Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Trimming in the rain

You know, friends, it is a *lot* wetter here on the East Coast than it is in the Midwest.  Seriously, it rains much more often here.  I know it's snowing in many parts of the Midwest, but it's not the same.  This is not a bad thing, really, because it means lots of flowering green things are coming.  And it also means. . . I did not spend last weekend digging trenches!  You can dig trenches in the rain, but it tends to make the trench collapse, so it's pretty much a wasted effort.  Count me as a major fan of rain!

Since we had nothing planned for the weekend except digging trenches, *and* it was raining, I spent a bunch of time doing things that I really should have taken care of a long time ago.  You know, throwing out all the old shampoo bottles, cleaning under the bottom drawer in the refrigerator, and taking care of all this:


Yes, it's not that pretty a picture, but this is the pile of scraps I tackled this weekend.  This is everything that was in the basket next to the cutting table where I throw all my cut-offs when I'm working on things.  I know I should cut them up just as soon as I'm done, but somehow that doesn't happen. No idea why. I've gotten really good at pushing them down in that basket until it's really full (and heaping!)  This weekend was a good opportunity to haul that full basket onto the table and finally get a handle on it.

So I spent several hours-- with frequent breaks!-- cutting up the scraps and ended up with these pretty piles:


These are 1-1/2 inch, 2-inch, and 2-1/2 inch squares, plus a bunch of strings in the front.  I promise that none of those strings is less than an inch wide! I am really, really proud of myself for persevering and getting those all cut up.  It doesn't look like much but it takes a long time to cut those up. Of course, a lot of water was falling from the sky, so it was not a real sacrifice.  And look what else I got out of the scraps in that basket:


A bunch of bindings! These are from the cut-off pieces from the backings of several quilts.  These make great bindings.  Some of them look short, but they're all at least 60 inches long, and the gold one is enough for a 65-inch square quilt.  Not that I have one of those right now, but I might someday.

At the very bottom of the basket were two collections of scraps that I had kept together, so I didn't cut these up and mix them with the others.  Here's the first collection:


I think my taste in fabric has really changed, because I really don't want to use these for anything.  They're plenty pretty, but I am not motivated.  I remember making the quilt these are from, and I don't have it any more.  I'm too frugal to just toss these out, so I'll bet they end up in a donation quilt some time soon.  The others destined for the same fate are these:


Yep, they're not tripping my trigger either.  If you have any good ideas, I'd love to hear them!

The last things I worked on in the rain were these:


These are a whole bunch of half square triangles that were either left over  from projects, never made it into projects, or were the wrong size.  I squared them up to standard sizes and they are now ready to use.  I don't have a project for them, and they're different sizes, but hey--when a project comes along, I'm ready!

All in all, the last few days have been good and relaxing.  It's nice to look at that basket all nice and empty, plus I have some bags of those squares that are getting pretty full.  Soon it will be time to look for a project to use those up.  And the mostly empty shampoo bottles are gone now, too.

Hope you're all having a good week and are enjoying the last day of Fenruary.  Hard to believe March is here already!

Sharing at Let's Bee Social and Oh Scrap!

21 comments:

Jo said...

That's a great effort. I'm still trimming Bonnies blocks

Marly said...

Congratulations on making the effort; it certainly paid off! I need to follow your example! [sigh!]

Louise said...

Very productive, Mari! I think the yellow and red pieces at the bottom of the basket are quite pretty, but completely understand when you're just DONE with a line of fabric. What I do in that case is just cut it up into strips and add it to my pile of red or yellow or whatever scraps. It looks like you sort your scraps by size rather than color? So interesting how everyone's scrap system is different!

Ivani said...

Now let's the inspiring come and new beauties will happen

piecefulwendy said...

You're taming your scraps; meanwhile, I'm stashing my into my already full drawers. I really need to deal with them, but maybe after I get back from visiting my daughter. We'll see! Good for you, though, getting them in hand!

SarahZ said...

Those opportunities when the weather leaves us with no other option but to futz in our sewing rooms are always deep sigh worthy around here! Congrats on making the empties disappear too!!

Vicki in MN said...

Good girl you are for dealing with the scraps, something I need to do more of. The orange you don't like anymore are Sandy Gervais right? I have some of the brown versions of them.

Grandma Beth said...

Excellent work Mari. Lots of effort, especially if you press first. Good for you!
Waiting for March 1 for our next Squared Away block! Beth

Quiltdivajulie said...

If you really are "over with and done" for those two groups of scraps, I will adopt them for a scrappy Jack's Basket donation quilt. And I have lots of bindings made from leftovers - so nice to have a stash of those for quick use. One of these days, I want to make a strip quilt from the ones that never serm to get used ...

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Look at you go!!!

Bernie Kringel said...

That was a really productive use of your time and it makes me a tad envious! Good job - and I HATE cleaning out the fridge. Hate it. You can tell if you take a close look in there too. Ugh.

Bernie Kringel said...

PS - having bindings ready to go??? Genius.

KaHolly said...

That’s something I don’t have a lot of patience for! I do try, though.

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

I just finished cutting up and throwing pieces of batik scraps! cleaned out 4 shoeboxes full (not a lot) but oh so neat and organized! Fun thing to do in the rain!

Kate @ Smiles From Kate said...

That's an exercise I should do, but I can always find an excuse to put off. I like how you organised them into size, I 'may' give it a try. Well done and take a bow for your super efficient tidiness.

Kate said...

I admire your discipline, it takes a lot to just cut up those scraps. But now you've got lots of fun pieces ready to use.

Sara said...

My pile of "cut offs" really needs some attention too. It's always inspiring to see others get those scraps under control like this.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

You really got a lot done! It does take time and perseverance to do all of that. I have a basket under my cutting table that needs some attention, too - thanks for the inspiration!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

Great job dealing with your scraps. I am always inspired to start new projects when I dig in mine. They really are my favorite. Thanks for linking up with Oh Scrap!

barbcatw said...

I seemed to have missed saving the block for Feb. Is it still available?

Mari said...

Barbara, you are no-reply and I can't send a message through Google Plus, so I hope you see this. The blocks are always available at the Squared Away tab at the top of the page: http://academicquilter.blogspot.com/p/squared-away-bom.html