I had time yesterday to get some borders onto my
Secret Santa Sew Along top. I also cut the binding, and even made up an odd block for my orphan collection before clearing the remains of this project off the table and putting them away. Not sure if I'll have time to get it quilted this week, but in any case the top is now hanging over the upper stair railing looking festive, and meanwhile my work table is slightly more empty :)
I've always been a scrappy quilter, which means I've always saved everything. In the past I would have set aside selected leftovers from a project into a ziplock bag and kept them together in case I ever wanted to revisit them for repairs. All other odds and ends went into my general assortment of scraps, and I'm talking tote-tubs-full. Through the years I've made more than 700 quilts, so you can imagine that I've generated a LOT of scraps.
After decades of drowning in scraps, I've recently made a decision to change my procedure: I'm now making an effort to eradicate leftovers and scraps! Large-enough leftovers are being folded and put into a donation stack. Medium-size leftovers are being cut down immediately into charm squares or strips. Smaller bits are being flat-out discarded -- I have more fabric than I will ever possibly use, even if I never save another bit again. This approach still feels radical to me, but it's freeing also -- I'm lightening my load!
(And we're not even talking about my actual yardage stash.)
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