One day (part two)

While I was ironing and sorting I came across some abondoned wonky log cabin blocks and a couple of nine patches - I had thought of throwing them in the bin back when I made them, but luckily I threw them in here - as they gave me something to start with. I began to sew the blocks and random pieces into strips.  A strip quilt, yes that's what I wanted. But I wished for more orphan blocks to liven things up a bit. I even tried my hand at making a wonky star but I wasn't in the mood for concentrating (and the half  made star is in there too).

So I threw in my bag of crumbs - precious little quilting scraps too pretty to throw away). And that is when some funny things began to emerge. See that little critter in the yellow fabric on the right hand side of the above photo? And the red tulip below - that strip is barely half an inch wide.

I was beginnining to enjoy the crumbs - all those old favourites like those tiny pieces of green and blue circles. Even my ten year old remarked on those "I remember that fabric!".

There's that wonky star attempt on the right, but I much prefer the basket on the left which just made itself - I didn't realise that it looked like a basket until it was sewn into the block (the red 'handle' is a piece of heart fabric).

One day

Every time I finish a quilt, or sewing project, I put away the scraps thinking 'one day I'll make that scrap quilt with thousands of little pieces', but that pile of special scraps grows too slowly. Meantime the 'odd scraps' the gifted, donated and 'don't throw that out, I'll take it' scraps grow beyond measure.

This little quilt did little to dint the 'use them up' scraps - the dressmaking cottons, the odd and the downright ugly fabrics. In fact, I loved that quilt so much that I've kept adding to those fabrics until I found myself stuffing them into an empty suitcase at the end of our summer holidays. That suitcase has been sitting there at the end of my bed, a constant reminder with every stubbed toe, that one day I have to get working on that quilt. I scoured the internet looking for just the right scrap quilt, but somehow my collection of fabrics from the last twenty odd years just didn't fit into the kind of turn of the century, 1930's scrap quilts that I love.

In the end I pulled out my iron, and a bottle of home made spray starch and started pressing. It took me two days to empty that case and starch those fabrics into shape. A few fabrics were put aside for quilt backs, or stored with my regular quilting fabrics because they were too fadey for this project, but the rest are going into the quilt and I have vowed not to stop until they are gone:)! Now that I have spent two days doing a loathsome job, there is no going back - those fabrics are going to be used up before they get crumpled again.

And so, I sat down with a pair of scissors and my sewing machine, and without too much thought I jumped in, just like the rabbit in this fabric.....

Stay tuned for the work in progress - blogging and sewing seems to be mutually exclusive in my house - but there is plenty of sewing going on.

Merry Christmas

"She brought forth her son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes. and laid him in a manger."

While the cat was away.....

I have neglected this blog a little too long and was beginning to worry that I wouldn't have any readers left, so what a surprise when I discovered after months of absence that the number of followers had actually grown. Thanks for the vote of confidence:)

I did actually do some sewing over the summer, but sewing and blogging seem to be mutually exclusive at the moment. Now that school is back underway, I seem to have time for neither but stay tuned and I will show you what I have been working on.

The photo is from our summer holiday in England, looking anything but summery. But it was a lovely change from the hot sticky weather we had back home in Italy.