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August 31, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Tiny from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Today's scrap project is brought to you by my dog Arthur.  Twice this week, he has grabbed a plastic bag and ran through the house leaving a trail of HSTs in his wake.

I finally decided to just give him the plastic bag to destroy, and I would do something with the tiny bits inside. Were they trash or treasure?



I don't usually play with tiny.  But these 2"(?) HSTs were all made so beautifully, I felt like I should at least sew them up into some blocks - even if they ended up on the orphan block pile ...

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August 17, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Pinwheels from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Sorry I didn't share any finished quilts this week.  But I ran out of treated quilt labels. The table I use to add mod podge to the labels is completely covered with fabric, scraps, and who knows what else.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend, I will get it cleared off.

Then there will be a whole lot of finishes to share!



Lately, I have been seeing so many quilts with pinwheels.  I finally decided to give in and get out some scraps to make some.  I have a bunch of slate blue fabric I would like to ...

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August 10, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Not Again! from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I seem to be unable lately to keep track of my days.  Especially around our board meetings.
Sorry for the delay in getting up this post!




I didn't get any scrap quilting done this week so I thought I would share this lovely 30"s basket quilt top Nann sent in to us.  We didn't have any 30's fabric for the backing but Cindy sent in this pretty floral with a navy background that looked nice.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!


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It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are ...

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August 3, 2025
Oh Crap! : Florals from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Sorry about the lateness of my post.  I wrote it yesterday but forgot to publish it.



I am still working through a bunch of scraps for Many Hands and Many Hearts.  In addition to our sew day in September, we are doing a craft table in November so many of our scraps are going to be used to make some small saleable items.

I saw I had a lot of floral chunks (mostly trimmings from backings) so I thought I would also make some simple blocks.  I not only had enough blocks to make a quilt finished in one afternoon ...

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June 29, 2025
Oh Scrap! : More Cutting from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I am still cutting up scraps for the Sew Day we will hold locally in September for Many Hands and Many Hearts.  I finished cutting all the 4.5" squares, now I am moving on to the 2.5" strips.



As I go through the giant pile of scraps, first I am pulling out anything big that I can turn into binding strips.  With the rest, I am cutting into 2.5" strips and sub-cutting them to 8.5" long and 4.5" long.  I need two of each length for every block.  I am using s safety pin to ...

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June 22, 2025
Oh Scrap! : More Bow Ties from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I thought I would finish the blocks I needed for my scrappy Bow Tie quilt this week.




I am using up scraps left over from our Two Step Autumn block drive we did last year.
I made the ten blocks I needed - only to realize I needed twenty blocks.  Sigh...

I guess I should look at it as a win.  Ten more blocks mean more scraps will get used.  And I certainly have lots of scraps still.  In fact, I might just continue on and make enough blocks for another quilt.

These blocks are 8.5" and are made using ...

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May 11, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Bow Tie Blocks from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Even though I haven't sewn the scrappy snowball blocks into a quilt top yet, I decided to go ahead and start another project.  It didn't take me long to get inspired.



We still have a lot of fall colored scraps leftover from our autumn Two Step blocks.  I knew I wanted to make a bow tie block and the fall colors are going to work perfectly. I finished six blocks this week, but I have lots of fabric sitting on my cutting board so I am hoping to make more soon.  These blocks measure 8.5" so the ...

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April 27, 2025
Oh Scrap! : The Next Scrap Quilt from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

 I have finished all of my scrap quilts, so I decided to start a new one this weekend. Looking on the scrap shelf, I see there are a lot of purple and pink chunks of fabric. I also recently received a few fat quarters of white-on-white fabric. I decided to start there!



I didn’t want to choose a block that required a bunch of cutting or sewing. Putting together a scrap top quickly is my goal. Keeping up with all the scraps is becoming quite a challenge - especially the storage of all them.  And we know I am unable ...

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April 20, 2025
Oh Scrap! : String Top from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I thought I would take some time this week to sew some string blocks into a top.  I usually add some sashing but I decided to just go with a simple 6 x 7 layout.



I think these blocks came from a number of donors.  Some used paper foundations, some used fabric foundations and some used no foundation at all.



Here is my silly string block secret....you can tell which blocks I made because I tend to use icky fabric for my foundations.  I had a bunch of the panels that you can cut out, stuff and make animals ...

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April 13, 2025
Oh Scrap! : RWB Strings from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I am still trying to make a few RWB string blocks every now and then to burn through some of the scraps we acquire.


I did finish up 7 more 10.5" blocks late this week.  I think I have enough now to make a quilt (thanks to some donors).

Did you know you can make 10.5" RWB string blocks anytime and send them to us?
I have chosen to make 10.5" string blocks to burn through all the RWB scraps we end up with making Many Hands and Many Hearts Veteran quilts.  This means I don't ...

