Scrappy Tulips From the Scrap Bin & More Happy Mail For Mom

Well, I had to change the angle of the side pieces on my tulips to make the next three flowers work for me. Those side pieces were requiring scraps that were waaay too long to be finding even in my  overflowing scrap bins.

The first 4 Scrappy Tulips

I'm not going to actually sew the tulips together until I get all the individual units sewn. The thing is, I've been moving the pieces around and changing things up as I make each new unit, trying to pretty it all up. Hopefully I can make the most out of my scraps to make {strong looking} scrappy tulips without looking like I'm taking the fussing to a whole new level of insane. Perfect scrap attack quilts would be just be boring!

Getting my papers cut out and ready to go

For now I'm planning on making 16 tulips in all, string piecing with my foundation papers as I go. I prefer to work without the paper, but I'm afraid I'll have too much stretch with these shapes. Whether or not I put 4 tulips in a single block like the original pattern remains to be seen. And of course, if I don't have enough scraps in the right colors--things could could interesting on that front too. For now, I'm just enjoying playing with my scraps again. They really need to be taken down a notch or two and quit trying to intimidate me from over there in that corner.

The scrap monster over in the corner

I've tried different methods over the years to control the monster scrap problem, giving away {it kills me}, throwing others away {cut off my arm now}, cutting and sorting into precise strips widths {what a colossal waste of time-- will never have the right one anyway}, sorting by color etc. etc. Nothing really works for me except for a simple method of pre-sorting specific color ranges into smaller totes for an individual project. I have to say 'ranges' because maybe I want to work with cherry red this time instead of tomato red? And I always push the color clear into another area anyway, such as throwing a few purples in with my browns. Or whatever. Basically I've found this smaller-tote-system to be my personal way of controlling the chaos prior to diving into a scrap quilt. It gives me the necessary order and boundaries {I need} to make it possible to just grab and sew. No agonizing, time-sucking color decisions to make during the actual making.

After I'm done with said project, the scraps either stay in the small totes till the next time, or I just dump the leftovers right back on top of the big cascading pile. I've made about five scrap attack quilts with this particular method so I hereby declare it to be SUCCESSFUL! Honestly, if they all turned out like the current quilt in the hoop, I'd give up my regular methods of quilting altogether and just go play with my scraps full time.*wink

A little bit of scrappy goodness

And for those of you who were wondering? 'Cuz I know you are. My mom is still getting an envelope and/or package in the mail. Every. Single. Day! Pretty cool huh? Quilters everywhere are just so incredibly generous!

Still getting some Happy Mail Delivered!

This latest bunch (16 in all) is from Alabama, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, several from Georgia and California plus these countries as well: Saskatchewan Canada, BC Canada and a handful all the way from Australia. Seriously! Postage from out of the country isn't cheap! One of these boxes is from a few ladies in a guild. A little special something for a fellow quilter in need. All along there have been many notes that expressed sympathy and experience with dealing with the aftermath of a fire, whether from personal experience or by way of family, friends and neighbors. So very touching.

A happy story: That funky chicken fabric (you know who you are!) was extra special sweet because my mom is a chicken farmer at heart. Yes really! She's been raising her crazy chickens since before I was born. Anyway, the day after the fire, the grandkids managed to catch the very few chickens that survived and fix up a place to put them. Within one week, my mom had collected 8 hardy chickens, some half dead from dehydration, that she could tend to and fuss over to her hearts content. She actually hauled water in from another town until the water situation was fixed! Would you believe that those tough little hens have been keeping her well stocked in eggs ever since!True survivors to be getting right back to business like that. lol

I'm linking this post with Scraptastic Tuesday over at She Can Quilt. Maybe I'll stay motivated to clear out my scrap bins a little?