Left Over

I have a rather large scrap box that I keep underneath my cutting table. As I cut fabric and have leftover strips, squares or yardage end bits, I drop them into the box. Sometimes I make too many blocks for a quilt or even only part make a series of blocks and decide that I don't particularly like the block or the colours or just the way the blocks go together --- and those things go into the scrap box.

About a week ago, I noticed the box was at the point of over flowing, so I sat in my chair and started to pick through the box to see what I had dropped into the box over the past few months.
I sorted and folded the larger pieces, I stacked the end bits from yardage and folded them. I discovered the black and white disappearing nine patch blocks that I had made and used some by adding turquoise. I had decided I didn't care for the black and white -- it felt sort of grey, actually. But after sitting for a few months, out of sight, I guess my view of the blocks have mellowed, so I stacked them by my machine and sewed them together this past Thursday. Hmmm, they did not look so bad as I thought. Friday morning, I put a 2 1/2" stopper border in deep dark red and then a strippy sort of musical print. Bright, and yet a sort of gloom to it. I think it works...

Out of the scrap box came alot of 3 1/2 inch squares and a few 3 1/2 inch wide strip pieces that I cut down into squares. These squares are leftovers from the Dick and Jane fabrics that I made into a quilt a few months back, a mystery quilt that I made about a year ago and then gave to my brother and this past summer's quilt guild challenge. I decided to sew randomly and put together all these bright prints that were mostly suitable for a kid quilt. There is no real reason to seperate the top section by a stashing strip but I like the effect. It makes a nice size crib quilt, I think. It is about 40 inches x 55 inches. I still need to quilt the border. Perhaps it will be a gift quilt for the next person I know who has a first baby...

Now, talking about first babies, I was wondering about that 'little rule' of mine. I make alot of quilts, more than I need and I donate about half a dozen each year to my guilds charity quilts program, but still, I make more quilts than I need, so I give them usually for weddings and first babies. I wonder how appropriate it is to always give a quilt -- I am beginning to think that people know I am going to give a quilt, but do the recipients want a quilt? You know the way the world is now, so many people find "labels" and brand names to be so important, the current fashion colour is the priority in their first homes, and really everyone has different tastes in colour and pattern. I was beginning to think I should conform to the 'norm' and just give a cheque. I will need to think on that ---- but, then what would I do with the quilts that I make? Can you imagine having stacks of quilts in closets, when I die? Then who has to figure out the problem of where they should go? I like making quilts, but really how many can one person stockpile?