Prep Work

 I've been coming across more short pieces of yardage in my stash lately. Not quite scraps, but not enough to go very far in any one project. Remnants, in fact. So I've tried to be ruthless in culling them from the collection. I didn't think to count or measure them in any way before I began cutting them up. I'm quite proud of myself for turning so many of them into patches for future scrap blocks.

This photo doesn't give you a very accurate concept of how many scrap patches I've cut. Trust me, it's a lot! Those two stacks on the left are about four inches tall each. They are quarter-square triangles and square patches for 12" variable/sawtooth star blocks. In the middle, from top to bottom, are patches for star points for those 12" blocks, then a stack of patches for 6" Shoo-fly blocks, then 6" Hole in the Barn Door blocks. A quick count reveals that there will be eleven Barn Door blocks made out of that stack of patches. On the upper right I have more quarter-square triangles for flying geese (backgrounds to be cut later). The rectangular pile are bodies for cat blocks. 

These blocks were made from scrap patches I already had on hand.

It was the stars I made for the Halloween quilt in my Scrap Happy Day post that gave me the idea to cut patches for more 12" stars. They do eat up the fabric quickly. My plan is to go through the 6" blocks in the Parts Dept. to use as the centers of the stars. After pressing each piece of fabric I cut the largest patches first, the quarter-square triangles and 3.5" squares first, then pieces for a cat, and from there whatever else I could fit. Some prints were more appropriate for backgrounds than star points and vice versa. The trick now will be to pair up blocks from the Parts Dept. with these patches to get those stars made. 😁