I love Scraps!

This is what I've been working on sporadically in between other projects. Ages ago my twin sister Keryn was asked by the local quilt shop owner if she wanted some 'scraps'. The scraps turned 0ut to be 5 shopping bags of strips, 5" long and varying in width from half an inch to 2". On one of my visits she got them out to show me and threatened to throw them all away after we'd looked at them- well what could I do? I HAD to say that I'd take them home.

To date I've made about 160 9-patches, which will go in a double 9-patch, another rail fence, about 100 4-patches and 30 double 4-patch blocks which will be my next set-together project.Keryn made a string squares top and we've still got more strips to use. This is just a simple rail fence, but I really like the border, which is made of low contrast strips, so that the patterns merge together and seem to make their own print. I may say that ALL these fabrics were very busy and ugly on their own, but they made a surprisingly nice effect when sewn together

For some reason I love using other people's scraps, and that has resulted in a huge collection of little nibbles of this and that. Everybody knows what I'm like and at the end of our group's sewing days someone gathers all the cut-offs and gives them to me. One lady used to take them home to feed to her worm farm, but now I get them. I'm lower than the worms!!

I have all my 'nice' fat quarters and the metreage in many plastic tubs, but these little scraps haunt me and I keep coming back to playing with them. Every time Keryn asks what I'm working on and I mutter shamefacedly,"Kathleen's scraps", she makes the sounds of exasperation that are usually written as "Tsk!' and "Tchhkk!!" and "For Pity's Sake!!" She thinks I should just get over them and work on something good, and I will...... with visits back to the scrap drawer.