Scrap Sewing

I have always loved scrap quilts. I also love looking at other people's improv quilts, but I've never made one of my own. The thought of making a quilt without using my precious rotary cutter? Scary!

I have a project coming up in the spring, though, that has a strong element of scrappy improv to it. I'm really excited about this quilt and I can't wait to show it to you, so sharing only sneak peeks as I work on it is going to be tough 😊

I've been trying for years to tame my scraps, with limited success. I've had bouts of keeping up with cutting all my scraps into useable pieces as I go, but they don't usually last long. Trimming a quilt, especially, would make me abandon my plans to cut as I go. Who wants to cut up those long, long pieces from the leftover backing when they could be getting right to the binding and finishing of the quilt?

As a result, my fancy-pants scraps storage system looked like this:

Wouldn't you be inspired to make a scrap quilt if you had that lot of wrinkled, smashed together, who knows what's in there? Yeah, me neither, which is why I just kept shoving more pieces in and rarely taking any out.

Until now! I knew that making the scrappy improv pieces for this quilt would probably take a while. I also know that I'm going to have plenty of deadlines this year, so I didn't want to leave it to the last minute and stress myself out. So one morning, while the kids I babysit played, I pulled out the iron and started taking fabric out of the bag and flattening it back out.

Then I took my scissors (eek!) and chopped the pieces into smaller pieces, ready to sew back together. I have to admit it was scary to cut without being certain the cuts were straight and smooth. But it was fun too 😊

Then came the fun of sewing them. I'm going for the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink look. Every colour and every style of fabric is welcome in this quilt. The resulting pieces are wild and crazy!

I'm using my Clover mini iron so I don't have to go to the ironing board after every (tiny) seam. It works like a charm.

When a friend saw what I was working on, he said, "Now that looks like an old-time quilt right there" and it really does. It makes me think of the crazy quilts of the past and the quilter's philosophy of using every little piece of fabric.

This is my smallest scrap sewn in so far. The seam allowances actually overlap on the back!

Bobbin for scale!

I'm using another fancy-pants storage system to keep the cut pieces corralled. It's not Pinterest-worthy, but it works. I have two cardboard boxes - one box for the medium sized pieces and strips and a cereal box for the smallest pieces, because they kept getting buried in the bigger box.

This picture was taken before I moved the smallest pieces into the cereal box.

I thought I might find the process of sewing those many, many small pieces together to be tedious, but I don't at all. I really enjoy it, actually. It's relaxing to sew without a plan, to just focus on finding a piece that fits the seam I want to sew and to watch the sewn pieces grow. It's especially good when the company is good 😊

It's no surprise that my scraps are heavy on the blue! I'm trying hard to mix it up and have lots of other colour in there.

It's fun to revisit all of these fabrics. It's also satisfying to change them from a wrinkled mess into something useable. I keep thinking of other ways I want to use this technique when this quilt is finished, which is a good sign. Maybe someday I'll be able to keep up with the scraps!

What are your thoughts on improv? Do you embrace it or does it make you nervous? And how small is too small for you when it comes to scraps? I've always said anything smaller than 1 1/2" square was too small, but this process is making me rethink that.

Paying Attention

Devotion for the Week...

I love to read. Like, really love to read 😊 I find that when I'm reading a good book, all I want to do is sit and devour it page after page after page. It happened a couple of weeks ago as I was reading Brandon Sanderson's Oathbringer, which Aiden gave me for Christmas. Once I hit about the mid-point of the book I accomplished practically nothing for a few days because I spent every spare moment reading. I love when a book is that good!

What's not good is when I'm reading a book that good and someone starts talking to me. It takes a few seconds for me to even be aware that they're talking to me, and then it takes a little longer for me to drag myself out of the fictional world enough to be able to focus on what they're saying to me. Usually I have to get them to start over again because I completely missed the beginning of what they said. Their words were going into my ears, but my brain was too busy elsewhere to process what the words meant.

I thought of that the other day when I read Matthew 13:10-13:

 "The disciples came to him and asked, 'Why do you speak to the people in parables?'

He replied, 'Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:

'Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.'"

Jesus had just told the people the parable of the sower (more on that probably next week) and the disciples wanted to know why He didn't just teach plain and simple lessons. Why bother hiding the lessons in stories?

It's a valid question, right? If you want the people to understand, isn't it better to just tell them straight out?

But Jesus says no.

Jesus says that the people who are truly interested in what He has to say will focus on His words. They will not only hear the words, but they will also listen to them. The difference is like someone talking to me while I'm reading and someone talking to me while I'm actually paying attention to them.

Those who hear Jesus' words but who are busy thinking about how so-and-so needs to hear what He's saying, or about what they need to do tomorrow, or what needs to be done at work, or anything else that isn't what He's saying, they are not truly listening. They're hearing, but not listening and therefore not understanding. They'll never see how what He said could be applied to their lives. They'll never take His words and change their lives with it.

But those who hear His words and focus on them, who mull the story over and try to figure out what Jesus means? They're the ones who will gain knowledge from the story. They're the ones who will take that teaching, apply it to their lives and change because of it.

Of course, today we can't sit on the mountainside and listen to Jesus tell parables. But that doesn't mean there aren't opportunities to learn the lessons He taught.

When we read the Bible, are we just reading the words or are we really paying attention to them? Are we focused on them, mulling over what we're reading and thinking about how it can apply to our lives?

When we read books (or online devotions 😉) about Christian living, are we busy thinking about how other people could benefit from reading those thoughts, or are we looking for ways to use the lessons to be better Christians ourselves?

The same holds true for listening to sermons at church. Are we just marking time, letting our minds wander and waiting for the service to be over? Or are we actively listening, focusing on what we can take from what we are hearing?

As is so often the case, this isn't a decide-once type of question. We don't decide today that we're going to focus and then never again find ourselves hearing the words without paying attention to the meaning. It's a choice we must make constantly, every time the opportunity to learn is presented to us.

If you ask me, Jesus' words are worth listening to.

Employee Quilts Delivered!

It's finally time to share some more of the quilts made from the blocks donated back in April! It feels so good to be able to move forward again 😊

There were 10 employees at the home and 8 of them were able to get together for lunch this past weekend to receive their quilts. One lady has moved out of the province, so her quilt has been mailed to her. The other lady who couldn't make it had to work so one of the ladies at lunch offered to take her quilt to her.

For once, my laundry basket was empty and it made the perfect carrier for the 9 quilts.

Here they are with their quilts 😊

And here are the quilts!

So, with those quilts now delivered, it's time to finish the quilts for the first responders. I have 18 of those 31 quilts finished, so it really feels like we're on the home stretch here.

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project. You will never know how much I have appreciated it!