A Year of Stash & Scraps

You may have noticed…I’ve been silent here for a long time. Nearly a year.

I have been creating during this year. However, if I shared anything, it was only on Instagram. Lots of times I just felt lucky if I even wanted to go down into my sewing room and sew. There were times I tried to force myself to go down before work and do just a few things.

I’d tell myself, once I got organized, I’d be motivated…it would be easier…you know, those things we tell ourselves to try to push through. The positive though is I’ve been able to stick with my running and improving my health, which has been a huge goal for me. But, I found myself asking why I didn’t have more energy. Sure, there’s a few diet things I need to fix, but in general, I knew I shouldn’t be feeling the way I’ve been feeling.

Then came time to face the truth.

Life was taking too much from me. And by life, I mean my job. And the conclusion that just because that job paid, I’d been doing what I’ve been doing for 15 year, didn’t mean I needed to stick with it.

So, the short story is, I have found a job in a related field, but I am no longer an auditor.

And, it’s a job that the skills will translate over into helping me build my quilting brand and business.

And finally…I’m more excited about life than I have been in a long time. And, there’s energy and happiness coming back to when I sew.

I am taking it slow; there’s a lot of stress detoxing from the past 15 years working in internal audit. Auditing is hard…I don’t want to overdo it and be in a similar place.

Plus, I am also trying to organize life better, be productive with screen time, and take it one day at a time. To that end, let’s catch-up and chat about a few of the things I’m hoping to do in the quilt room.

Yes, I have gotten some quilts done. One of which is below. Last summer, I got the urge to use only scraps to make a quilt. I found pattern books called “Perfect 10 Quilts” and “Perfect 5 Quilts” by It’s Sew Emma that also have Creative Grids rulers (which I have)…what a great way to use fabric, a pattern, and tools I already have on hand.

I’m crediting this quilt with giving me the urge to make quilts from my scraps; especially when I barely made a dent in the scrap pile! I realized I’d need to make a LOT more to get the pile under control.

I loved how this turned out. This is the Icebox Cookie Quilt pattern from the “Perfect 5 Quilts” book.

I enjoyed making this from my scraps. I am not a huge fan of Layer Cakes or Charm packs because I don’t like the pinked edges; I’m not as accurate. No matter what I do, my blocks end up too small. But, if I can use scraps I’ve cut down into five inch squares, well, I can make my own charm packs!

In May, I went to an impromptu sew day and got a top together that’s been sitting in the UFO pile for a while. I usually don’t buy binding or backing, but I did with this one and I’m glad. While I like the method in making this quilt, the fabric choice is no longer me. This one uses Kansas Troubles’s 5 and Dime pattern book and template; I’m not sure the name of this pattern. However, I did do a blog write up on the class and you can find that here.

Another quilt top finish was this Meadowland Quilt, the pattern by Then Came June. Originally, I was going to make this for myself as my bed quilt. However, my boyfriend is not a fan of this color scheme. So…when his son announced he was getting married, I asked if he thought his fiancé would like the fabric and he said yes. So, this is their wedding and housewarming quilt.

I’ve been on role, but I knew to make this year of stash and scraps work, I was going to need to get the scraps under control. I still have one pile to go through, and I’ve got those that were shoved in boxes by color started.

Normally, I would sort my project scraps into bins by color. Nothing done by size, etc. So, after completing a few tops, I started to organize and break down my scraps into sizes I’d use. I’ll do a more in-depth write up soon. here’s me working on organizing my blues.

I found myself reminiscing about past projects and enjoyed going back through my scraps. There are some fun memories in there!

I also want to use my pattern books more, so I went through and pulled out some that I thought had some candidates for scrappy quilts. I went through magazines, books, patterns, and my block of the months. And, I did steel a few more magazines from my mom on a recent trip to my mom’s.

In early June I went to another sew day with my guild and decided to test out another pattern from the “Perfect 5 Quilts” book. Here’s a sneak peek at the block used in the Sugar Cookie Quilt.

I also got started and caught up on my Little Forest Block of the Month by Shannon Fraser Designs. Below is January’s Block, Bonsai. I’m glad this block was first, it had so many tiny pieces. I’m using this sew-a-long as a way to dig into my background scraps and I am really use those up. It’s working, folks!

It has been a great month of creativity! You may be asking why a year of scraps and stash and what rules are you setting for yourself? Let’s tackle the why first. There’s two big reasons:

• I want to do this because yes, I have way too much fabric on my hands and want to change how I organize things. To do that, I need to use up the fabric I have. I also am now to the point I’m primarily starting with fat quarters. If I buy yardage, it’s background. Even with that, I’ve been buying more low-volume background prints as fat quarters. So, how I need to store things is changing.

• Also, I need to budget how much I spend on fabric. I’ve got other goals quilting wise like starting my pattern making business that the money I would spend on fabric, I need to invest in my business.

The rules for myself are simple:

• Use from scraps and stash for one year. Even though I did start in June, were kicking this off in July.

• I can buy background, backing, and binding as needed.

• Use patterns on hand; however, I can buy no more than two new patterns this year.

• Use fabric bundles and lines as inspiration to dig in your stash and make your own based on what you liked.

• I can buy no more than two bundles this year. However, if I write a new pattern, I’m allowed to buy for that.

The hope with my rules is that I really build some quilt skills around design that I need to build. All-in-all, I see this as a major way to bring space back to my quilt room, enhance my skills, use what I have on hand, save money, and focus on where I want my quilting to go.

Want to participate with me? Each month I’ll do a wrap up of what I’ve accomplished and learned along the way. I’ll give notes about what worked, what I’d change, and what patterns may be best left to their original yardage requirements.

So, check back in with the blog regularly…or maybe I’ll even start a newsletter.