Wednesday, October 15, 2008

For those who have been wondering, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I am alive and kicking and even doing well.

I joined a second guild a few months ago, got the studio reorganized (see last post) and decided it was time to tackle that massive collection of scraps.

I really have no idea how I managed to accumulate so many scraps in the first place. I don't think that I have finished on average more than one quilt per year since I started quilting about 10 years ago. Sure, I have made a tote here and there and I have half a dozen tops waiting to be quilted, but at first count I had five, yes FIVE small laundry baskets of scraps!

So I started in on the slicing and dicing. Scraps that were a half yard or more were left alone. Those between a half yard and a fat quarter were cut into fat quarters. Standard quarter yards were sliced into strips. Random smaller scraps were cut into standard sizes of strips and squares.

Now I have a collection of strips of various widths (2.5", 2", and 1.5") and a collection of squares (12.5", 6.5", 5", 4.5", 3.5", 2.5", 2", and 1.5"). If it didn't measure at least 1.5 inches square, it was tossed. I had to draw the line somewhere.

In all of this I discovered a few things. First, I have cut into a lot of fabric over the years. Second, I still need to work on that memory quilt for my mom. Third, I must really like blue and cream and beige tones are my favorite neutrals (as opposed to gray tones). I think I have enough blue 1.5" squares to make a decent sized quilt.

What am I going to do with my squares and strips? Most will be saved and used for scrap quilts. Some can be used for applique. I am going to use some of the intermediate sized squares and wider strips for baby quilts for the AQG charity drive. Someone I work with will soon be adopting and I will make a quilt for the new addition to his family - I hope it is a boy cuz I have all that blue to work with. I'll use some of the squares to put together backgrounds for art quilts. Beyond that, I am sure I will find plenty to do with my scraps... aprons, totes, jackets, ooo, how about a quilted jumper for winter? I wonder how comfortable that would be?

Oh and I am nowhere near finished taming my scraps. The first count was 5 baskets. Then I discovered some yardage in there. I cut about three quarters of a basket so far, removed the yardage and consolidated and I am down to about 2.5 or 3 baskets of scraps yet to be cut. I've taken just about every Friday between now and the end of the year off of work, so I should have plenty of time to slice and dice this fall.

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