The Bi-Annual Chore

Terri-

I admire you for going thru your scraps like that- very ambitious. I don't do scrappy, so I ship my scraps to someone else who can- and will- do the cutting and sorting. At least they don't go to waste that way. VBG

On the subject of canine UTIs- it's easy to get a urine sample and your vet will appreciate it for making the diagnosis easier. Once the dog gets 'going' they won't even notice if you slip a container under them and catch a sample. A disposable aluminum pie plate works well for the females. I haven't caught a male yet, but I would be sure to use something with a large opening. Sorry for such a tacky subject on our quilting group. but the health of our precious QIs must come first. Oh, it might be that they are simply drinking more water with the heat, too, necessitating more frequent trips outdoors? Fingers crossed that's all it is and no medical woes.

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

Be still my heart! You mean you toss out anything smaller than 2"?? Roberta in D, Queen of the Scrap Heap and feeling faint

"Terri" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net...

Don't get carried away with cutting all of the scraps into squares. Sometimes you could need just a little something to make chenille and it must be cut from bias. Last night I put fuzzy tails on rabbits from Grandma's Bunnies by Darcy Ashton. When I have no creative enthusiasm, Darcy's book is a good place to go. Her rabbits are precious even when doldrums have set in. Polly

Your grandma and mine would have gotten along great. I feel so guilty when I throw pieces of fabric away, no matter how tiny. I do like the idea of saving all those little 'unusable' bits for use as stuffing in pillows, etc. So far I have only made a 'pillow' for my K9 QI's crate. I'm not sure if I'm going to be making any more as they are very heavy and I don't currently have a use or the space for another one. I do feel better about making at least one, and I know my grandma would be pleased with that. Take comfort in the fact that she would be happy you are at least making use of some of the scraps, that is what try to I do. And if it would make you feel better save the others and send them to someone who would use them.

I take 2 of those 2" squares and use them for starters/enders. You would be surprised at how far *I* am on a postage stamp quilt just in the last 4 years. Not worried about duplicates or what color is next to what. DH has already claimed it as his! I'm also working on a Chinese Coin one --only requirement is that they have to be 5" wide and same same has to be moved at least one fabric down. Once again, I'm not worried on 2 fabrics the same in the quilt. That one also has been claimed when I only had one row 20" long!

What I do is 'cut as I go'. After the project is cut out, I cut up quite a bit of the small leftovers...have a bin of 5" squares and another of diff size squares and strips and then one of the 2" squares..with a smaller one by the SM.

So, if you don't wanna fool with them, there are a few of us willing to take them off your hands....wouldn't even mind paying postage. Wasn't there a fella on here that was asking for 2" squares not too long ago....is he still collecting? No, Roberta, I'm not trying to take them away from you.....just letting her know she has more options :)

Butterfly

"Butterflywings" wrote in news:wjdei.523491$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe16.phx:

Ah, you ladies are so encouraging! As it happens, I already do have a home for them so my post was more of a humorous story than the fact I was going to throw them out. (The dogs don't really have a UTI.) The person who runs my LQS has an even more darling 80+ year old mother whom I'm giving them to. She does absolutely nothing but scrappy quilts and absolutely gorgeous ones at that.

Ms B: You are brave to cut the scraps up as soon as you cut the project! ;) Anticipating the need to redo a block or to add corner squares or what not, I save all pieces until the top is layered and basted. I also try to save a few scraps for future repair.

As to the small squares as starters and enders .... I do the same. It is fun! I like the Chinese Coins quilts and now you've given me an idea for use of those odd strips. I'll keep them near the SM and start a scrappy CC quilt! Finally, what I really cannot use goes to the donation table at the Guild ... free stuff available to anyone at the meeting.

PAT > I take 2 of those 2" squares and use them for starters/enders. You would be

I was feeling frustrated every time I walked through my semi-organized sewing room and decided I needed to take out all of my material and refold it. Most of my material is fat quarters in multiple wooden shoe cubbies. There are 65 cubbies and each one can hold about 20 fat quarters. By ironing and refolding I found that I can fit even more material in each cubbie. I ironed about 4 hours yesterday and barely finished one row of cubbies, 12 more rows to go. AAARRRGGGHH!!! I'm re-thinking how they were organized at the same time. I'm going to put all the florals together, instead of blue florals with the blue fabric, pink florals with the pink fabric, etc. That way I'll be able to see at a glance what I have for floral. I'll do the same with plaids and stripes. Now, anything with blue is together and I'm finding it confusing.

