How To Make Use Of Discarded Fabric Samples

When I was decorating Natalia and Eva's bedrooms, I ordered a massive number of fabric samples. More so for Natalia, actually - suitably patterned fabric in yellows and turquoises is much harder to come by than in pinks and blues.

These samples sat in my sewing basket for several years, mocking me with their lack of usefulness, until I was inspired by my sewing friend Carla, who recently made a lovely patchwork quilt for one of her kids, to turn the fabric samples into a couple of patchwork notice boards. 

Behold, a really poor after picture that gives the general idea...

I laid out the fabric samples into random pattern, sewed them together into a rectangular shape, and then added a border made from leftover scraps from the fabric I used for Natalia's curtains, cushions and chair.

I stapled the patchwork over a large cork pinboard that we bought online, and then we hung the noticeboard at kid-friendly height. I experimented initially with covering the corkboard with a layer of wadding underneath the patchwork, but the drawing pins kept popping out as the wadding was too thick, and actually it looked fine with just the fabric stretched over the wooden frame of the corkboard. 

Natalia covered hers in her 'masterpieces' only to remove them all shortly afterwards to store them in piles across the floor instead (hmmm!) with the exception of a picture of her grandparents (bless) that remains in splendid isolation. 

Eva loves using hers to display her artwork and party invitations, and guards her allocated drawing pins most zealously against the inroads of younger sisters. 

It feels satisfying to finally have a use for all those fabric samples, to have somewhere pretty for the kids to display the seemingly endless stream of drawings and paintings that come home from school in their book bags, and to tick a long overdue project off my mental list. Win win win.

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