Saturday Scrap Strategy #1

My friend, Heather, is moving, and she has decided she can’t take all of it with her. So she bequeathed me some of her scraps. Thanks, Heather! My scrap quilts are much more interesting with the infusion of another quilter’s favorite colors and prints.

Do you see the kitty cat print with pink background in the upper left corner of the picture? Yes, those frolicking felines grabbed my attention, too. I wondered if there were enough scraps to serve as a theme of a small quilt for a baby girl. The largest piece was not quite 10″ wide and some smaller pieces were not quite 5″ wide, so I couldn’t cut 5″ squares. No matter, 4 3/4″ squares will work just as nicely!

Heather’s goodie bag also included a yellow tonal, and I found small-ish pieces of green dot, blue plaid, and purple dots and twigs in my stash; these colors function well as frames for the kitty cat squares. I cut framing strips 2 1/2″ wide.

For each block, I needed one center 4 3/4″ square, 2 rectangles 2 1/2″ x 4 3/4,” and 2 rectangles 2 1/2″ x 8 3/4.”

Since the blocks are framed with different colored fabrics, I could have set them side by side, but I desired a larger quilt. Sashing and borders will stretch my patchwork to a desired size. For sashing and inner border, I first considered 2 white and black prints, but they drew my eye away from the focus fabric. Instead, I found a light gray swirl scrap in my stash (leftover backing for a wall quilt). Digging a little deeper in my black/white bin of fabrics, I found a meager strip of “meow” fabric. Perfect for cornerstones! I cut sashing, cornerstones, and inner border 2″ wide.

My stash bin of pink/purple fabrics contained bright pink yardage for border and binding. Determined to use every last bit of the kitty cat fabric, I incorporated pieces of it and the leftover tonals in the 3 1/2″ wide border. The final measurement of the quilt is 36,” the requested size of our hospital’s NICU.

What do you think, did those frisky cats hijack my well-intended scrap-cutting session? I will admit, my coffee table is just as littered with bags of scraps, but I do have a cute charity quilt to show for my efforts!