Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Thrifting

I sure am looking forward to the end of this string of headaches and lethargy I've been experiencing lately. I can't seem to make myself pick up a needle or a sew two pieces of fabric together. Well, that's not entirely true. I did create a foundation for the "new" ornament for March's Bead Journal Project. It won't get done in March though!

You may remember that I am engaged in an ongoing effort to come up with a system for storing and using my scraps. A few months ago, on a trip to the thrift shop, I found a glass relish tray I thought might be useful. You may not be able to tell from this photograph but it has 5 sections of varying sizes. I thought those sections would help me to sort my scraps without having to give it too much attention. It seems to be working well enough.

What I have discovered is that it's easier now to actually throw away (!) some of the smallest scraps. I've realized how much time it takes me to get a block of any size when I start with those tee-tiny pieces. I'm also learning that I have more strings than I thought possible. Which means there may very well be a string quilt in my future after all. I like the look of them but have resisted the urge to start making one because it looks like such a big project. Now I'm thinking that might be a good project to work on when I can't focus on something more demanding. After I get all the foundation squares cut and my strings sorted out from my scrap bags of course. ;- ) (Maybe when I'm not feeling so well I could be sorting through more of those bags... duh.)

Other trips to the thrift shop resulted in a square (or nearly square) tin in which I keep the patches for my six inch Shoo Fly and Churn Dash blocks and one for the 3.5" patches I've been cutting for other blocks.


We're having a lovely sunny day here today. If I weren't concerned about the fumes from lawn mowers and other people's dryers I might even be tempted to go outside and do a bit of gardening...


5 comments:

  1. Hey Sue, feel free to come and join myself and Michele in our "jumping into the scraps and sewing with abandonment"! She's pushed, pulled or prodded me up and sort of on the track of being out of mine.
    Love the relish tray idea, I have a couple of those glass ones sitting around with no where to go. And same for the metal pan, I started doing that about a year or so ago(can it be that long??) and it's a great way to stack cut squares.
    I suggest a pile of 2" squares of the same fabrics. Then if you happen to have some spare(or stray) 3.5" light squares, you'd be all set for a quick bow tie block *VBS*. Onward into scrapdom!! Big hugs, Finn

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  2. You have quite the collection of scraps and the relish tray seems to work well for sorting them by size and shape.

    I've been enjoying the beautiful sunshine today, especially after the stormy weather we've been having for the last several days. I hope it lasts through the weekend.

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  3. Hope that you are soon feeling much better!

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  4. We are soooo with you on the dryer sheets! I sure wish our neighbors (who wash every monday, so at least we know which day we're going to be poisoned) would stop using them! They are incredibly toxic, even for folks who aren't as affected as you and my DH!

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  5. I like your scrap storage and sorting containers. I hear you about getting rid of the extra small pieces. I stuff pieces I that are too small to use into pillowcases I make. When they're full, I sew them up into cat beds or pillows.

    I hope you feel better soon. Scrap sorting is the kind of job you might do when you're not feeling 100% well.

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