Next stop on my U.F.O. mission...

Hey, remember these??  120 eight-inch scrappy log cabin blocks, all piled up, waiting for a little attention from me.

I found a little time to bang them together, and Rhonda Loy (Dexter, Michigan) did the machine-quilting.  Now I just have to find a little more time to get the binding on.  (I need either a house with more floor space for taking pictures or to work on smaller projects.)   :o)

  

 

 

It would have been fun to have hand-quilted it, but sometimes a girl just has to be practical!  I'm working hard to get some of these big U.F.O.'s done so I won't feel so guilty when working on my new projects (like Civil War Bride - hmmm).  Still working on the binding of another large scrappy quilt...maybe I can share that one later in the week.

Even with cutting strips for this big project, I didn't put much of a dent in my blue and neutral scrap bins (I've got some of your scraps in this quilt, Mary Jones!!).

Scrapiness rocks my world!! (AND keeps me from having to make picky little fabric selection decisions!!).  And it is great therapy to fiddle around with all those little scraps.

Question of the day:  Which is less expensive, cotton therapy or real therapy??

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Murphy's Law Applied to Organized Scrap Piecing

I was really hoping to get to a particular point of putting together some string stars before sharing that project again, but Murphy's Law has reared it's ugly head yet again. I was almost certain that when I foundation-pieced the string diamonds, I prepared ninety-six of the little suckers. I was aiming at making twelve star blocks. Well, I think I need to take remedial math (and counting?) because I apparently only made enough string-pieced diamonds to make eleven blocks. And I ask you, what normal quilt setting uses only eleven blocks? (Really...do you know one?)
I'm still not totally convinced that there aren't eight little string pieced diamonds lurking somewhere in my sewing area, giggling quietly and mocking me savagely...sigh.

So I went ahead and sewed nine of the blocks together, three rows of three blocks, to see how I felt about this little project. I chose not to sash them after seeing a similar antique quilt top somewhere. I wish I had added more medium blue strippy scraps along with the red ones, and maybe fewer neutral ones...that way there would have been more sizzle and pop!

Anyway, now comes my dilemma...to border or not to border. The antique quilt that I saw had no border, just neutral binding. But maybe it really needs a border or two to add some za-za-zing...what do you think?

After a hopeful, thorough search of my sewing area (and maybe Weasley's favorite hiding places - perhaps he was a bad kitty!), I will make eight more string-pieced diamonds and get on with this little quilt.

At the risk of you thinking that everything I'm working on is red, neutral, blue and SCRAPPY, I'll show you another project that I get out from time to time. I got the idea for this quilt in the February 2009 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting (may also be available for free at http://www.blogger.com/www.allpeoplequilt.com).














 
The pattern is simple...sewing little squares (on the diagonal) in the corners of a bigger square. Right now I'm making them in two by two units until I decide how much of this madness I can stand. This is another great way to use scraps.

Here's the next batch of snowball blocks, cut out and ready for some serious chain piecing and a good movie.

Oops...I just remembered...I have another red, neutral and blue scrappy project in midstream. Perhaps I am in a rut? More likely, I'm just lazy. My scraps are segregated by color, and once the red, blue and neutral bins are out and the cotton is flying, it is easy to cut out things out for multiple projects all at once.

 

Which gets me back to my original thought of Murphy's Law as applied to scrap piecing; perhaps my corollary to the law would be "maybe it is possible to be too organized when it comes to scrappy piecing." While it is nice that all the blue stuff is in one bin, it makes me less likely to throw in the odd color that would add some sparkle and movement. I'm still trying to figure out what works better for me...sorting scraps by size with all colors heaped together, or keeping colors segregated. Maybe the creative process works better with a little more chaos and sloppiness and less OCD!

Maybe "scrap piecing" and "organized" just don't go together.

I'll show you these little gems next time!! Am I the UFO queen, or what!! Keep those needles busy...idle hands do the devil's business (or so I hear!).

Teresa :o)