My Scrap Problem Progress

At the beginning of March, I found this blog post by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

She had me raising my hand up high!

Yes, I have a scrap problem.

So I focused this month on strings.

My crammed full, can't put another piece of fabric into it, sting bin.

I started out making 3" blocks,

using phone book pages and scrap papers as my foundation.

I am a tear the paper off the back as soon as they are trimmed up girl.

For me, it's easier to do it small bits rather than in one huge paper tearing session.

This is the results of my month of little blocks.

(Not a good angle to see how high the blocks piles really are!)

I do have a plan for these and when Bonnie Hunter's new book comes out,

(She shared the picture on Facebook and for the life of me I can't find it again.

But it is in my head.)

I'll have a good head start on that quilt.

For now, these will just wait for that time.

There is a good stack of twosies on the right waiting to be pressed.

And the 4 stacks are waiting their turn to be leaders/enders.

When these are made into foursies,

I will be done making 3" string blocks for a while.

After the first week of sewing on 3" string blocks every day,

I decided to go bigger.

The batting scrap box came out and I started making 9" quilt as you go blocks.

That helped in reducing the strings.

50 blocks were made.

(I only needed 48 but 2 blocks had cutting booboos and will become a pillow.)

Yesterday I started sewing the blocks into a quilt.

I have all the joining strips cut to size and I'm ready to get this quilt finished.

But this week we have sunshine, 

so sewing time is limited to early in the day.

I tried to get a picture of how much scraps I used.

Miss Shirley loves attention and insisted on being in the bin.

She wins!

I win!

Not only is my string collection reduced,

I used up quite a bit of not my fabric fabrics for the backings

and my box of small batting scraps is greatly reduced.

Thank you so much Sarah for confessing you problem and 

encouraging me to confess mine and do something about it.

I'm going to finish my blocks and finish my quilt.

Today Sarah shares how she did and

 is having a link up party for others working on the scrap problem. 

Read all about it here at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Design Wall Monday

OhMyGoodness, how did Monday get here so fast!

I'm continuing to sew every day.

Whether it's string blocks or hand piecing.

This is the center hexi for Rosette 9 of Millefiore.

Her name is Judy.

I call her the Center of Attention.

I'm still thinking of replacing the center with an orange hexi.

snicker, snicker

This is round 1. 

With six different fabrics, 

it took me a bit of time to figure out which layout I liked best.

I think I changed it 9 different times.

And I haven't started sewing it together yet,

so I could change my mind 9 more times.

I bought a Moda Scrap Bag from somewhere.

It was perfect for this rosette.

I spent quite a bit of sewing time this week joining my rosettes.

I cannot begin to say how excited I am with this.

Once I add rosette 9 and join rosettes 5 and 2,

I'll have a better idea for color balance in the bottom of the quilt.

This has been such a fun, fun project.

Sometimes I have to earn Good Wife points.

Mending is at the bottom of the fun list but

some things have to be done. 

To replace this rain-wear is expensive.

The elastic suspenders have stretched out beyond their usefulness.

The last time he wore them, 

I had to pin the elastic up.

So I bought a pair of suspenders for the good elastic

and replaced them.

I should get extra Good Wife points for this.

The suspenders were wider than the elastic on the pants

and I needed to use the buckle.

So I fought with it and won.

Function or fashion.

See what others are working on this week at Patchwork Times.

Scrap Addict Wednesday

.

I do have a scrap problem!

And a phone book problem!

Not really.

I don't see these as problems.

I see them as projects.

I've lost my paper that had my 3" block count on it.

I turned it into a block and didn't realize it until I took the paper off.

I decided to stop counting.

I'm well over my goal of 155 for the month.

I'm pretty much sticking to my sew every day.

Yesterday was the first day I didn't sew strings.

I sat on the couch nursing my sore hip and hand stitched.

(Tripped over the dog, had to catch myself, tweaked my hip instead of falling.)

(This morning I'm fine.)

Miss Shirley also needed quite a bit of attention.

Today's post at Confessions of a Scrap Addict is full of scrappy inspiration.

