United Scraps of America Part 2

Can you believe it's been over a month since I shared how to start your very own United Scraps of America quilt?

Though I tried to lobby {out of laziness} that the United Scraps of America only needed to represent the continental states, in the end, I knew it wouldn't be complete without Alaska and Hawaii. So I dug through more scraps of fabric and there they are ALL 50 states.

Then, for the past month, I have painstakingly whip stitched each state down.

As I whipped stitched, I changed the thread matching it to each state's unique fabric.

So unless Puerto Rico becomes a state in the next few days, I'd say, I am done {with my part}. The only thing left to do is to hand this off to the Queen of Quilts so she can take my project and transform it into a quilt.

Crafter A.D.D.

I have recently been {self} diagnosed with a very serious case of Crafter Attention Deficit Disorder (CADD). CADD is the inability to focus all of one's attention on the craft at hand. People who suffer from CADD will have several half finished projects going at any given time. These people may also find themselves distracted thinking of new projects to introduce into the mix EVEN THOUGH they certainly have enough to concentrate on with the incomplete projects needing their attention.

A typical weekend, for someone suffering from CADD would go something like this...

In efforts to progress on my United Scraps of America project, I began to sew down each state. The key word being began. I was able to applique Minnesota, Michigan and Lake Michigan on BUT in the process, we got news that, on my husband's side of the family, a new niece arrived in the family SO...

Instead of running out to buy a sweet baby gift, I decided to work on finishing the ABC Sampler {from Rosie Little Things} I started back in January to give to our newest niece. But with all that close up embroidery work, I needed a break SO...

Then I made one curtain. ONE. How many do I need, you might be asking yourself? Well, I actually need 2. TWO. But I ran out of black material, so I went to Jo-Ann Fabric to buy some additional material.

While at Jo-Ann Fabric, I checked out the red lined merchandise, which was an additional 50% off thanks to their Presidents Day Sale. For under $4 I got a yard and 4 inches {all that was left on the bolt} of fabric I knew would look amazing in my living room. I am now positive this fabric needs to cover one, maybe two, pillows. *Mental note, must find time to make new pillows.

If your weekend sounds something like this, you too may be suffering from CADD.

It's now becoming quite obvious, why at the end of the night, I find myself unable to quiet my mind and sleep...darn you CADD.

The United Scraps of America

As I've already shared, I am heartbroken over Picnic and their eminent closing. I am trying to find solace elsewhere. Though different than Picnic, I am becoming equally smitten with Block Posters. Block Posters is a free site that allows you to upload images and enlarge them {of course, I find this right after I invest in an overhead projector}.

I wasted no time uploading a high resolution image of the United States {found using google image search}. I enlarged it enough that when finished it printed on 5 sheets of 8x11 sheets of paper across and 3 sheets down.

What might you ask do I intend to do with a 3 1/2 feet by 2 feet map of the US? Well, I have been hoping to collaborate on a quilt with the Queen of Quilts {my mom}.

So I laboriously traced the mirror image of each state out on heat and bond.

Then I ironed the heat and bond states onto scraps of fabric...

When the heat and bond is affixed, it makes it easier to make precise cuts.

Some states I cut exact, others I left some excess. I wanted to be able to overlap the states so for a state that was cut with excess, the precisely cut state would lay over the excess of the bordering state.

When I was ready to piece my states together, I pinned the 3 1/2 feet by 2 feet printed pattern behind the white background fabric. I was able to see the location of the states through the fabric and lay them down exactly where they needed to be to maintain the accuracy of scale.

With the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, my United Scraps of America is pieced together.

I had hopes of handing over my part of the collaboration to the Queen of Quilts this weekend BUT she informed me that now I have to sew each state down. I thought about sewing them down with my sewing machine but I want to emphasis the details of the more detailed borders SO it looks like I'll be whip stitching each state by hand.

Can anyone guess what I'll be doing this weekend?