I knew that I wouldn’t be able to focus on cutting out a project or anything more complicated with the Community Sew Day project going on, so I brought scraps to cut. My scrap bin is more than overflowing and it was a good opportunity to fit in some scrap ‘processing’ time between working on the community quilt.
In general, I feel like I didn’t make much progress, at least from the amount of scraps in my scrap bin. What I cut doesn’t look like much, but the stack of 2.5 inch squares in the upper left is about 50 pieces and that isn’t nothing.
I focused on getting the blacks out of the bin so I can use them to enlarge the Black Improv top. I’ll use that as leaders and enders for a bit so that I can get it off the wall at some point in the not too distant future. I was able to make a few pieces while working on the blocks, so I am on my way.
As I cut, I also create strips that I will use for the Color Strip donation quilts at some point. The white bin in filling up again, even after I made White Strips #2 recently that I am going to have to delve into that bin again soon. The red and pink bins are not far behind.
You can see some of the random scraps as well, which will eventually become Color Improv tops. A white one might be next since I didn’t make one after making White Strips #2.
I always have a lot of questions when I do scrap processing. People lament their many bins of scraps. I had that, too, but had to get them all organized. It has taken me since 2011 to get into a routine where scraps go from leftovers from a project to quilts. It takes time and dedication. The joy comes from seeing how the Color Strip and Color Improv quilts come out. To date I have made 21 Color Strip and Chunk tops and 9 Improv tops. FROM SCRAPS!! That is not nothing. It’s a commitment.
I am overloaded with scraps, partially because I acquire things for pet beds and then can’t seem to get myself to not set nice things to the side, so I have more than just my scraps to work with. Unfortunately, I have so many that I think I should do things with them and I get side tracked from the projects that I think I’d really like to accomplish for myself.
Sewing scraps into ‘made’ fabric will put those scraps to good use. Once you get big enough pieces, you can cut them into shapes to put into quilts. Try it out!