Having decided to make Becky's spring runner entirely from strips, I have been busy reducing largish pieces of fabric to ribbons. The robin's egg blue linen is the cloth I bought specifically for this project, but I am also using scraps from other projects, which feels satisfyingly thrifty to me. I wondered when I saved the remnants of previous work whether it would worth the space and fuss and it turns out that it was. I have celery green from Lynne's table and grey from my own, all dragged out of my "maybe someday I'll find a use for this" drawer. Some of the pieces are odd shapes, but I try to get as much out of them as I can, pulling threads to give myself a straight cutting line.
I am making strips that will become 1/4", 1/2", 1", and 2" wide when they have passed through the bias tape making gizmos I purchased in those sizes. They make the process of turning edges on skinny lengths of cloth doable. I shudder to think how hard it would be to get them straight with a ruler. I am making them all so far on the straight of the grain, having abandoned the idea of circles and curves.
My original idea was to make the "warp" lengths all blue and weave the other colors crosswise, but as I cut I find myself making a few thin long strips in green and grey, so maybe there will be some streaks of those as well. I can't envision exactly how the colors will intertwine, so I am making enough different strips to give myself some options once the weaving actually gets underway. That will be a while....stripping takes time.
These are the little bias tape makers....my local fabric store ladies raved about them and they are indeed that rare commodity, a gadget that works.