Getting scrappy

Right now I have a big (and getting bigger) bag of fabric scraps.  I hate throwing away tiny little strips especially since fabric can get pretty spendy so I decided that I should compile a list of all the things you could do with them.  But once I started looking up all the possibilities I realized that this post would be miles long if I put everything here.  So I decided to be lazy and to link some to you folks.
Here they are:
Scrap happy
Martha Stewart (gotta include the queen of the home)
Holding onto the little things - I particularly love the fabric wall art panels and fabric scrap necklaces from this website
Craft stew

I want to hear from you guys!  What crafty things have you done with fabric scraps?

A work in progress

As I'd mentioned in my post A Crafters Guide to Pain Relief, I've been working on a project for a fair amount of time now.  I was not expecting it to take as long as it has and there's so much left to do.  But I figured I could post my progress since the final product is just going to be a bigger version of what I have now.  Also maybe posting this will give me incentive to finish it.
I'm making a woven rug!
This is a great project that uses up old clothes that have holes in them that you can't donate, but don't want to throw away.  I have been saving shirts and other soft material items for a while now so I'd have enough for a decent sized rug.
Here's how far I've gotten:

As you can see it's definitely not rug size, but the rug will just look like a very large version of this

So to start you'll need:

-A bunch of old clothes, any colors work but I was lucky that all of them were among the same color scheme of grays, navy and white

-Cloth scissors

-Sewing needle, a bigger one is definitely better 

-Thread that goes with your color scheme

-Sewing pins

To start:

Cut your fabric into strips, I had a bunch of different thicknesses and cloth textures because it gives it a bit more of a rugged look but if you want a more uniform rug then cut them all the same size.

Make sure to cut off any seams, edges, tags etc because it will make it hard to sew and wrap

Next, tie all the strips together into one long rope.  This is very time consuming and it may be helpful if you had a friend to do it with.  I alternated colors of the strips so it took me a bit longer but it would also look nice if you tied all the same colors together and then attached them like a fading effect

Here is my big pile of tied together strips

To start, twist the strips and then pin them in place.  You can only twist small amounts at a time otherwise it gets all warped.  Then sew the edges together like so:

Make sure you're sewing on one side of the rug so that you don't have a lot of visible lines (unless you want that kind of look)

Keep going until you're finished!

Also, if you encounter the same pain that I did when starting this, check out my other post:

A crafter's guide to pain relief

A crafters guide to pain relief

My latest trash craft (still unfinished) is one that involves a great deal of hand work.  There was a lot of fabric cutting, ripping and twisting and that was just the preparation for the project itself.  By the time I was done with that, my wrist was killing me and I was lacking a solution.  I tried moving my wrist back and forth and even massaging it but nothing helped so I just pushed through the pain for the sake of my art.
As I worked more and more on the project which involved a good deal of sewing and pushing pins through thick fabric, I realized I was rubbing my finger tips raw.  That's when I decided to throw in the towel for the night (probably best being as it was 3 in the morning).  But I woke up this morning knowing that I would have to return to my project and I would most likely face all the same pain I went through yesterday.  So I decided that today's post would be a healing guide for the overworked crafters out there, for those frantically finishing up last minute gifts for their loved ones, or who just like immersing their bodies and souls into their art.

Wrist pain:
I found this handy diagram for carpal tunnel exercises and I'm assuming it will help with regular wrist pain as well.

-Ice is a good remedy for pain, I read that it's actually better than heat since heat increases blood flow and can cause swelling

-Rosemary: add 1 oz of dried or fresh rosemary to 1 pint of boiling water, let sit for 30 minutes and soak a washcloth in it and apply to the affected area

-Peppermint oil: 3-4 parts vegetable oil (I prefer olive) to 1-2 parts peppermint oil.  Massage into your skin

-Epsom salts: put 2 cups in your bath and soak for at least 12 minutes.  It's high in magnesium sulfate which apparently a lot of us are lacking because of the rise in processed food consumption.  A magnesium deficiency causes muscles to contract which leads to pain

-Bananas, avocados, peanuts, whole grains and soy all are high in magnesium as well 

-Tiger balm: I know people who swear by this stuff, you can buy it at most grocery stores in the natural section.  The active ingredients are menthol and camphor which block sensors on pain fibers

Raw fingers:

-Aloe vera to soothe the burning 

-Ice

-Mole skin: not so much a remedy but something I thought of to put on your fingers when you do a good deal of sewing to prevent raw fingers

There are of course many more ailments  that affect us crafty folks, but I think wrist and finger pain is probably the most common.

Sources:

http://www.carpal-tunnel-symptoms.com/tendon-glide-exercises.html

http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/pain-remedies-natural-cures-aches-and-pains?page=2

http://voices.yahoo.com/5-simple-home-remedies-wrist-pain-3399136.html