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April 6, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Not My Scraps from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Every once in a while, we get a stack of already cut squares in a package.  We do have a space to store these little jewels, but I am usually too inspired to play with bits that aren't my own.



In this case, these were flannel scraps that measured 6" square.  I grabbed all the ones that I thought could work together and started sewing.



In no time at all, I had a sweet little quilt top.  The red stands out a bit, but I think with the right backing and binding, we can make it work.  I will ...

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March 30, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Leftovers from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

When I talk with groups about making scrap quilts, I tell them the best way to get started is when you complete a quilt that you really like the colors and fabrics you chose, save all the leftovers in a bag and then use them as the inspiration for a future scrap quilt.




I did just that when I finished my Jolly Bar Jumble quilt last November.  I have a pile of 5 x 10" and some 3 x 5" rectangles leftover after making those two quilts.  I think I have enough for a quilt without adding in any other ...

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March 16, 2025
Oh Sscrap! : Getting On With It from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I have been procrastinating on a project and I think I need your help to get it finished.



Remember these scrappy zipper blocks I was making?  I am not in love with them.  I made some poor fabric choices but I am not ready to give up on them.  I have decided on a next step, but once again I find myself stuck.

I am hoping you can help.



I want to just break up the chaos of the blocks by putting a solid vertical sashing between the blocks.
I dug through all the solids that have been donated and ...

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March 9, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Simple Inspiration from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Sometimes inspiration for a quilt can come from the simplest item.

One of our "Pickers" let us know they had a couple bags of fabric for us.  The bags contained a lot of yardage, quite a few printed panels and a few previously cut squares.  There were quite a few squares cut from some material that looks like blue bandanas.  


I try to find some quick inspiration for things like cut squares because they can create a storage problem if we can't attach them to something quickly.  I took a quick dive into the scrap bin and saw a ...

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March 2, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Inspiration from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

You cannot handle as many quilts as I do and not be continually inspired!



I have been rolling around an idea in my brain - I want to do a sew day where quilters show up with their machines and we make a bunch of blocks and maybe quilt tops for Many Hands and Many Hearts.  I have been thinking about this for about a year.  Tons of block ideas have been pondered but nothing really got me excited or was easily adaptable for the fabric bits and pieces we have around here.  

Until last week...I received the above quilt ...

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February 9, 2025
Oh Scrap! : More Zipper Blocks from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I am sure some of you have been wondering where I have been all week.  First, I had a bad cold.  Then, there was a Board Meeting that required a bunch of my time both before and after the meeting. I have also added some longarm quilters.  That always takes a lot of my time to get them quilt tops and set them up as a volunteer.  Time just really seems to fly lately!



I did find some time to sew a few more zipper blocks.  This quilt is really struggling to come together.  But I am not giving up ...

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February 2, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Zip It! from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I have finished all my donation scrap quilts so I thought it was time to start another one.



We have a shelf in the Many Hands and Many Hearts warehouse (formerly my home office) that holds the larger scrap chunks.  I pulled some blues, pinks, greens and purples that I thought might look nice together.  Lots of florals and lots of tone on tone.


I thought I would make a zipper block.  These blocks measure 8.5 x 10.5"unfinished. My plan is for every block to have blue in it.  I also want a floral and a tone ...

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January 5, 2025
Oh Scrap! : Quilt Top from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Boy, once I get focused on something, it doesn't take me long to get it finished.



I posted a few blocks last Sunday, and now it is already a quilt top.  I used a bunch of backing scraps for all the fabric.  That is why long and narrow pieces worked so well.  I am really happy with how it turned out.  I should finish piecing the backing today and hopefully get it quilted up this week.  I am so pleased with how many scraps I was able to use up.  The blocks are 8" so this will be a ...

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January 1, 2025
Good Bye 2024! from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

 It is time to say goodbye to 2024.  It was a crazy, unexpected year for me and I think I am ready for it to end.  I am really looking forward to 2025.  Many Hands and Many Hearts should be an official 501c3 in a couple months and I know that is going to be fun to see.  I love my board members and all of them are enthusiastic and ready to see MHMH grow.




Here are a few more random finishes to close out the year.  Janet played with some lime and turquoise blocks.  Nann sent in this white ...

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December 8, 2024
Oh Scrap! : Florals from Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

With all the quilts we make for Many Hands and Many Hearts, we end up with a lot of "chunks" of fabric.  Most of these come from backing leftovers.  These "chunks" get piled onto one of the shelves in our storage area and then I try and find ways to use them.  

Lately, I noticed there were quite a few florals up there.



I decided I would make a chunky quilt top with them.

I quickly cut some 10.5" squares, some 5.5" squares and then a couple 10.5 x 5.5" rectangles for every block.  Twenty blocks ...

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