Taming a Scrap Bin

I wish I'd taken a "before" picture. You'll just have to trust me when I say this clean empty tub began the day harboring an absolute tangle of a mess of Kaffe Fassett scraps.

 

I had some time over the Labor Day weekend to tackle cleaning it out. I wouldn't normally have bothered, but I want to make that Thimble Quilt with KF scraps, so I needed to face this daunting task.

 

There on the arm of the chair I have stacked the larger pieces of fabrics. I deemed these to be usable, so I won't cut them into thimbles unless I need to. Directly behind the tub is a pile of orphan blocks from previous KF quilts over the years. Someday I will figure out how to use these. The little pile on the right are the few leftover diamonds from Erin's Diamonds which I made earlier this year. I still think I might make another one, so these will remain separated for the time being.

 

Now on to the really small stuff which I sorted on the cutting table.

 

 

I find it very difficult to throw out small pieces of fabric, and this is especially true of KF fabric, as it costs about a dollar per yard more than regular fabric. If I can get a 1" square out of it, I hang onto it!

 

I could explain every little pile or stack, but the picture really explains itself.

 

1. a stack of strips.

2. a stack of large squares.

3. a stack of small squares.

4. a stack of triangles.

5. a stack of "L"-shaped remnants which will be cut into strips.

6. a stack of thimble blocks (on top of the 2-row thimble project I started months ago, on the right).

7. and in the center, the pieces I plan to cut into more thimble blocks.

8. at the top center of the picture are the remnants of Erin's Diamonds, which are too big to throw out, but as yet, I can't think of a way to utilize them.

 

So, the Thimble Quilt is my focus when I have bits of time this week. It is one of the items I listed on my Ten Things This Summer list. Technically, summer isn't over until September 21st, so I will at least make progress.

 

I know there are some things I put on that list which are not likely to happen. I will address those when autumn begins.

 

I am off to cut thimble blocks!

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!