Slowly

Slowly, slowly, very slowly, my bin of fabric scraps is getting whittled down and transformed into something far more useful for quilting purposes. This exercise in insanity organisation came about simply because I wanted to take a break from real sewing and I couldn't stand to think of all the long-forgotten fabrics that were sitting idle in that mess.

I think every quilter/fabric hoarder out there has their own system for organising fabric. When I set out to whip my stash into shape, I knew I wanted everything colour coded in clear bins - that just seemed to make the most sense for me.

There is a method to my madness when it comes to deciding which fabric stays and which goes: any piece that is smaller than a fat quarter but bigger than say, four inches square, gets pressed, squared up and put in the plastic bins. Medium scraps are set aside for making things like hair ties or bows. Smaller scraps are trimmed down to neat little squares and rectangles and put into the appropriate compartment of a storage box. Over the top? Yes. However, it's going to be brilliant for making ticker tape quilts.

I've been at it for days already and have barely made a dent in the pile. I shouldn't be surprised though; it did take me years to accumulate this many scraps.