Oh boy, I think I see a squirrel!

Danger, danger, danger.

I will stay focused on my strings. 

I will stay focused on my strings.

I will stay focused on my strings.

SQUIRREL........

Design Wall Monday

 I've had a fun week in my sewing room. I got my new ruler foot for my machine on Wednesday and had to play. After some fun practice pieces, I found this block that screamed out for some straight line quilting . I'm sure it came in a scrap bag from one of my generous friends. So I played and now have a bright, cheery little table mat.  I am counting this as finish #6 for the year. After all, it is a finished quilt.

Since the backing fabric I ordered arrived, I'm pretty excited to start making a batting (sewing together the big hunks) so I can get busy quilting the next quilt. Oh boy do I have a plan cooking up in my head.

Speaking of batting, I added to my stack of quilt as you go blocks. This helps empty out one bag of small batting scraps and lots of strings from the bin. I have 30 blocks done, 18 to go.

Sunday found me making a stack of 31 little string blocks. Sometimes I get started on these and forget to stop. I settled in for some TV watching and some de-papering. 

I also spent some time cutting the last 2 rosettes for block 7 of Millefiore. I'm using scraps from Allietare. Next for this quilt will be to join the rosettes I have complete so I can figure out which colors to use on the remaining rosettes.

See what other quilters are working on at Patchwork Times.

Scrap Addict Wednesday on Thursday

Wednesday is my day to spend in town, first with my Binding Friends sewing group, then errands and maybe groceries.  But my whole day was messed up. No big deal....

I continue to work on at least 5 string blocks a day.  Today while working on them all I could think of was what a mess!  But I soldiered on and made my blocks, trimmed and de-papered them and cleaned up my mess.

My little box is getting full. I think I am at 120 now. Should I start making a plan for them? No, I know one day the light bulb will come on and I will be ready to get working!  Later today, I plan to make a few more of the larger quilt as you go blocks. It's been a couple days since I did any more of those. Good news is, my string box looks like it might be a bit emptier. Yesterday it looked like it exploded.

Sarah at Confessions of a Scrap Addict wrote a great blog post yesterday with several scrap cutting options. Of course you know I am a Bonnie junkie so I try to follow her scrap users system.

Will I ever have my system perfected? Probably not but I'm working on it. One scrap at a time.

Design Wall Monday

I've had the itch to make a new bag. I love this City Tote by RLR Creations.  I'm quite sure the recipient will love it too.  It was a pretty straight forward sewing project. I did had to muscle the turning of the bag through the lining hole but that's normal for bags that are made with lots of interfacing and foam or fleece inside.

Wonder Clips are fabulous! No more pin pokes!! Easy to clip on and off. I often use binder clips but on something like this, I want my cute little red clips.

I'm still working everyday on my scrap problem (check out Sarah's inspiring posts). I added to my string block collection. On Wednesday I had 65, and think now I am at 85 on the little ones and 14 or 16 on the larger ones and not much of a dent in my string bin. I have all of the backs cut for the 9" blocks, just need to figure out what I'll use for the sashing and binding. That won't be too hard, especially since they don't have to match. I'm kind of excited to start sewing these blocks together.

Head over to Patchwork Times and see what exciting things are happening around Blogland.

Scrap Addict Wednesday

When our Granddaughter Taylor was little, her favorite movie to watch with Poppy was Monsters, Inc. They had a ritual, get ready, hide under the quilt, get ready, wait for it, SCREAM!!! 

Mike Wazowski, the one eyed green guy, said I've got my eye on you.  Since then, that has been our saying. And because I can't wink, everyone does the Gramma wink (cover one eye) and says I've got my eye on you! So when I found this string in the box, I had a giggle fest! Oh the things we remember at the funnest times!

I've been having a blast with my string blocks. It's so easy to make more than the 5 a day I had planned to to. Since I have no other projects ready to work on, I'm just making strings blocks right now. My goal for 155 blocks for the month is quite reachable.

Eight days into the month, (7 days making string blocks) I have 65 blocks sewn, trimmed and de-papered! Go me!!!

