Tuesday, January 31, 2023

That Basket of Scraps - January One Monthly Goal

A prior commitment kept me from sorting my scrap basket until last Saturday.  I wasn't sure I'd meet my One Monthly Goal.  But the basket is empty and now resides with the other laundry baskets.  These are photos of what I found inside.
Purple is one of my least-favorite colors, but I love this print!  I have four strips about 30" long and 2½" wide.
That fabric with the blue background with yellow flowers, above,--maybe it should go in the yellow box.
How did I come to have so many pink scraps!!!
Below are the boxes I sorted the scraps into.  Not the best permanent option but I'll try it until I can decide whether a system like this works for me.  And they were free; it's always nice not to spend money on something that might not work.  I really am a scrap quilter but I put scraps back with their larger "parent" pieces of fabric until they're too small to be of much use.  I don't naturally gravitate to scrap boxes but maybe I can figure out a way for this system to work for me.  The previous non-system definitely wasn't working.  (I also have a stack of plastic shoe boxes with tiny scraps and I haven't touched them since I sorted them over a year ago.)
Odds and ends from the basket:  a cut-off piece of farm/feed sack images from yardage; four pinwheel quilt blocks, two of each; a large quilt label; and an embroidery pattern for a chair back.  Whatever to do with them.
I bought a bag of retro-style prints, vintage 1940s and 1950s, for a dollar or two at a quilt show.  Pieces for quilt blocks are already cut and some of the larger pieces already have outlines traced for cutting.  In pen.  I used alcohol and Dawn dish soap to try to get the marks out but neither worked.  I'm not sure what else to try.  Goop or Fels Naphtha, maybe.
I'm not currently interested in making a quilt with these vintage-style pieces but I can't throw them out, either.  I try to imagine how to re-cut them to make a simple block.  Maybe small Dresden Plates?   Or maybe you have an idea or suggestion?
Below are three shirts I'd already cut apart that were in the basket.  I put them with other shirts to be pressed.
And now I have an empty basket.  Hooray!
Sadly, I'm not finished with sorting scraps.  This stack has been sitting beside my cutting mat for too long.
And these have been sitting behind the cutting mat for even longer. 
The pieces below have been in the plastic bag I purchased the bag I bought at a small quilt show for a dollar.  There are lots of half-square triangles and squares, all about 3" or 3½"  These are mostly jewel tones in golds, blues, reds, purples, and greens.  I should figure out a quilt for these.

These are not the only scraps I have to manage....  As you can guess, scrap management is not my strength.  I'm probably better at creating scraps and making smaller scraps.  I keep thinking about the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I don't want to make a rainbow quilt but if I chose one block pattern for each color and rotated through, I would eventually end up with enough blocks for several quilts, right?

Emptying that basket and sorting its contents was my One Monthly Goal for January.  I'm pleased to have met the goal. 

I'm linking this post to January One Monthly Goal Finish at Elm Street Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Patty.

I'm also linking to Oh, Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.  Thank you, Cynthia.

--Nancy.

18 comments:

  1. You and I have similar scrap dilemmas! My scraps are actively threatening to take over the sewing room, but if I only work with them, I'll never get to use what's left of my stash! I think the quilters who make tons of scrappy quilts must have an accu-cutter machine (or whatever they're called). They're out of my budget range though, plus it would just be another thing to have to store in the sewing room. Dilemmas abound!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm chuckling as I read your comment, Pat. Scraps or new fabric? It is such a dilemma. And using new fabric just creates more scraps. As I was sorting the fabric in that basket I was thinking it would be a good time to have one of the Accu cutters (or whatever they're called). I don't have one for the same reasons you don't!

      Delete
  2. I'm with you in being better at creating scraps. that purple sounds like a border waiting to happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder how many of us are better at creating scraps, Chris. The purple would be a great border for a small quilt. Maybe....

      Delete
  3. Your scraps look fun, but I'm in just as much trouble as you! I do try to use mine, but it's not as easy as some people make it sound. And il right there with you on the rainbow scrap challenge. I made a quilt one year that worked well, and I love the idea of the rainbow of colors, but struggle to find a pattern that I would truly like. But also am not sure I could commit to making a whole top each month either. Decisions, decisions... Meanwhile the scraps wait. As for the ink, have you tried hairspray? I've used it in the past with mixed results. I've bought a non-aerosol kind because I can dump it on the stain instead of spraying because I'm impatient, but I think either kind works the same.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suspect many of us are in a similar situation, Katie, trying to decide what to do with scraps.  My thought about the RSC was to let it continue for a few years till I had enough blocks of one (or two or three) colors to make one quilt.  Maybe 4 or 5 blocks each time a color rolled around, which would be once/year, right?  It probably wouldn't work out well.  I could never make enough blocks in a month for a whole quilt--unless I didn't do anything else!
      I don't have hairspray but I'll try to remember to get a small bottle to try it on the ink.  It's not an item I keep on hand.  Good to know to buy the non-aerosol kind.

      Delete
  4. Great scrap sorting, and a plan, that's a good start. I love scraps! =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Susan! A start, but having those boxes sitting there waiting to become blocks was so stressful to me. It doesn't often happen that fabrics make me feel pushed to do something! Ha. I finally stacked the boxes away and will come back to them later. Out of sight, out of mind -- almost.

      Delete
  5. How ambitious your are. Good job! I, like you, put my small pieces back with the larger piece most of the time. I still have a rather large box of scraps. I keep trying to use them up but the box doesn't seem to get emptier. I, also, question how I got all my pink scraps. Your pictures represent a lot of time and sorting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Robin.  Having those scraps sorted is good but I have so many more.  And then, for me, there's the stress of using them, choosing a block pattern, etc.  I finally just stacked them away and will think about blocks/pattern to use them.  Like you, I do really prefer to put the small pieces with their "parent" fabric but looking at these, it seems like there are not any larger pieces left anymore.

      Delete
  6. An empty scrap basket... empty for how long? lol. Scraps just seem to multiply. Good job making headway on your organizing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL. That particular basket will remain empty because it will be used elsewhere, Cynthia. But there are still plenty more scraps to sort around here. I just wish I could find a great pattern for so many different colors and styles of fabric. (And sometimes I wish I could make myself just throw the scraps away!)

      Delete
  7. How fun. You have some treasures there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm trying to see them as treasures, Lizzy, but I don't yet.  They are pestering me to do something with them and I haven't decided what.  I finally stacked the boxes neatly and put them away until my next bout of scrap sorting.  I just need to find a blocks/blocks/pattern to use them!

      Delete
  8. Kudos to you for sorting all those scraps! That is a job I have a hard time forcing myself to do. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Janet. I have a hard time doing it, too. If I did it more often I wouldn't have so many to sort at one time. Still more to go, though.

      Delete
  9. Ohhh Nancy, you did such a great job sorting out your scraps. Would you like to come over and help me out with mine? I promise I'll make it fun for you! ;-)
    *hugs*
    Tazzie
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL. Thanks, Tazzie. I would love to come help you sort your scraps, if only to see them. I think the distance will prevent me, though. I see yours and other quilters' beautiful fabrics in their photos and would love to see them in person.

      Delete

I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...