From the (Quilting) Vault

Did you know that I used to quilt?  Like a machine.  I learned how to sew a straight line, and that was all I needed to get into quilting.  I loved it.  I would go to the fabric store and buy the cheapest fabrics (I was a broke quilter) and see if I can make something beautiful from them. 

I was pretty good at it.  I made 2 quilts and gave them away as gifts.  And I made smaller quilted items like tote bags and pillows and wall hangings.  I even sold some! 

But I found a job, and didn't have as much time to cut pieces, and quilt like I used to.  Its a little sad really.  I enjoy sewing so much.  Quilting is a little like alchemy; you can turns scraps no one wants into art. 

While I was cleaning out my fabric box, I found two pieces I never finished:

I think this was going to be a pillow?  Its the size of a throw pillow.  It could have been a panel for a bag though. I remember when I designed the quilt block, I was teaching myself paper piecing, and really loved house shapes.  So a house shaped quilt is what came of it. 

This is how I know it wasn't meant to be something larger. The backing fabric is just white cotton.  And its already quilted.  I think I meant to leave it like this, but I think I'll put another 2 border pieces on it to make it a little bigger.   

I must have really liked this fabric, because I have more than a meter of this purple, and a half meter in another color.  I think I will try and finish that up this weekend.  My machine is on the fritz right now, but I know a great place where I can sew by the hour...

Another leftover paper pieced block. Its pretty cute.  I remember I got these scraps from a quilter, and she said that they were too small to do anything with.  I must have taken that as a personal challenge (like I would probably do) and make a block out of them.  If I had the time, I would make an entire quilt out of heart blocks like this.  But I think I may have to turn this into something really small.  I hate to see quilting go to waste. 
 
I'm not someone that likes to leave things unfinished.  I wonder what made me stop working on these.  Oh, sometimes I wish my memory was a lot better.  But at least now I will be able to turn these forgotten crafts into something I can use of gift away!  Does that count as upcycling?

Have you ever abandoned something you were working on?  Why?