Monday, March 30, 2020

❍ How To Make a Wreath From Fabric Strips ❍

Here's my new spring wreath! I was totally inspired by Traci @ Branchwayquilts and her wreath on Instagram

Let me show you how I made it:
I started out with a 14" wire frame from Dollar Tree that looks like this:

When cutting out a quilt, and I have just a bit of fabric leftover, I cut it into 2 1/2" strips that can be used for bindings or jelly roll quilt patterns. For this wreath, I dove into my drawer of strips and took out a bunch that were "jelly bean" colored.

Next came a lot of pressing! Press the strip in half, then press the edges to the middle, and press it in half again, with the raw edges inside:

My strips were all different lengths. I laid them out, one above the other, on my cutting mat and used my Stripology XL ruler to cut them a bunch at a time into 7" lengths. Here's a tip from Gudrun Erla, the designer of the Stripology XL ruler--the slots end at 20", but the outside edge is at 21", which worked perfect for my cutting, as I cut at 7", 14" and 21": 

Once I had a good pile of strips, I started tying them on.

I worked in sections. Tying them on is as simple as tying the first part of your shoelaces. It helped to alternate which side I started tying from--right over left for one strip, then left over right for the next strip. That way they didn't nest together but fluffed out and made a fuller wreath.

Here's my spring wreath by our front door:

After I finished that wreath, I had a heart shaped wreath form and decided to keep on making! I used up all the rest of my pink and red strips on this one!

A friend asked how I store my wreaths. There was an empty wall in our utility room, above the freezer, with some nails in it when we moved into this house. That's been a great place to store wreaths when they're not in use!

Grace and peace!!! ~Nancy
  
Linking up with Tips & Tutorials on the 22nd, DrEAMiMonday Making, Design Wall Monday, Main Crush Monday, What I Made Monday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait LossNeedle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down.

21 comments:

  1. What a fun wreath! I love it. Once our stores reopen I'll have to pick up a wire form so I can make one of these. Thanks for sharing! Oh, and I really like your wreath wall. Thanks for linking to MCM!

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  2. So colorful and cute! So bright and cheerful. Spring is around the corner! Wonderful work.
    Quilter Bonnie

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  3. Clever idea, Nancy! If batiks are used, I wonder if you'd have to do the folding step, since there's not really a right/wrong side to batiks. Your storage system is handy! Love the bright little pop of color by your door.

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  4. Hi Nancy! This is SO cool and so pretty. Next time I'm in Dollar Tree, I'll look for that form. Great use of those seven-inch scrappy strips. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  5. So much fun - left over strips all ready to put into action, a wreath, a heart, a stripology ruler and a unique storage solution. Great job, Nancy!

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  6. Awesome wreaths! Have a good day!!💙🐦🎶🌞

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  7. Such a fun and creative idea! When I saw the first wreath I thought a heart would look great and then I scrolled down...

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  8. Very spring-ish! Love the heart one too!

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  9. I love it! I will have to look at Dollar Tree next time I am shopping as this is a really great way to use scraps to add to my list.

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  10. What a fun wreath and your directions make it seem easy and straight forward to do. I'm not making any extra shopping trips right now but once I do, I just checked and while there is no dollar tree in my town there are two not too far away. Thanks for such clear directions, I may be very well making one too!

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  11. Your wreathes look great. I have been saving 1/2" strips from my mask making to make something. Wasn't it you who crocheted a rug with selvage trims? Thank you for linking up to Put your foot down.

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    1. Yes, I explain how to crochet a rug from fabric strips on this post:
      https://www.graceandpeacequilting.com/2018/08/a-bit-of-crochet-road-trip-day-6.html

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  12. Ooh I love that last photo of all your wreaths! So pretty. Funny how you dropped everything to make the first one and then kept in going - the heart one is going to be lovely on its actual day but I could see putting it up for family birthdays as well! Thank you for linking this up with DrEAMi!

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  13. What a great idea, Nancy! Thanks for sharing.

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  14. Finally got my wreaths started! I mentioned your blog post in my post today with pictures.

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  15. This is a great idea! I plan to make it a group project at next month's craft fellowship. Thank you!

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  16. Thanks for the top tip of tying right to left then left to right, that was really helpful and a beautiful outcome. Did you start from the inside circle of the form or the outside?

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