Scraps - continuing 11-16-21

A long post.... In the 40s and 50s quilts were mostly made from scraps, so I am rather addicted to them and cut various squares and triangles to store for when I need them. When my late husband was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor I could not seem to concentrate on anything else but his illness and needs. I started sewing 1 1/2" scraps into squares - 100 scraps equals a ten inch block and continue. It was mindless. A box of dark and a box of light, pull one from each box and sew them together into a string of ten sets, then add another light or dark to each row. 

Like I said, mindless, but something to occupy my hands.  The only choice I made was to include red in every ten inch block.

Ultimately the blocks were sashed with red and made into quilts for philanthropy. In the past 30+ years I have continued to make my scraps into squares and triangles  and I have learned to use Wonder Under and other fusibles. I wondered what I could do with the squares and the fusible, so as part of my SAQA 100 day project I started a panel. 

Choosing a backing of plaid  to try to keep the rows even and ironing a layer of fusible to the wrong side to provide a neutral background in case any showed through, I just started laying out colors. It is rather addicting so that whenever I walked past the table I would stop and try to put in few more pieces; like having a jigsaw puzzle on the dining room table.

I didn't start this until August 31st and the 100 days ended last week, but I haven't finished the panel. I rediscovered my propensity for using fabrics that appear as one or two colors and I don't seem to use much blue and almost no pink. It is an eye opener. It has been a 100 days of trying to corral my thoughts and get back to being creative and I would like to be part of the next 100 day project starting in January. I think I have learned how to make use of the opportunity and the time.  Some participants even finished an original design quilt, something to aspire to!

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