Dealing with Scraps

I love scraps, I really do. But my scrap bins were overflowing and I had a stack of stuff to go in them and when I looked through them for a project the other day I realised I didn't like half the stuff that was in there any more. 

So last night, quite spontaneously, I decided to clean out my scrap bins and put the new scraps away. Now they look like this. 

I love that they're neat and ordered and filled with fabric I like. 

And this is the bag to go out. The ugly fabrics, the poor quality fabrics and the teeny weeny pieces.

The teeny pieces were hard. I had put them aside to make a ticker tape quilt. But in truth, I've made one ticker tape quilt and I don't much want to make another. And it's just another thing on a never ending to do list.

I also think I need to factor in that making any scrap quilt costs money - the top may be free but the backing and batting and time aren't. And it's not like I need to save fabric because I might run out tomorrow. Even if all the fabric manufacturers shut their doors next week I'd be good for a little while 😉.

I'm not saying I don't love scrap quilts, I really do. My Dismond Stars EPp is mostly scraps. 

The border I added to the latest round of the Possum Magic bee is all scraps.

 

For me, the key is not keeping ALL the scraps, just the best ones.

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Dear Jane: It's Not You, It's Me...

Do you ever find that at the end of the year you start looking at the list of WIPs and working out what you can complete and check off before the new year rolls around? That's where I'm at right now. I'm trying not to feel guilty about the number of WIPs I still have hanging around, and instead I'm concentrating on finishing them up.

One of the things that has always been at the top of my WIP list, under 'Long Term Quilts In Piecing' is the Dear Jane quilt I started way back in, ahem, 2002. Once upon a time I had grand plans of a hand-pieced, reproduction masterpiece that would take pride of place on a wall somewhere in my house.

Then life got busy. We built and moved houses a couple of times. I had another baby. I discovered scrapbooking with a vengeance. I went back to work. I rediscovered quilting, this time modern.

Occasionally I'd pull my highly organised Dear Jane box out from under my bed, complete a few blocks, then get over it. Fast forward twelve years and I've done 32 blocks out of the 225.

At this rate I should get it done when I'm about 120.

Or I can rethink and accept that I will never, ever get it finished. I don't love the whole concept any more, I don't enjoy this kind of hand piecing. I admire the amazing workmanship of anyone who's ever made a Dear Jane, but it's just not for me.

I pulled it out again today and took a look at what I'd done. For a moment I was all sentimental about how wonderful it was, then I realised how much more work there was to complete this quilt.

I've made the decision to use what I've got to create a mini-Jane. She's not going to be as spectacular as a full Dear Jane, but she's still going to be beautiful. It's a very manageable amount of work - I have two more blocks cut out that just need piecing, and then I need to put it all together. Hand quilting it will also be manageable due to its size. I used to panic about how I might possibly ever hand quilt it after I finally finished it. You know, my fingers will be pretty arthritic when I get to 120.

Once I'm done I'll sort the fabric reserved for this project - a small amount will go into my colour stash, some will go in my art quilts stash, and I expect a lot will go to a friend who loves reproduction fabrics.

And then I'll be able to check another project off my to-do list and take a huge weight off my mind. Sometimes quilting with no guilt is all about finding solutions.

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Quilt With No Guilt - June Linky Party

It's here! It's time! The very first Quilt With No Guilt linky party. Woohoo!

I've been very quiet the last few weeks, as I've been letting myself just do what I want, when I want. It's been good, very therapeutic.

I have been plodding away on my EPP Diamond Stars project... I find English Paper Piecing so relaxing. And I've discovered that I can sit in my weekly two hour planning meeting at work, baste a heap of diamonds and not be tempted by all the food we always have on the table. Obviously, following pics are not at said work meeting, but it is also very relaxing to hand stitch in bed. Man, this cat can photo bomb!

I stopped quilting for a couple of weeks when the urge to scrapbook hit. And in the theme of doing what I want, I didn't feel the obligation to catch up on Project Life first. Instead, I completed a bunch of pages in chronological order and completed two more albums in the process - go me!

