Scraps rejected

How I wish I had been there. I don't really 'need' one more tiny scrap. The battle of emptying the scrap bin or at least establishing some sort of control wages constantly here. OTOH, I would have been delighted to have more, More! Rejecting scraps? The woman must be on some sort of 12-step program where she can't bring one more inch of fabric in until she finishes

30 UFOs or something. Polly

"Nann" My guild has a white elephant gift exchange at the holiday party,

Well, I suppose if she's not into "scrappy," her reaction makes sense, but I find it a little rude. If it were me (although I wouldn't have turned it down to begin with!), I'd have taken it and then found a friend who worked with scraps and shared it with her/him. And as it turns out, I guess that's kind of what she did, isn't it?

Regardless, I think it was a great gift, and I'm glad your friend was happy with end result. Next time you want to give away scraps, you might want to give them directly to her!

I'm with you Louise! Rude, indeed. The least she could've done was "exchange" the gift after the party and not in your presence. I, OTOH, would've loved the box of scraps, I could have introduced them to my box of scraps and--just think! They could have joined and multiplied...what a thought.... Glad the other lady is enjoying them.

Save the wire basket and kit for next year and give them back to the original lady...she may get the hint.

amy in CNY

Roberta - I'm curious about the greeting cards you are making. Do you have a pattern or a site where the pattern came from?

~~~~~~~ Laurie G. in CA

Sorry not to be more helpful, but no. I'm making it up as I go. Found a FPP pattern for mini Christmas blocks that came with a kit I bought

15-20 years ago. (As I was clean>Roberta - I'm curious about the greeting cards you are making. Do you have a

That sounds like a lovely idea! I'll have to see what I can come up with myself...... small FPP patterns are easy to find....

I guess my feelings would have been hurt. That's alot of fabric and if she didn't want it, she could have donated it to a senior center or school for craft projects. It sounds like a dream present to me! Donna

Howdy!

Surprise! - some people don't handle scraps. ;-P

Years ago when Shar Jorgenson

in town to do our guild program, a buddy & I went shoppingw/ her, to a couple of local quilt shops and one not quite as localthat she'd heard about & had to visit. She had a list of exactlywhat fabrics she wanted for upcoming projects. And she told us shedoesn't buy extra and she doesn't keep the scraps. She knows shewon't have time to re-visit any of those projects (business kepther moving forward), and she just didn't do scrappy quilts.Well, buddy & I were surprised, but interested in a new concept. Shar said she gave the leftover fabric to a local group that turnedout charity quilts; everyone was happy, and Shar was free to go forward& design new quilts & buy new fabric. Your friend Bonnie is making a small empire from her Scrappy biz; takes what many of us have been doing forever, leftovers, scraps,what-the-hell-was-I-thinking?!!? fabric and makes treasures. Cool! At least your scrap box found a good home. Maybe the lady who didn't want it would be more interested in a bent-wire basket...?

R/Sandy - "no good fabric goes to waste" S.E.

I hate White Elephant gift circles. Somebody always gets hurt. One person always gives a gift that somebody else thinks is expensive and better than theirs and complaints are lodged and ... somebody gets hurt. One person always outright rejects the gift they get, sometimes loudly, and .... somebody gets hurt. Then there are those who take their gifts over to the corner and hand them around with three or four others, trying to decide who should take which one. It's practical and a good idea on one level. But on another level, somebody gets hurt. Let's face it, I really don't like the traditional gift traditions of the holidays (Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, El Eid, Yule) because it's set up to almost ensure that somebody gets hurt feelings. I love the giving that we quilters do all the time. Make a quilt, pack it up and send it off. Nothing expected in return. Got some extra fqs around? Pack 'em into a Squishie envelope and send them out, nothing expected in return.

I suspect the person who rejected the box of scraps already has her own box of scraps, maybe all over her floor and work spaces, and she just blanched when she saw those gorgeous scraps and knew she had no business taking them home. The person who got the scraps got what she wanted. And the one who turned down the scraps felt great relief that she didn't make her own problem worse. No harm or offense intended. But like I said, these holiday "traditions" are all founded on the notion of giving and then getting. If you get more than you gave, good. Other way around, hurt feelings. If someone loves the gift you gave them, good. If not, hurt feelings.

I like the thought behind a bumper sticker I started seeing a couple years ago. It goes like this: Christmas is Not Your Birthday

Sunny feeling Grinchy

Sunny, I like your post...well thought out and much better than I could have ever written. You be da woman! Thank you. Donna

Thanks, Donna. I spend wayyyyyyyyy to much time thinking about such things.

Sunny

Wisely put. It follows the old saying "one person's trash is another person's treasure". Sometimes it just isn't the first person ;)

What I would find very cool may not be what someone else would even consider, and likely trash. This coming week we have a holiday lunch at the main courthouse [my normal work location]. They have asked everyone to bring a [wrapped] holiday ornament for exchange. Period. No guidelines/parameters. My handmade ornaments won't be there. I won't be either. I'm glad I am assigned to the other courthouse next week.

G> I hate White Elephant gift circles. Somebody always gets hurt. One

AWwww now, Ginger. I'm sorry you're missing that. Many of my cherished ornaments were from my 'work' exchanges. One is a plaid ribbon creation somehow pleated and folded into a pine cone, one is a blue ... heck ... what is that horse-looking thing with a horn on his nose? When I place them on the tree I remember those dear folks and treasure them. Someone would enjoy and love one of your handmade ornaments. Polly

What I would find very cool may not be what someone else would even consider, and likely trash. This coming week we have a holiday lunch at the main courthouse [my normal work location]. They have asked everyone to bring a [wrapped] holiday ornament for exchange. Period. No guidelines/parameters. My handmade ornaments won't be there. I won't be either. I'm glad I am assigned to the other courthouse next week.

G> I hate White Elephant gift circles. Somebody always gets hurt. One

Unicorn ;-)

Thanks, Doc. Yeah. One of them. Polly

"Dr. Zachary Smith"

Unicorn ;-)

Actually, if I'd been there I'd have rejected the scraps too! I already have a box which somehow keeps filling up and needing to get bigger. My stash room is now, once again, a guest room for my grandkids, and the princess tent takes up a lot of room! So now, when the scrap box gets full, I start giving them away or making some scrappy blocks.

Musicmaker

Yes, it is! I'll tell you Nann, if I'd been lucky enough to receive that box, I'd have been in quilter heaven. Silly woman!

Michelle in Nevada aspiring to be Queen of the Scrap Heap (watch out Roberta! ;-)