From Scraps to Keepsakes

Last night was interesting. I hosted a casual family dinner for my cousin, his fiancee and my best friend. So nice to be around people you enjoy and care about, to share what's up and to co-miserate about what's down. Mostly we have "ups" and interesting projects to talk about. For me and my best friend, it was sharing with everyone what we've recently completed. We are both on a mission to complete projects ideas from the past.

When Phyllis arrived I was so excited to share the new apron. She countered with a quilt top she had completed made from the floral scraps left over from shorts she had mass produced for her eldest daughter. The quilt was beautiful and amazing and will be a gift to her child when backed and bound. Can you imagine what joy she and her daughter will have remembering events and life's journeys based on the fabric of that quilt. It will be transformed into "The Fabric of Our Lives" as a fabric memory book. My friend does such an incredible job taking scraps and turning them into keepsakes.

If I've learned nothing else over the last year of quilting, it is to rethink what I call scraps and to not to be too generous in what goes in the trash bin. Phyllis has taught me to keep what is 1" or wider and keep it because those make beautiful quilts. She has taken what I would discard and made some wonderful baby quilts that can be sold. It never occurred to me that scraps could be someone's next keepsake quilt.

So the moral to the story is, short of being a pack rat, save you sewing scraps and create Fabric Memory Books. It will be a journey well worth taking.

This the quilt I finished yesterday. It's soft petite floral prints framed in tea stained muslim--perfect for the little girl it was made for.

One more project down, and I can hope in my heart of hearts it will become a keepsake for the baby it is intended for. It will be fun and exciting to see the mommy's reaction to this quilt.

For now, it's back to aprons. There are another three to be done for my sister-in-law. Love the creative time and playing in fabric.