>>>>

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Sew Much of a Good Thing!


Yesterday morning was the storm before the calm.

Or in other words - a flurry of last minute checking-for-all-the-things was going on when I walked through the front door at Quiltville Inn, ready to see Chris's Christmas in July group off on their way home.

The Quilting Quarters stood completely empty - not a thread reminding anyone of the holiday spirit (albeit July!) that reverberated in this space over the past week.

The tall skinny Christmas Tree was down - design walls empty.  Everything was back to its before-retreat status.

Car by car, van by van, SUV by SUV, goodbyes were made - everyone with their own agenda of quilt shops and other places they wanted to hit on their way home.

Their fun would continue - but for me - silence.

The crazy wicked thunder storm that had rained out our already burning fire pit night the night before had left us with a beautiful sunny day.

And in between loads of laundry (I managed to put in 12,000+ steps with all the trips between the QPO and inn yesterday!) I needed just a quiet round of something I didn't have to think too hard about.


It was time for Carrie's big scrap box to be sorted!

This box arrived while my friend Jill was here last month.  It has sat in the back entrance way of the QPO for several weeks because it's just been a revolving door of activity here.


Look Ma!  I'm sitting on my butt and my tailbone is okay with it!

This mound of fabric outside of the confines of the big box is HUGE!

I am so exited over this haul - seriously.  I know that some folks feel a bit overwhelmed with hunks and chunks and that's okay.  It's perfectly FINE to find someone who loves to work with small pieces and simply pass it on.

Some folks just do not like scrap fabric hanging around.  I get it.  So find someone who can use it. 

I found myself sorting fabrics into color families, and making plans for which would be cut down into Scrap User’s System sizes.

Some pieces were big enough I could put them into my fat-quarter bins.

Some pieces that I didn't see myself using I bagged up and put them in the free basket at the inn, to share the love with others.

And when it was all said and done - I ended up driving to Galax to run some in-between-retreats errands and also to pick up a couple of more bins for scrap storage.

There is enough blue to separate that further into one box of blue, and one box of aqua/turquoise.

There was enough tan/brown to separate them into one box of tan, and one box of darker brown.

And all the while I'm dreaming of what I am going to make with all of this because - it is such a GIFT and I know it is going to end up in fantastic quilts.

Some folks work on their 401-K's.  This is my 401-Q.

There is so much satisfaction that comes to me when making quilts that feed my soul out of otherwise orphaned fabrics.


Quilting up the dream!


And then there were 60!

These are my 25-patch blocks. 

No pattern yet, but stay tuned!

This morning is for finishing touches in getting ready for this afternoon's arrival of the July Quiltvillians.

I'll enjoy the morning peace while I can!

I'm hoping to do some more piecing now that the box of scraps has been tackled and all put back to "normal" as far as that goes.

And then I'll be pulled back into the whirlwind of a busy retreat week!

Speaking of orphan fabrics and those who don't know what to do with them: 

There are just 4 more days of this as well:

Rockabilly Swing is still at our 25% off introductory price through July 31, 2021! (Only 4 days left to save!)


Fabrics from 1980s all the way to today -

Scraps in all colors, in every genre and variety.


You cheered me on as I made block after block after block in this adorable size - and watched as it was assembled, quilted, and bound.

And now you can start your OWN Rockabilly Swing journey with my PDF pattern which includes the printable paper foundation template.

The introductory price of Rockabilly Swing has been placed 25% off at $9.00 through July 31, 2021.  No coupon code needed. 

Rockabilly Swing is paper foundation pieced.  I have used Carol Doak's 8 1/2'' X 11'' Foundation Paper with much success.  It is available in the Rulers, Notions & Tools section of the Quiltville Store. (Limited supply)

You can also find it in the Quilting All the Time category of the Quiltville Amazon Affiliate Store  Direct link HERE.

You can also use 8 1/2'' x 11'' newsprint, though it doesn't like some printers. (I get jams occasionally on mine)  It is also available HERE.

If this is your first time downloading digital patterns from my store to a computer click HERE.

If you intend to download to an iPhone/iPad click HERE.

And yes, fabric rolls are still available at Cotton to Quilts to enhance your scrap stash, so check them out.  It's always more fun to sew in some new fabrics along with the older saved scraps - it gives everything new life.

