Scarp My Scraps

For the title of this post, I intentionally used a made-up anagram from the word "scraps." That's because a blogger I follow (She will remain nameless so as not to embarrass her - Hi Char! 👋) used the word "scarp" in a recent post title. I got such a kick out of the word - thinking when I saw it that surely I was going to learn something new, related to qiultmaking - that I'm using it intentionally, 

As you can see, all I've been doing lately is Scarping My Scraps. 

It's been a tedious, messy task. 

I've been handling leftover bits from projects made ten to twelve years ago. Certainly, I've made a number of scrap quilts during that time, but it's clear I've never dug to the bottom of each canvas bin. 

I am now.

Even hubs noticed, asking, "What are you doing now?" And later, after pressing, sorting and cutting for several hours, "Aren't you getting tired of doing that?" 

But I have a goal. I'm simultaneously working on three projects! 

The first continues to be Harvest Moon. To make these, you create fabric from your scraps and then use templates to cut two shapes. Free tutorial by Megan here. 

Then, thanks to a blog comment from my friend Anne @springleafstudio, who pointed me toward the Unallocated scrap quilt on Instagram - see @mckillopmichelle here - I'm cutting pieces for my own Unallocated. These are my test blocks that measure 4" X 4" unfinished. 

Believe it or not, I am feeling productive, though I don't have anything to show for it except sorted piles. 

Oh, and an ever-increasingly full basket of 1½" X 1½" squares! I need to change my rotary blade today.

Another bonus has been to find the bits of brown and black prints that have been lurking, unused, in my scraps. These are colors I don't use in my quilts, so I'll be taking them to Big Cypress to give away. 

I've also begun cutting some of my larger scraps to make a Posh Penelope quilt, a pattern by Sew Kind of Wonderful that uses the Quick Curve Ruler.

After seeing two of these quilts made scrappy - the first at our QGOTV quilt show, and another on Instagram - I knew it would be another good way to use scraps. 

Made by Tammy Kaplan, QGOTV

Made by Chris Simon @thecolorfulom

By the time I'm finished with these projects, my scrap bins will be nearly empty! Right?! They will, won't they?

I will have Scarped My Scraps! 😁

Book Recommendation

When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica, is about Jessie Sloan whose mother is dying of cancer. Not knowing who her father is, Jessie understands how alone she is. Deciding she can no longer live in the house where she and her mother shared their lives, Jessie tries to go out on her own - applies to college, rents an apartment, and gets on with her life. But her inability to sleep is playing havoc with her thoughts: what she's seeing and hearing. When the college contacts Jessie, and she learns she doesn't have a social security number, she begins to suspect that she isn't Jessie, and that her mother kept dark secrets from her. Jessie finds a hidden-away picture of a man, and believes he could be her father.

This is one of those plot lines that goes back and forth, from present day Jessie to back-then Eden, Jessie's mom. Though I most often like Mary Kubica stories, this one wasn't quite up to her usual standards. 

Linda's score: 3.8/5.0

Linda