Chips Scrap Quilt

I was over at Tim’s the other day for an impromptu Sew Day. Yes, I have a million holiday related things on my to do list, but who cares? It’s sewing! How could I say no?

He was tidying up after finishing a couple of quilts while I cut out more bags that will be gifts. In the process, he found a lot of scraps.

Tim's chips
Tim’s chips

He described creating “chips” to me. This is a method to use up scraps. It is based on strips and called Stashbuster #7 on the Just Get It Done Patterns page. He created some ‘chips’ while I was there. (photo, left) . The process went pretty fast, because he found pieces with straight edges and sewed them together. Like everyone, Tim has a palette, so with a little juggling of fabrics, his strip sets went together well.

More of Tim's chips
More of Tim’s chips

He sent me a photo the next day with a few more chips. I think he is close to having enough for a baby quilt. I don’t have a good sense of the sizes, so it is hard to tell.

I think this process can be done as leaders and enders while you are working on something else.

What I noticed about the Just Get It Done Patterns page is that there is a pattern as well as a video AND a coloring page. Perhaps you just want to color and relax that way? Great idea.

Tim commented “I sew the pieces together and trim them to 1.75 x 4. [To do that,] … I measure 1.5 from the seam and trim before I open and iron.  More accurate.” This is interesting. I never thought of measuring before I opened and pressed the strip sets. Interesting. I’ll definitely try it when I made one of these quilts.

This might be the perfect project when you are busy or can’t concentrate on something complicated. It looks complicated, however, so it satisfying.

Tim's finished chips quilt -2019
Tim’s finished chips quilt -2019

Tim showed me the finished version he made back in 2019 or so for friends.

I like the addition of the squares. It breaks up the rectangles.

This is the great thing about being a member of a guild. As much as I try, I can’t watch every video or see every pattern. Having quilt friends do some of the work is a boon.

How UFOs are Born

I was talking to a friend the other day. She makes sculpture out of the stuff she finds in her recycle bin. She makes about one piece a year. It was so fascinating to hear about her process and how she gets her ideas. Somehow we got on the topic of process and she said ‘sometimes, you have to put a piece aside and let it be for awhile.’

I froze, mentally, at least.

Have you ever had a moment happen where you think 10 minutes have gone by, but only seconds passed and you are able to pick up thread of the conversation with nobody the wiser that you just checked out? That happened to me at this moment. A movie started playing in my head of all of the UFOs that I had dredged out of the darkness of the fabric closet and finished in the past couple of years.Then the voice inside my head started screaming NOOOOOOOOO!

I pulled myself together and my friend was still happily chattering on about process.

This one comment made me think about how perfectly good projects become UFOs.

You start out happily working on a project. You are excited, love the fabrics and are already imagining it on your bed or wall or being opened by a lucky recipient at the next holiday.

The first blocks are challenging and you feel excited as you see them come together. The more blocks you make the more mundane and rote the sewing becomes. Boring follows close behind. Still, you think about other things, plan your grocery list and cross things off your mental to do list as you push fabric and thread under the needle of your machine. The charm and allure of the project hasn’t dimmed completely.

You are in the home stretch as you begin to piece the border. Then the process all goes horribly wrong. Your math is off. There is an extra inch where you don’t need it and the fabulously pieced border won’t fit.

Suddenly, you feel tired. The excitement of the project is gone and it is just a big pain in the neck.

You wander off, work on something else, add new deadline. A month passes and the project is taking up space on your design wall and you need the space to finish your donation quilt. You take the project off the design wall just for a small rest, put all the parts in a box and put it front and center on a shelf. Months pass and the space on the shelf is needed so into the closet, near the front, the project box goes.

More months pass. The box gets moved to the back of the closet as some rearrange new fabric.

5 YEARS LATER (+12 other completed projects)

A fabri-lanche hits your fabric closet. You decide this is a good time to take inventory and clean out. Everything comes out of the closet and you go through it before you put it back in. You find the project about which you had totally forgotten. The fabric is old looking and no longer interests you. You throw it into the guild charity bag and know that someone will do something gorgeous with it.

My Next Big Idea

I spent a happy hour last week in my workroom after dinner trying to get a handle on the un-ironed fabric that is causing havoc in my workroom. I feel like I have been ironing fabric forever. I know that is why many of you don’t pre-wash your fabric. Trust me, if it weren’t for the smell of burning chemicals when I press, I’d be right there with you. Still, I found a couple of pillowcase bodies that I had cut who knows when. I cut a couple of pieces of Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets dark green for the cuffs and pinned together a couple of pieces of fabric that will be pillowcases soon.

Pearl Bracelets
Pearl Bracelets

Yes, I am using up some precious Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets. Frankly, I have enough fabric and my fabric is currently overwhelming me, so it is a good use. Also, that green went really well with the taco and burrito fabric I had previously cut for the body of the pillowcase.

The above two paragraphs are a precursor to my post-Star Sampler idea. I don’t know if it will work, but I am going to try to work through some small projects and patterns for bags, etc. Of course, there are quilts on the 26 Projects list that I want/need to finish, so I will work on those. Also, I have bought a number of pieces of fabric for specific small craft items such as pillowcases. I want to get those sewn and out the door. I also have patterns and some fabric for other projects such as bags. I want to make another Petrillo bag. I need more journal covers. I am thinking that I am going to take some time and work on these types of projects. I am going to try, at least.

I may sneak some leaders and enders for charity quilts in, but that is my idea.