What's In The Box?

I recently received a large flat rate box of scraps. I usually sort them out right away into piles by width size. In this box I put the 3.5 inch width pieces as well as the 2 inch width pieces.  I always like to see what I can make out of the little piles of scraps.  As I worked with the scraps some of them were a little less than the width specified so I put those aside for later. 

First I made Monkey Wrench blocks that finish at 7.5 inches. I've been making Monkey Wrench blocks from scraps in 3 different sizes and they will be made later into donation quilts.  The HSTs are cut with an Easy Angle ruler from the 3.5 inch scraps and the other parts are cut from 2 inch scraps. 

3.5 inch scraps went into making Switch Plate blocks and a Broken Dishes block. 2 inch scraps went into Bow Ties and the corners for Indian Hatchet blocks. 

Then I cut a pile of 3.5 inch squares. I was going to make Snowballs with them because I am making those as alternate blocks for some 3 inch Nine Patches I've had around for a long time but I decided to leave them as squares for now and I will make Snowballs each month in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. That way they won't be so boring to make. 

I also cut 2 inch squares. Sets of 4 identical go into the Monkey Wrench work box, sets of 2 identical and single squares go into my bin of squares to be used in the future. 

Then, of course, I made the last bits into Chinese Coin strips. 

Then my box was empty. 

So I grabbed some piles of 4.5 inch HSTs I had made and set aside for Monkey Wrench blocks that finish at 10 inches.  The 2.5 inch squares I used to make them were previously cut when scrap processing and came out of the Monkey Wrench work box. 

After I made those I cut a little pile of 4.5 inch squares. 

I also made a few more Broken Dishes blocks. The top finish at 8 inches and the bottom finish at 7.5 inches.  Those 4 inch purple HSTs came in the box of scraps. 

I couldn't leave the box empty for long. I filled it up with all the parts for five different donation quilts for kids. I was in a cutting mood I guess. That's kind of strange for me. I don't usually ever cut everything for a quilt. I cut a little, sew a little, cut a little and sew on. 

Last month I came a cross a partial set of Star blocks. The Stars finish at 7.5 inches. I cut parts so I'll have 30 blocks total for a 5 x 6 layout (37.5 inches x 45 inches)

A long time ago when the grandkids were younger I swapped a lot with an I Spy group. This is a partial set of Happy Blocks swapped a long time ago. I think there's 20 six inch finished blocks. The center is a 4 inch square and the sides are 1.75 x 4 and 1.75 x 6.5. The sides are solids or tone on tones (TOTs).  I figured 49 blocks would make a nice quilt 42 x 42 so I cut parts for 29 more blocks. 

More Happy Block parts. I swapped a lot of 6.5 inch I Spy squares in the past and a long time ago I pulled out different themes of squares for quilts. This pile of squares are modes of transportation/road signs.  With a 6.5 inch center I usually use 2.5 inch sides because that makes a nice 10 inch finished block.  I cut some scraps of plaids and stripes for the side pieces and will make 24 blocks for a 4 x 6 layout. 

I have had these Ballerina prints around for a long time. I've made a couple of quilts with the smaller prints but I never could decide what to do with the larger prints. Finally I decided on 9.5 inch squares alternating with 9.5 inch Nine Patches. I cut a total of 15 squares and parts for 15 Nine Patches for a 5 x 6 layout (45 x 54 inch quilt). 

And finally I got around to cutting into the dinosaur fabrics I have left. I cut the big prints into fifteen 9.5 inch squares. I had some 6.5 inch dinos in my swapped squares drawer so I cut 2 inch sides to make them into 9 inch Happy Blocks.  I used some wild jungle-y looking fabric for some of the sides and I had a dino foot print print to use for some of the others. I don't remember how many Happy Blocks I will be able to make but there wasn't enough for 15 blocks so I also cut parts for some Nine Patches that finish at 9 inches to also use in the quilt. This one will also be set 5 x 6 for a 45 x 54 quilt. 

So now I'll have some things ready to grab and sew when the urge strikes. 

Now cutting for those five quilts left me with a few more piles of scraps I need to process. 

Oh, what fun! 

I've also been piecing backs and matching them up to the kiddo sized donation quilts because I have a huge pile that I need to finish and get out of my sewing space before I make any more tops.  I think the January theme in my sewing room will be KIDS. 

And sew on...