A test of my patience

I've been working on a postage stamp quilt for years. I've been cutting 1.5" squares out of any quilting fabric I get my hands on. I've been trying to make it a true charm quilt, where my goal is to use only one square of each fabric. Working on this project is definitely a labor of love; it's taking FOREVER.

I got little bits out of fabric my mom has and cut 1.5" squares out of every piece of fabric I buy. I also am the scrap disposal system of most of my quilting friends. They give me their little odds and ends they don't want anymore ... I love this! It's like Christmas every time I get them. I have so much fun sorting through all the scraps and finding treasures. I've also been known to dig for good stuff through the discards at quilt camp ... some people throw away some really big pieces!

I've been collecting blocks for the longest time, and about 6 months ago I thought I knew exactly how I wanted to put them together. After keeping them separate into large Ziploc baggies by color, I would lay them all out and then try to fish out the multiples I had. After doing this for days, it was very satisfying to put all my pieces into a large bag and mix all the colors together.

I started sewing them together into a pattern that was sort of like an Irish Chain, but then I really wasn't fond of how it was turning out. Plus, I lost a lot of them after the bags of fabric got lost after quilt camp. Ugh. So frustrating!

So I decided to start over. I resorted all the pieces into color groups and then shades of the colors. Now I've been spending time off and on sewing the squares into nine patches that are organized by color. I love how they are turning out so far, but boy, is this a slow process. I now have 97 nine patches done. It sounds like a lot, but really they only finish to 3 inches square, so this is going to take a while.

Here are what a few look like: I recently got some fresh scraps from some friends and I also am off my fabric buying diet (I don't seem to be that great at diets in any form!), so now I'm cutting again. I'm also cutting 2.5" squares of all the fabrics that are large enough for my friend Natalie. I'm sure she'll finish her quilt before I do!
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