In Love with My Scraps

Most of the quilts I make are made with scraps from my scrap basket. Some of the scraps are pretty old--not vintage, just little pieces of some of my favorite fabrics I've saved over the years that are left over from other projects. If you're like me, when a fabric calls to you, you just have to buy it even if you have no particular plans for it. I have a habit of hanging onto my favorite pieces (some of them are now pretty small) and lovingly spreading them throughout my scrap quilts. I never get tired of some of them. Those of you who have all of my books and are pretty sharp may have already noticed that I like to use some of the same scraps over and over in the quilts I make. You'll see that same lovely blue print everywhere you look, LOL. I've had it for years and it's almost gone.

This quilt was made in 2003 and I'm STILL hanging on to some of the same scraps to use in other quilts someday.

It's not that I don't have enough other fabric (goodness) or because I can't afford to buy NEW fabric, I've just formed attachments to some of them. Somehow it feels very satisfying to use those scraps and place the ones I particularly love in several different quilts. Then, every time I look at one I have to smile because I feel a little tug. Seeing the special fabric might make me recall where I bought it or what else I did that day (shopping or lunch with a friend?)

These are a few of my favorite scrap quilts from my latest book, Remembering Adelia.  I love how you can see the Baptist Fan quilting design, a traditional quilting design that was common during the 19th century. The quilting doesn't really show up very well in the photos in the book. I had my machine quilter use this design for two of the quilts. I'll have to see if I can find a Baptist Fan stencil to use for hand quilting someday.

Every scrap quilt looks better with a "scrappy" puppy, however, don't you think? Don't let the relaxed pose fool you though--this was one of the 3 minutes out of the day she didn't pester me to play, taken after she did several laps around the yard.

Here's an idea--can you make a quilt entirely from scraps in your scrap collection? In these "dire economic times," maybe that's not such a bad idea.