I continued to work on my Wombat Stew blocks - I was Queen back in March and my quilt top is nearly ready to go, just waiting on two more blocks. For international readers, Smiggle is an Australian stationery store that every young kid I know loves. My girls are addicted. They very cleverly design their ranges in 'Colour Crews' so you can choose your favourite colour. I decided this would translate well into quilt blocks. Here's a sneaky peek...

Since my mum is visiting soon I decided I'd better get a move on with the quilt I promised her a while ago. It's a black and white log cabin and I decided to do it QAYG. It went together so fast! I now have a stack of blocks waiting for her input on the layout options. Two photo bombers this time.

I have signed on for the 2014 Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop over at Plum & June and I'm super excited about that. There have been emails flying and I'm learning a lot. But best of all, I've made some new quilty friends. A call went out about Round Robin quilts and a group of Australian and New Zealand bloggers decided to form our own group - we'll be doing a modern improv round robin or Travelling Quilt and I'm so excited. I've been wanting to do one of these for soooo long and I'm really glad I've taken up the opportunity, even if it will mean a little more work. So far, I have a fabric pull.

So that's where I'm at. Lots of things going on, but it's all good. So good to not feel that pressure to finish things up. Except for hemming my husband's new pants. Must do that.

How is it in your part of the quiltosphere? Please, come link up with what you're doing to make your quilting (or whatever kind of crafting is filling your soul with joy right now) FUN!! There doesn't have to be a specific finish or a single work in progress. You can talk about your current projects, your plans, even your feelings about quilting. And this linky will be open all month so you can stop in anytime to post or to see what others are posting about. 

Without imposing too many rules, it's nice to go visit other guilt free quilters too, so go visiting too. My goal is this becomes a community where we can celebrate the joy of quilting together, without worrying about deadlines and other stressors.  

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Thank You, and an Announcement

Wow, I am floored by the response to my previous post... I knew quilt bloggers were awesome people, but I really really appreciated all the wonderful comments I received. Not just brief comments either, but the kind that take time. I got advice and tips, reassurance that I wasn't alone, and encouragement. And it is so appreciated.

I have been thinking a lot over the last few days over how to make my quilting stress free. I often joke about my Quilters ADHD and I have decided that I'm just going to embrace it. Even if I'm doing something different every night of the week, that's okay. I will need to find some sort of organisational technique to keep things on track, but I am thinking that over at the moment.

Since my last post, I have designed a mini quilt; pressed my solids scraps collection, with a view to cutting for a quilt I've had planned for a couple of years (and I threw out a grocery bag worth of useless scraps in the process); finished cutting the fabric for my mum's quilt (fitting way to spend my Mother's Day quilt group session); worked on an old bee quilt from 2012; basted and cut some more EPP diamonds and tidied my craft room. I've been busy and productive, but it's been stress free and FUN.

I have left my craft room in a state of hot mess... when it started to get overwhelming and I started to overthink it, I stopped. There are quilt tops on the recliner, fabric all over the ironing board, my new vacuum in the middle of the floor... whatever. No pics, because it's too dark and dingy in there right now.

One of the comments on my last post was that the saying "Quilt With No Guilt" should be a blog button. And I've decided she's right. I've got to work through it a bit more but for now, hold the date of the first of June when I'm going to launch the first Quilt With No Guilt Linky Party.

This linky will be open the entire month, and then the next one will begin - there'll be a new linky each month to keep it current, but no pressure to churn out a blog post on a certain day. You'll be able to link anything that concerns fun, guilt free quilting to it - whether it's a finish, what you're working on, talking about your process, playing with a new technique. I envision it being a place where we can form a community where the focus is on having fun while we're being creative, end encourage each other in our creative journeys.

I'm also going to be using the instagram hashtag #quiltwithnoguilt (btw, if you want to track me down on instagram, I'm @wherejanecreates) - feel free to add your pics to the hashtag too :).

And I've just made my first ever button, which you can also grab if you want to be part of the fun!

<div align="center"><a href="http://wherejanecreates.blogspot.com.au" title="Where Jane Creates"><img src="http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag418/Jane_McCune_Kelly/bf4e44b8-8d37-44ce-807e-2a4033a50f4e_zps29f61eb4.jpg" alt="Where Jane Creates" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

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