Cleaning or Creativity?

In my trunk show all about scraps I clarify one of the differences between scrap quilting and projects started from stash is the desire to clean up or use up fabric. Of course, that isn’t always the case, but it is usually one of the big motivating factors. Some folks find that limiting and they get super focused on the using up part without thinking about the how to use them well part.

My strips bin got out of hand a few months back. Despite me finishing a quilt with nothing but strips it was such a mess, and so full, that I couldn’t close it. I come from the school of thought that if you run out of storage you don’t need more storage, you need less stuff! So the first step was to empty and sort it. I don’t normally go by colour with the strips - I’ve made many, many projects with an anything goes strategy - but I felt the need to this time. Just taking the time to untangle and sort meant I could close the bin. But, as usually happens, I got inspired by seeing all my scraps this way. Only a few days later I was teaching a class on scraps and pulled out the bin so I could demonstrate some concepts and techniques. My teaching samples don’t always have to become an actual quilt. This time, though?

81 log cabins later… I used up almost all the blue and green strips from the bin. It won’t be a big quilt as the blocks are squared up to 7” simply because that’s how big the first few blocks ended up (I usually like them 80” square, at least) but she will be snuggly. And in the early days of winter and through to the holidays, making a handful of blocks each day gave me a little tropical treat. I needed the design wall for the Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong so I took them down in carefully noted columns and hope to get the top sewn together soon.

This quilt will be a great example of taking the time to use the scraps well by paying attention to both colour and value. It allowed me to flex some creative muscles without being a challenging block or creating more scraps. A win-win, really, because it used up so many scraps and will be beautiful.