Scrap Frenzy Has Hit!

Are these scraps? Which of these pieces would you consider a scrap? All? Some? Just the smallest?

It seems everyone is blogging about scraps this month! What is it about the scraps we save that is suddenly sending us into this frenzy of "gotta do something with them!" mode? Is this continued fallout from the bad economy that is making us re-examine our frugality? Or, is it pressure from fellow quilter's, those crazy one's-LOL-who make use of every single itty bitty piece, seemingly without blinking an eye? Is it the quilt industry which seems to have spun out more "Scrap-style" books in the past year and a half than ever before? Or, have we always been scrap frenzied and we are just all "coming out" at the same time? Perhaps, there is a whole quilting underworld of "closet scrappers"! LOL What is our motivation behind using scraps; and, is it temporary? Are we driving ourselves crazy fretting over these little pieces of fabric? We now live a lifestyle in North America that does not necessitate us to scrimp and tweak every little piece of usage out of an item, at least, not like our ancestors had to. Fabric is readily available to us and for those on a budget, sales are usually not too hard to find. How far should we feel we have to take this scrap business? As usual, more questions than answers; but, it is important, I think, to stop and take notice of where we focus our time, energy, creativeness, and why. Quilting should be fun! If you want to work with scraps, it should excite and challenge you, give you peace and re-energize your mind, give you satisfaction and happiness. If it's not, then perhaps it's time to re-examine where the process has gone awry. Just because scrappiness makes some people happy and fulfilled does not necessarily mean it will work for you! And that's okay too! Collect your scraps and find that member of your guild who LIVES for scraps and pass them on! It's still being frugal to pass them to someone else--they haven't ended up in the garbage and they aren't in your stash pressuring you to use them either! Have a scrappy happy quilting day!