It's another gorgeous morning here in the Blue Ridge - time to get a move on it.

What is going on in your world for Wednesday?


Quiltville Quote of the Day -
This is Kerri’s Florabunda made with cheddar and bug fabrics! 

 Pattern from the Free Patterns tab at the top of the blog. 

This includes being kind to yourself - which of course was my reason for sitting through a stupid long line at Mc D's drive through yesterday just to treat myself to a caramel frappe on a hot summer afternoon!
Totally worth it - brain freeze and all! 
Have a wonderful Wednesday, folks!


 

12 comments:

stretchmarks said...

401-Q! Genius! Trademark that one quick! Made me laugh out loud. Marilyn Marks

BrenWall61@gmail.com said...

It was so fun to see your pile of scraps on the bed. Make me want to sort the ones I have been saving in a tub. Thank you for inspiring us to just keep doing!!

Doris said...

I just love looking through your piles of scraps and seeing fabrics that I have, or once had, in my stash as well!

Missy’s Miracle Stitches said...

Hi Bonnie,
A couple of weeks ago you mentioned that you had to go purchase plastic containers for your retreat guests to take home left overs. I have tons of cool whip and fresh pineapple containers that I would love to donate to your cause! I so enjoy reading about the retreats and wish that I had a group like that to sew with. Looks like SO much fun. If you are interested, email me at reynomr@yahoo.com. Thanks so much for sharing all your adventures. I love reading about them!

Andresa said...

So fun to hear the joy you had sorting through the scraps. But I had to laugh when your "don't need to think too much" project was sorting scraps! My thoughts had gone to "mindless" activity and, for me, sorting scraps is not that. (does the fabric that's 50/50 blue and purple go into the blue pile or the purple pile or some into each pile? LOL) My mindless quilting activity is sewing seams. Followed by pressing the seams, which is not quite as mindless as sewing seams that have been matched up, but close.

Joan said...

So good to hear you can sit now. Hope you continue to be on the mend. I found this website after I blew out my back and was in terrible pain. Then read you had your accident with the stairs about the same time. Keep on keeping on. That huge pile of fabric has to be a big morale booster! I bought myself a complete set of DMC and wallowed in that when it came. Amazing how pain subsides for a while when you're playing with fabric and thread goodies. Hugs, Joan

robynfam said...

Love the big load of scraps! Today was Mamogram day, then went to the mall and walked and gave myself a lunch of chinese food. Now Laundry. So much for a day off work.

MissPat said...

I pulled a muscle in my left arm last week and haven't been able to sew or garden. Buta friend gave me a big bag of scraps so I suppose I could sort scraps one-handed.

Kaequilt said...

If you run out.....

sewnsew said...

So fun to have scraps given to you! Just like Christmas! I have a lot given to me.
Today I finally got my new gas stove. My last stove lasted 28 years. Still working on a quilt for a friend with cancer. Lousy magazine pattern. Really odd measurements. Wanted over a thousand 1 5/8” half square triangles. Needless to say, I did plain 1 5/8 “ sashing. Looks great!

barbara jahn said...

Hilarious and so true! The interest on mine seems to grow faster than on the other one. I don't understand why no matter how hard and fast I sew I can never have the equivalent of a container emptied yet the mounds of sandwiched quilts, even with pieced backs, is too big to keep up with lately. The thread stash is the only one greatly reduced. Am so desperate to know how this happens I even found myself calculating how many potential quilts are in a mid-sized bin --3 to 4--but since they are sorted by color, contents only get loosened, not emptied as fabrics get pulled from many bins for each quilt. Arrrrgh. Not ready to destash yet. Will check progress in December. Now back to the cutting table. Keep the patterns coming, Bonnie. This 401Q analysis makes you a certified STASH broker.

Janet Travis said...

check out the Mc D"s sugar-free vanilla iced coffee, light ice. A friend just turned me on to it and I never liked iced coffee but now I like this!
I too take others scraps and have so much fun with them. Others say that they can remember what they used the fabric for while making their scrap quilts, I can't but I don't care.

Post a Comment

If you are commenting as "anonymous" please leave your name at the end of your comment.

Did you know that ad space on this blog provides for all of the free patterns and free mysteries and challenges at no cost to you? Without ads, this blog would not be possible.

Thank you for understanding the many hours that go into this blog 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. :)