Scraps, Memories, Inspiration

This Christmas my quilting Mother-in-law gave me the book "Cut the Scraps!" by Joan Ford as well as other great quilting related toys. At the Empire Quilt Festival in October 2011, we heard Joan speak and show all the quilts she made from her scraps. The technique of the book begins with the task of cutting up your stash into the following size squares: 2 inches, 3 1/2 inches and 5 inches respectfully. It also involves throwing away smaller sized pieces.

This would be a challenge for me.

Here is what my scraps looked like this morning.
What a mess!  Unfortunately, I'd love to say that this was the only box of such scraps, but that would be a huge lie.

So, I began and what a fascinating trip. As I ironed, cut and sorted the memories off all those quilted projects flew back into my head. I could see the baby's mother as she opened the baby quilt, share the excitement of the siblings with their new I-Spy quilt, enjoy my quilting student's first attempt at machine quilting, and best of all I could experience that same feeling I get when I give away a quilted project today. It was a lovely morning!

Here is what I was able to cut up:

Did I get to the bottom of the bin? Not exactly, but I am well on my way.

Adding the 2 inch squares to my previous attempt at organizing, I now have this collection organized by "Kids/ Novelty" and "Christmas" prints. What you don't see are all the other non-specific squares and a myriad of floral prints from my "Watercolor" quilting days.

Finally, the big bin also produced some larger pieces and a few random blocks which I'm sure will become future wonders for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (which has ended) or other projects.

Happy New Year and may you consider this wonderful little book as a resource in the name of that "get organized" new year's resolution which we all make...................and I might actually keep this coming year!!


Link to Joan Ford's website:     Scrap Therapy