Busy Hands...

That old adage about busy hands and happy hearts holds true for me. Few things are more relaxing as far as I'm concerned than to have a little box of stitching in my lap while I watch sports. With the onset of football season and a very talented OSU Buckeyes team to follow every Saturday, I need to have my stitching ready for use.

The stack above represents the sum total of my stitching for yesterday - 16 4-patch blocks.

These are fast and easy to do. I have a box where I keep all leftover 2.5" squares. Every project, it seems, leaves you with leftovers, and while I cannot claim to be an organization queen (ha!), I can claim to have a successfully working system for keeping 2.5" squares under control.

So I have this nifty little box of 2.5" squares which had been stirred and blended and folded and tossed - it was quite a mess, and I should have taken a picture. Since I didn't, I will point out that every block is quite fuzzy and raggedy - because of how smooshed they'd all become in that box. First I felt obligated to sort things out. Below you can see what I found.

I separated like items: I'd thrown some large hexies in, so they are stacked at the top; I had a good-sized stack of 2" squares (need a different box for those) which are there beside the spool; below the 2" squares are fabric bits that need to be cut down to size (shoulda' done that before putting them in the box); under the scissors handle is a small stack of KF squares; cut off on the left side of the picture is a gift of leftover scraps from one of the Frankfort girls; at the bottom of the picture is a partial 9-patch block and a few remaining squares from my Snowbird fabric - my intent is to get back to the larger stash and see if I can come up with one more light dot fabric to finish the 9-patch; and finally, on the right of the picture is the tall stack of miscellaneous 2.5" squares which I have pictured below.

What a ravelly mess.  I cleaned them up as I selected them to use. During the course of the ballgame - which the Buckeyes won 77-10 - I made 16 blocks, tidying and neatening along the way.

Above are all 16 4-patch blocks laid out side by side. I really have no plan for how I will use these; I like how this little section looks, so maybe I will just attach them like this and have a big, old-fashioned scrap quilt. Maybe? Something to consider, for sure. Other possibilities exist, too, so I won't rush to decide. For now I will just make 4-patch blocks all through the fall and winter. For an entire quilt, I will need a couple hundred more, right?

I must add neutrals to my little box of squares to be ready for next week's game.

I will be linking to Slow Stitching Sunday today, and I invite you to pop on over there to have a look around.

Happy Quilting, Friends!