Scrap Happy

I've been thinking about scraps today.  Scraps make me happy.  I used to be unappreciative of scraps.  I used to throw them away.  They had very little value.  I told myself I was being tidy.  No one can keep all this stuff, I thought.

Then  I discovered designer fabrics and Flickr.  It is amazing what one can do with scraps.  Take this scrap vomit pillow, for example.  It is not entirely made of scraps - I had to buy the gray Kona because I don't really like gray and so I have no gray scraps.  And my partner had requested some specific things I didn't have, so BD#1 gave me 5 charm squares, and I used about half of the pieces I cut from those.  But the rest of this pillow is scraps.  Talk about getting something for nothing!

Or the Ugly Quilt. I bought nothing for this quilt,except the backing.  It was all scraps. I even did scrap binding.  It was fun!  Exhilarating even! 

It is fun to sew with new fabrics.  I'm as fond of shopping for yummy fabrics as anyone I know.  It can even be therapeutic.

But the delightful thing about scraps is that they cost nothing.  They are scraps, after all.  Leftovers from another project.  Byproducts if you will.  And so, creating beautiful things from these leftovers is truly like hitting the jackpot.  I always feel so jazzed when I make things from scraps.  Proud.  Thrifty.  Lucky.  And Happy too.

I have been making lots of progress on my Santa Swap surprises.  (And, I have to say, having a great time!)  I went through my scrap bag and I was amazed at what I found.  Jack Pot!!!  So I stitched up some practical, useful, fun, and beautiful stuff.  And I haven't bought the first thing.

I have made some - I think - lovely things, entirely from scraps.

Now isn't that gratifying?

I think I'm gonna go see what else is in that scrap bag!