Digging Through the Scrap Pile

I was excited to hear about a project that one of the Lodges closest to where I live is doing:  making lap quilts for wounded veterans who attend the winter sports clinic in Aspen.  Fortunately, they were willing to have another volunteer to help them out.

Rather than use some of the fabric that has been donated, I decided to first go through some of my stash and see what I could come up with.  From the 2011 charity quilt, I had 11 left over blocks, and enough left over fabric to make 25 more blocks:

Left Over Squares for the 2011 Charity Quilt

This was a quick lap quilt top to create:

First Completed Lap Quilt Top

After I finished this lap quilt top, I wasn't sure what to start on next.    Last night, I finally had an idea.  Whenever I work on a project, I wind up with extra fabric, including small scraps.  I have a tough time throwing out fabric, especially since I frequently need just a small bit of this color or that color.  So, I tend to keep any piece of fabric more than 2 inches square.  I keep them in a plastic container.  And, the container has been over filled for a while:

Scraps in the Scrap Container

In honor of the Fourth of July and in consideration that this project is for people who served our country, I decided to go with patriotic flair.  I picked out the red and blue scraps.  With a couple of extra strips that I took from larger pieces of fabric in my stash, I decided that I'd have enough fabric for a patriotic log cabin lap quilt top:

Strips of Fabric Ready to be Sewn

I now have four squares finished:

First Four Six Inch Blocks...

Only 32 more to go...