Scraps anyone?

I've been saving my scraps faithfully! Enormous guilt eats at me for throwing away things that I paid good $'s for -- then there's the reality of saving a little "too" much where I feel like a hoarder! Speaking of...every time I watch the show "Hoarders" I end up tossing a few more items and donating a box or two, so all is good!  The little sampler below was hand stitched while camping and then I quilted it on the old Singer machine. It was a great little pattern that I got from an Australian magazine when I first started quilting. BAD NEWS is that I bought fabric for all of the piecing. I didn't have a "stash" (don't think I even knew what the word meant at that time!) and I didn't have any "scraps" around that I could do this with! I sure loved making it and will probably do another one. The little hearts were my first attempt at using wax paper to applique. I didn't know that you had to REMOVE the was paper, so the little hearts are still a bit stiff in there. The whole thing is smaller than a place mat and the likelihood of it being laundered to death is slim! I had no idea that this type of border was called a "piano" border, and mitred corners with the binding? NOPE! ha ha...I look at this now and just giggle, but it's my little start into the world of quilting, so that makes it quite fine!

I was thrilled to find out that Joan Ford  brought out another "scraps" book! I love this one as much as her first one! I had no idea how to control my scraps or what sizes to cut everything into. She's made it so easy to organize your scraps! I know that when I don't have anything on the go, I will be able to put together a quick quilt or two with my "scraps" that will end up looking just a beautiful on the front covers of her books! Thanks again! So exciting to browse through a book that I know will become a staple in any quilter's room! (Yeah, yeah, I know a couple of posts ago I was vowing not to buy anything! hah!) Check out her blog for more great ideas!  http://scrap-therapy-quilts.blogspot.ca/  or her other one http://hummingbird-highway.com/

While I was browsing on Amazon, I saw Julie Herman's book of Jaybird Quilts. I had this one on my list of "wants", but never got around to it yet. I thought since I had one book on order, I might as well work in another with the shipping costs! I ordered yet another one, but it's still waiting for delivery.  I'll post it when it arrives! Onto Julie Herman's book.... I love the simplicity of the patterns and the impact visually when they are done! The directions are clear (which is what my old brain needs!) Looking forward to trying some of these out! Check out Julie Herman's website! She has some great tutorials to try out! She's hooked up with Pink Chalk Fabrics where I bought her "Chopsticks" pattern for the baby quilt a while back!  http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/



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