Another Vet Quilt

I'm sort of on a roll with these right now. For one thing, I'm on a mission to reduce the bulk of my stash, with the hope that I can free up some space in my sewing room. Chipping away at my stacks of fabric has actually helped .. somewhat. Of course all those strips I've been cutting have to go somewhere in the meantime, which means filling yet another bin which I have to find a spot for. Its like a Chinese puzzle. Or, robbing Peter to pay Paul. And then what do I go and do? I just ordered four new cuts of backing fabric, because they will be "perfect for Vet quilts" ! And so it goes.

Anyway, after finishing one of the Rail Fence tops yesterday, I started rummaging around for a bin I might be able to empty (for the strips) and ended up going through one labeled "UFO's, random blocks, and leftovers". One bag was leftovers from a couple of plaid quilts - well several, actually, as leftovers from the first one went into the second one which went into the third... and on down the line like that. Three or four plaid quilts later, I still had a bag of leftover blocks and scraps. This morning I started playing around with them, and came up with this:

Here's how it all got started.
I don't have a picture of the original plaid quilt, but it was a Bento Box which I made for my nephew just about ten years ago. Far be it from me to figure out my yardage and cutting ahead of time, and apparently can't count while I sew either, so I ended up with four 12" Bento Boxes left over, a few partial BB's, and about a hundred more 3" strips than I needed. Into the leftover box they went, where they languished for a few years.

Then another project (later? earlier? I can't recall) where I reduced the pattern and made a small wall hanging for myself, and somehow ended up with four 6" Bento Boxes leftover.

Fast forward to a couple years ago, I needed to make a quilt for another nephew. I turned most of the leftover 3" strips into four-patches, sewed them into a top, then cut an additional bunch of 5 1/2" squares for a couple of borders.

Davey's Quilt

I got a great quilt out of it, but now I ended up with a leftover stack of 5 1/2" squares, several four-patches, and a handful of random strips, which went back into the bin.

Which were almost entirely consumed by today's plaid quilt.

 

This is about as close to improv as I will ever get. I did fall back on my friend Claire's "Scrap Strategies" which are very inspiring, and helpful to a linear, stay-within-the-lines quilt maker such as myself. No doubt Claire would have come up with a much more artistic arrangement, but I think this one will do OK. 

This new quilt will most likely go to my guild's Quilters for Hospice group, and through the "We Honor Vet's" hospice program, will be given to a veteran currently in hospice care. Hopefully the quilts we give them will live on with their families, and bring them comfort and memories of their loved one.

At any rate, I consider today's scrap-busting exercise a success, resulting in a fun, interesting quilt, made entirely of leftover blocks and scraps. btw even the black inner border came out of my leftover binding box!
Here's all that remains of the plaid scraps...

...which I can now turn into triangle squares, log-cabin strips, and four-patches.

Yay!

love,
Sandy