Selvage Blocks

Lately when I am in my sewing studio I've been getting a closed-in feeling. It happens whenever my scrap piles start to run over and my unfinished projects stay unfinished. I really need to sort, purge and put things back in their proper places however I find that difficult to do when things are unfinished. The answer to the problem sounds so easy...just finish things but that's not how my mind works. 

Somehow clutter makes my creative juices flow. And I am staring at my selvage basket with its overflowing strips of pretty colors. I stop working on my current projects and decide to make a selvage block. I cut a 9-inch wide piece of muslin from the bolt and make 9 x 9-inch squares out of the strip. As I sort and iron a few of the selvages, I start to feel a sense of accomplishment just from tackling the overflowing basket. But I haven't even made anything yet! Not even a single block. 

I looked at a few blogs regarding making selvage blocks in order to pick up a few tips on how to get started. The best advice I could find was to make a straight line in the center of the muslin in order to keep the selvage strips straight as I build each block. Once one block was done I was hooked. Within two days I made 30 blocks and totally emptied my selvage strip scrap basket.

So now I have another unfinished quilt project to add to my angst but it sure was fun making those blocks.