Scrappy Patchwork Quilt

 

"We do not live an equal life, but one of contrasts and patchwork:

now a little joy, then a sorrow, now a sin, then a generous or brave action."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

I really love patchwork quilts, or scrappy quilts as they are often referred to by quilters.  Sorting through small pieces of remnant fabric, matching up all different colors and designs, and stitching them up into one large, useful cloth is historic needlework practice.  Nothing ever went to waste. Everything was reused or repurposed, as we now say.  It was and still is a good idea.

Our church sewing group is the beneficiary of piles of fabric, donated by people cleaning out their closets, downsizing stitchers, or simply women who no longer sew.  Yet, even after we cut out 11 inch blocks for our mission quilts, piles of usable fabric remain. 

I pulled together a bag of leftover fabric and decided I would try to create some true patchwork for one of our quilt tops. Cutting strips of varying width, sewing them together, and then using my rulers and rotary cutter, I fashioned a stack of 11 inch blocks. Alternating the orientation between vertical and horizontal striping, I sewed the blocks together...

...and together some more...

All these fabrics from different homes and different lives,  joined together in stripes of varying widths.  It is amazing how this panoply of color, hue, and tone creates something so vividly eyecatching and so ultimately useful. And..it emerged rather haphazardly, without tremendous plan or precision.  Recently I heard a writer stress the importance of process over product. Journey over destination. I tend toward overplanning, a compulsion to prepare for every contingency, fill every minute, anticipate every need.  But the beauty of life sometimes simply unfolds from minutes and moments stitched together, just as they appear...