My first Quilting marathon

This is the aftermath of my solo quilting marathon! I have not left the house since last Thursday (closed the door after the last thanksgiving guest left and it has not been open since).



I've spent these three days sewing scrap strips on muslin foundation to make string blocks. Most of the scraps came from a very generous classmate, Nancy, from my Saturday morning quilting class in Baldwin Park, CA. Nancy was cleaning up her stash, she brought yardage and a huge plastic bin of strips and odd pieces to share with the class. All the ladies at the class made a dive for the yardage while I stood back and waited for the frenzy to end. Little did they know, I was waiting for the best treasure of them all, SCRAPS!. I love scraps, specially if they come from other's people stashes, mostly because they are already cut and I don't have to agonize over cutting up pretty fabric, they are (most of the time) prints that I would not personally buy (adding variety) and using scraps makes me feel like I am giving a second chance to fabric that would otherwise end up in landfills. I do have more reason why I love scraps, but I can't wait to show the results of my labor this weekend:

My muslin foundation was cut in the most efficient way I could think of. I tore 11" strips from the bolt and in turn, tore each strip into quarters. This gave me a rough 10 1/2 by 11" almost squares, which after sewing were trimmed to 10 1/2". My original intent for the 30 + blocks was to make a top, however, instead I will probably make some tote bags for Christmas gifts . If I use 8 blocks per tote, there may be at least one bag for each of my sisters (I have 6 sisters and 6 brothers by the way). I don't know, the tote bags project means I still have to make a few more blocks, will there be another marathon next weekend?? We'll see.

The pictures below are of the special beings that kept me company this weekend. My husband was content to leave me to my sewing while he spent the days alternating between surfing the internet on his laptop, playing Playstation2, watching movies and playing his guitar.

Swiffer looks bored!

This was a great first quilting marathon.