Scraps

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  We had our family Thanksgiving on Saturday.  Not as many came as usual, but we had a great time.  Some were working, some were far away.  We missed the big crowd that we usually have, but those who were here enjoyed visiting with each other.  We have a pot luck meal.  I cooked the turkey and some vegetables.  Also the fudge pudding that always has to be on the table when the family gets together.  There was new  and old recipes.  Everything was delicious. There were four generations at the table.  We figured that six generations of the family have eaten at that table.  It might even have been seven, if Nan’s mother or father had been at her house some time.  They were gone before I came to the family so I don’t know if they did. What stories the table could tell.

I saw a picture of a quilt in Pinterest.  It looked like it would be easy to make and would be a great quilt to practice free motion quilting. The pieces should be 4 1/2″ and the sashing  2 1/2″.  I would need at least 60 squares.  When I checked the attic, I found several bags of color coordinated pressed fabric.  I decided to cut all the fabric into squares.  There were two drawers full of fabric.

It looked pressed, but it needed a little more help.  I started pressing and cutting.  It took most of three days.  There was a lot of fabric.  I am so glad that that part of the job is done.

As I laid each piece on the cutting mat, I cut the largest square that I could.  Then, I cut smaller and smaller until the whole piece was gone.  Some pieces could be laid on each other and several squares could be cut at once. My favorite ruler is the Tucker Trimmer.  It had a workout the past few days.

The larges square was 5 1/2″  I will put them in the drawer with other charm squares.  There should be enough squares that size for a quilt.

I think that I did cut enough 4 1/2″ squares for the quilt that I want to make.  Maybe even enough for two quilts.

The next size was 3 1/2″.  I can make nine patches for Linus quilts.  I have several flannel pillowcases that I will cut apart for the backing for baby quilts.  When I get to it, I’ll figure out how many nine patches I need to fit the pillow cases.  I should be able to make several quilts with this size squares.

The smallest square in 2 1/2″.  There are over 1,000 of these small squares.  I have seen pictures of quilts made with this size square.  One will surface when I get to use this batch of squares.

As I was cutting and throwing away the small scraps, I remembered the time when I kept every little scrap for the Gaa-Barge project.  I decided to save some of the little scraps to finish that project.  I had planned to make one Gaa-Barge a week for a year.  I made only 32 so I have 20 more to make.  The small pieces saved in this box will be enough to make all 20 quilts.

I was hoping that no one would drop in today, even though I love drop in company.  Scraps were on the floor throughout the whole house.  Both Miss Molly and I spread them through the house on our feet.  Dishes were soaking in the sink.  They are now in the dishwasher which I use only when I have a party.  Clean laundry was piled on the bed, waiting to be folded and put away.  I had to concentrate to finish cutting.    Everything is now cleaned up and put away.  The cutting is finished and I can now sew.

I did sew for 10 minutes on the quilt.  It won’t take long to finish sewing the top. It sews together beautifully.  The quilt will have one row of colored squares, then a row of white sashing.  The last row will be the colored squares.  That will be the border.  Because the sashing is cut 2 1/2″, the 4 1/2″ squares line up perfectly on each row.  I could make a smaller version of this quilt with the 3 1/2″ squares with 1 1/2″ sashing.  It’s a thought. I’ll  have to figure out how many rows it will take to be the same size as the flannel pillow case.  Maybe I could sew two pillow cases together and make a larger quilt.  Half the fun is in the planning.

Have a great day and happy quilting.