Selvages

For year's I've had a copy of Karen Griska's book "Quilts from the Selvage Edge" and I also follow her blog which regularly features projects from people around the world. That of course, means I have also been collecting selvages both from my own purchases but also giving homes to selvages of friends and my LQS (and there *is* more room if you are looking for a non-smoking, cat hair covered, hexie obsessed home for your selvages...I'm even willing to trade).

What I'm really getting at is that my inability to pick a project to use the selvages I have has lead them to accumulate but not become anything. Until this morning...

Riel at Q&U has a tutorial to make Simple Selvage Squares that eventually become a basket weave style quilt and I periodically reread it when I catch up on her blog. This morning I had about 30 minutes to work on something.

I wasn't in a hexie mood (did the earth just stop rotating?) and I wasn't mentally ready to start the blue string blocks for Orca Bay. I turned towards my Bernina and there sat a pile of selvages from cutting red FQs. It was TIME to just go ahead a make a block. I had read the tute so many times I had it memorized and in no time I had not just one but two blocks done. Woot Woot!

I trimmed my blocks to 6.5" instead of Riel's 6". I also tried to use my walking foot to eliminate some of the puckering I had on the first block but it just seemed awkward with the small pieces of fabric so I went back to my good old #37 or quarter inch foot. (A really good pressing ironing eliminated all puckers!)

This project uses white thread instead of my normal Master Piece gray for piecing so it's not really a leader-ender style project...meaning it's also not a hurry up and gitter done project since I want to make sure the selvage colors are mixed throughout all the blocks. I'll probably cut at least one 7" section from each selvage I currently have and put them in a basket for when I have some no-brain-needed sewing time.

Yet another NewFO for January...