My friend has a great idea for quilting. She and 2 of her cousins are all quilters, but live many hours apart. They each pick a different weekend spaced out over a year and go to each other's houses for a long weekend (Friday night to Sunday night) . On "your" weekend, you can choose whatever you want your guests to do for you. The hostess gets all the perks. My friend will pull out a ton of material and tell her cousins to cut it all up into 5 inch squares, or whatever she needs, then on her own, at a later date, she has mountains of pre-cut squares to make charity quilts. Her cousin needed help sorting, cutting, and making kits for her guild, so the three of them took two full days to work on it together. The other cousin buys woolen clothing at charity shops to cut up for woolen quilts, so on her weekend, they dismantle suit coats, woolen skirts, etc, and cut tons of her sized squares.

During their "quilt retreat weekends" they work from morning till night, only breaking for meals. They get so much work done, most of it the tedious stuff that takes forever when you're alone. It's a great bonding time for the three of them, and they accomplish so much.

To catch dog piddles for the vet, tape a soup ladle to the end of a yardstick and as soon as the stream starts place under appropriate area. It works great and doesn't spook the dog. Don't shove it under them until the stream has started.

Denise in NH

Since I only cut up the 'small' bits, this means I have the big bits just in case...and yuppers, every so often I get in a hurry and OOOOOOOOPS! so OOOOOOPS goes into the smaller bits and then squares......and I have to cut another of the correct size.

It's been ages and ages since I did a repeat using the one set of fabrics only in a quilt as I tend to use a variety of fabrics in every quilt. I'm pretty fussy when I do a HUG but for the daily ones most anything goes.....guess I love color to much.

On the other hand..I am collecting for a black/white quilt----just haven't found a design that would make me happy yet---I'm thinking I don't want to be locked into one shape but I don't want a sampler and I don't want to loose the prints on some of these fabrics either......gonna hafta do some more cogitatin on this one........

Butterfly (sounds like I need to get back to quilting, doesn't it)

Pat in Virginia wrote in news:dutei.219356$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe13.lga:

I agree! I'm not as confident to be able to do that.

Anticipating the need to redo a block

One of my first attempts to use up scraps was a CC quilt. They're quite fun as I recall. With the scraps I've cut up so far I'd like to make my first Double Irish Chain. I saw one a scrappy one online that was so pretty it inspired me to try it.

"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

It really is one chore I hate and put it off until the scrap container is overflowing and I can't cram anymore in there. When I begin I feel so industrious and frugal for about half the first day and then I begin to procrastinate, finding many other things to keep me away from the chore. Once I resign myself to it though I buckle down and I finished last night. The sewing room is neat and clean and the bags of scraps ready to give to the recipient.

I myself ended up with two gallon container plastic bags stuffed full of 2.5" squares and another one with 5" squares.

But oh my it is a tedious chore for me to make myself do!

"Polly Esther" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

This sounds like an interesting book but I found that it's out of print! Wah!

When I have no creative enthusiasm,

Is there a photo somewhere of her rabbits I could look at?

So is Claire's Cats. I will get my hands on both books eventually by Half.com, Ebay and other auction sites, quilt shows, quilt shops, book stores, and used book stores. Do not despair, you can get your own the same way. Debra in VA See my quilts at

Ah, a beginner, huh?

When the scrap container gets full, it's time for a new scrap container. Is this a bug going around, playing w/ the scrappy scraps this month? I brought one of the scrap baskets to the dining room last week, sewed a bunch of pieces together, ironed them all flat, now I'm trimming & sewing some of those together, no pattern, no idea where this is going, except to use them. There will be a quilt top at the end of this session, very scrappy. When it's sandwiched & on its way thru' the quilting process I'll bring out another basket of scraps and see where they take themselves. Then I'll go back to the big pieces of fabric, make a couple of quilts, and end up w/ more scraps! (You know how this is, RobertaZ. )

Bi-annual chore-- trying to think of what gets done around here only every-other year-- windows? dusting the book shelves? clearing out the garage? nah..those are annual chores... must be window cleaning For sure I don't deliberately cut the scraps into particular sizes until I'm ready to use them. Would be a waste of time for me, 'cause I'm constantly shopping my stash and needing something more than a 2 1/2" square or a piece of nickel fabric. If they were cut to regulation size they wouldn't be "scraps", they'd be "pieces". ;->

R/Sandy

Both of those books are available via amazon.com (from other sellers):

HTH.

I have started using lavender water in my steam iron - it makes the job of ironing all the scraps a little nicer!

That is such a surprise. I had no idea that those books were out of print. Sooner or later, every quilter is going to want or need to make a crib quilt and you might as well be prepared. Polly

I will get my hands on both books eventually by

My mom made a wistful mention of "something in black and white, with maybe a touch of red", and this is what I came up with. It's the Bento Box pattern, but I set the blocks on point. The off-whites don't stand out so much in real life, but they aren't pure white, either.

Both tops are going to my longarmer next month. Liz

I used to leave my scraps until I needed them, but after several years of never "needing them", I started pressing and cutting. I find I use lots of