Leftovers and Fresh Ingredients

I love leftovers.  Scraps seem to hold such creative potential.  Maybe it has to do with the inherent limits of scraps (size, quantity, finding what works with what, vintage, out of print, etc.).  Then again, maybe they're fun because the pressure is off, having used the larger piece for its intended purpose, so what's left is free to play with.

And play is what it's all about.

That's what I did with the leftovers from the Little Bitty Batty mini from the previous post.  First, I made a 6 x 4-inch postcard for the Pet Postcard Challenge at 15 Minutes Play.  A little bitty birdie.

In hindsight, I guess I could have made the bird green, like the parakeets I've had as pets through the years, but that's another postcard.  Maybe it's a baby myna bird, like the one they used to have in a cage at the back of the department store when I was growing up.  It could say hello and a few other phrases.  Talk about a great way to occupy the kids while mom shopped.

I also made some spool-type blocks from more of the triangular strip pieced bits left over.  One ended up pretty matchy with the points and the others are wonkier.  Not sure what I'll do with them, but there they are.

On Saturday, we took a little drive to visit a quilt shop I hadn't been to before but had heard good things about, Mill House Quilts.  It was wonderful!  Friendly staff, nicely organized, and all sorts of fabric.

There was one room of just batiks and a bargain room, where I found all of these, with the exception of the two blue pieces.

 

I've noticed a lack of blue in the stash, as in pretty much nothing that's true blue (not aqua or turquoise).  That was fixed.

I could have spent a lot more time (and moola), had I not a husband in tow.  Try as I might to enlist his assistance in finding certain colors, he, too, was easily distracted by shiny things.  But he was helpful in giving the nod of approval (or not) to the bolts I held under his gaze, though he did ask a few times, "Do you have a plan for that?"

And I laughed and laughed and laughed.  

Just kidding, I didn't laugh (on the outside).  "Oh, I'll use it," I said.  Translation:  Not exactly, and what's your point?

Okay, I do see the advantage of having a game plan, but this was mostly a scouting mission.  Next time, maybe, I'll have a list.