bells are fun, too. Hidden in a flower, it's not always easy to realize where that little tingling sound is coming from.
Those funny looking practice blocks are grand! Whack down one side, then another, or cut it diagonally, to make it go where you think it needs to be.
One boy got the first denim crazy quilt I ever made. It was on his bed every day through high school, then through 5 years of college. He's married and it's on their guest bed, and has even been used for picnics. I love it when they make it until picnic use. That's a tough blanket, but still attractive enough to display on a guest bed.
I always use a busy patterned print for the backing. That first denim one had a jumbled pattern of Indian Chiefs, with their warpaint and eagle feathers. There are horses of all colors and sizes. Bows, arrows, tomahawks. All the stuff that any self-respecting Indian would carry around with him. The neatest thing about it was that when I quilted the sandwich together, with a large zig zag, in brown thread on top and bottom, that zig zagging just blended in with the busy print. Nothing looked out of place. I zig zagged the blocks together, right sides together, and it ended up being big, heavy, indestructible, and so pretty, too, in a wild sort of way. I told the mom that if she needed to do any mending to just use brown thread and zig zag the hole shut, without care of what was on either front or back.
They're fun, and minimal stress. Each one is different and the personalization is the best part for me.
René