Since 3" blocks use up so little fabric, I also have 9" quilt as you go blocks stacking up. I finished #10 yesterday.  Less not my favorite fabrics and fewer batting scraps. It will take more than one string quilt to tame those batting scraps!

While working in the string bin, I am finding larger than strings. I have 3 chunks that will be turned into backing squares and several pieces to run through the Go cutter for tumblers. Today I am babysitting so it will be a good day to run the Go cutter with a 4 year old as my helper. She loves fabric so it will hold her attention for a few minutes.

I am still hoping to have my string bin empty by the end of the month. Am I a dreamer? Probably but that is my plan. It was fun to read Sarah's post this morning. I love being inspired by other quilters. I also love that I am not alone in my scrap addiction. It's still hard to toss out those itty bitty pieces but I don't see myself ever making another quilt with such tiny bits. I keep telling myself it's good to let go.

Design Wall Monday

What a week!

There seems to be a lot going on in my world. 

Nothing serious, just busy, busy.

After reading about Sarah's Scrap Problem, 

I am making time to sew.

I want to sew every day this month.

I'm making 5 (or so) string block a day to try to decrease the amount of strings in my bin.

I wrote about my scrap problem here

.

Thursday morning, I had an epiphany,

Only making 3" string blocks will take forever to reduce the strings in the bin.

And then I had a huge brain storm! 

I will make larger quilt as you go blocks in addition to the 3" blocks.

10" squares of no longer my favorite fabric were cut for backing.

The batting scrap box came out and scraps of batting were layed out on a backing square.

Starting with black center strips,

9" blocks are being made.

Look at all the stuff that is being used up!

It's a stormy, rainy day here today,

hubby will work out in his shop

(he is newly retired, sort of)

and I will sew!!! 

It's a great day for string blocks.

 

After  much searching on my blog, 

I didn't find the picture of my last finished quilt as you go string quilt.

July 2014

I'm glad a had a picture of it on my computer!

This quilt lives in hubby's pickup.

The new one will live in my car.

You never know when you will need a quilt!

See what others are working on at Patchwork Times. 

I May Have A Scrap Problem...

Confessions Of A Scrap Addict wrote a very intriguing blog post this morning.

She was talking directly to me!

How did she know that I have a serious, overwhelming problem.

I am out of control. 

I cannot toss a scrap.

I want to blame someone but I am the one to blame.

No one else.

insert sad face here

(I'm hoping I can figure out how to put her badge over on my side bar.

This stuff is a challenge for me.)

This is the top of my string big.

This is the side view of my string bin.

One of them.

another sad face inserted here

This is my table top string bin.

My goal is to empty it.

Use each string until it is gone.

Then grab the next and the next.

After reading Sarah's post, I decided I needed a plan.

In September for National Sewing Month,

I sewed every day.

September 25, 2015 was the last day I made a string block.

Until today.

I made 5 early this morning.

I will make 5 later on today.

( I don't want to fall behind on March 2nd.)

I plan to make 5 a day, every day in March.

If I do that,

 I will add 155 3" string blocks to my collection.

What will I do with them?

Oh no worries about that.

These make awesome borders for string quilts,

fun quilts like Bonnie's Love Shack that I will make someday.

But not today.

I have to empty that string bin down some first!

So I am going to do like Sarah and 

challenge myself every month to get my scraps under control.

I have a good plan for March,

I'll have a good plan for April.

I'll have a good plan for......

you get the idea.

Wish me luck, I'm headed into the abyss. 

Tuesday Fun

I'm trying to not get behind on The Splendid Sampler blocks. The 6 heart block stumped me. I didn't know what to do with it. Since I am using blacks, whites and lime greens, it just didn't compute in my brain. That is until I just sat down and started pulling fabric.  I think I like it. In the big quilt, I probably will forget it isn't my favorite.

I love the split 9 patch but had to change it just a bit when I was choosing fabric. I had 2 pieces of 2" lime green that were only 4" long. Easy, peasy, just make a center block. And that applique flower pot was so much fun! I love playing with thread and free motion embroidery. I'm not that good at it so something simple like this block worked out great.