Some things are so small they seem worthless – like the tiny scraps of fabric that end up on my sewing room floor. They are the trimmings from edges being tidied up, the leftovers from cutting a patch to the right size for a hole. They fell on the floor because they weren’t big enough to fold up and put away to keep for another time. If I were the tidy type, I could very easily have swept them up and thrown them away.
Then a creative group I’m part of chose “Bits and Pieces” as a theme, and I started wondering what these scraps could become, if I gathered them up and did something with them. The result is this quilt. I had some help along the way from Heidi Parkes and her Scrap Quilt video class, which I would highly recommend.
Many of the scraps are literally picked up off my floor. Others are from my box of green fabric – but still the ones that were too small or too weird to use for anything else. To have reached my box of green fabric in the first place, these bits and pieces are already rejects. Nothing is new. Everything used to be something else, but then got discarded and rescued.
- Old curtains – some from my mum’s house, when we emptied it – sun faded from hanging for so long.
- The waistband and side panel of a pair of trousers – worn out, then cut up to patch other things, and now only this weird T shape remains.
- Scraps from a “Tell your life story” weaving activity I did with the congregation, when I was a Vicar. (They’re the ones with the lines drawn on them)
- A skirt I wore for a few years when I was a teenager. I wore skirts so seldom I used to get “Oh, you’ve got legs after all” comments. Why? Why do people say that?
- Offcuts from my mother in law’s stash, who is a keen dressmaker.
- Assorted donations from folk who approach me and say “I’ve got this X I can’t use any more. I don’t suppose you can do anything with it?”
Desmond Tutu died while this quilt was in progress. Social media was filled with tributes and quotations for a few days. This phrase struck a chord with me and with this project. Tiny acts of kindness can seem so insignificant when the world feels dark and difficult. But maybe it’s worth keeping going with kindness, and all those tiny acts could become something big. This quilt is very inexpertly made and quilted – but I’m ok with that, because many of our acts of kindness are awkward and clumsy too.
I can’t quite believe how big and beautiful my tiny scraps grew. (It’s about a metre square) Nor can I believe that I still have a pile of little green scraps left over. How is that even possible!? I’ve started sewing those together too. Send help, I may have become obsessed.
Ragbag Mending 