My Mad Piecing effort

Keryn talked about MAD piecing in this blog post when she was lamenting all the bits of progress she was making on many projects. Her idea was to make a difference - (MAD) - to one project by making a concentrated effort to move it along. I was searching around for one of my projects to give it a hurry on, and instead fell down another rabbit hole.

For the last two years I've made promises on my yearly to-do list that I would find a pattern to use a container of dark grey scraps which had accumulated seemingly without any effort on my part. It's not a colour I'm drawn to but the trimmings from customer quilts, scrapbags from the opshop and other gifts meant that I had quite a collection. I could have just passed them on I suppose but I really thought I could find a use for them, if I just found the perfect design. 

Also on my list to be dealt with was a cheddar/yellow group of scraps that weren't reproduction and that I wasn't wedded to. I have a drawer full of lovely authentic repro fabric in this colour that I would use if I wanted to make a serious quilt. Is this an odd attitude, leaving my gorgeous yardage in the drawer and fussing about scraps that I didn't even choose? It drives Keryn nuts but I seem fascinated by the concept of just using what is there. I  can't give up on the scraps, it seems.

I'm a member of a facebook page called QuiltHistorySouth and they recently had a discussion about cheddar in old quilts. One of the photos depicted a four-patch quilt using black AND cheddar, as well as some shirting and plaids. I could substitute the dark grey for the black, and use both lots of lingering scraps.

Over three days I've had a blast, decimating both containers to the point that I might have to start using a strip or two from the regular stash. The shirtings are from opshop shirts which is another section of the stash that I'm gradually whittling away. I feel so virtuous, and even though the result is not particularly attractive it will be functional and has a more masculine feel to it.

I have fifty or so blocks made and pinned to the design wall and I'll be making more four patches to replicate some of the darker areas of the quilt. Unfortunately I virtually have to use a spotlight to get any sort of picture of my design area so it's not as washed out as my photo makes it.

I just hope my enthusiasm carries through to actually making a top but at the very least I can say I've made a difference to those grey and yellow scrap containers.