Frugal Friday Feature....

and for this first FFF, I have chosen Barb C. of Thinking Out Loud. Barb is a prolific quilt maker and multi-talented gal. She knits, quilts, beads and makes wonderful embellish Madonnas and other pieces. She leans toward creating from recycled objects and does it with great talent and dedication. There are many of her quilts listed on the sidebar under Barb's Orphans. A few weeks back, I was stuck by the beauty of this "leftovers" quilt in progress. In this collage you have the beginnings and a glimpse of what is to come. *VBS*
 This isn't the entire top, but gives you a good idea of where it's going.Here's what Barb had to say about it:"I've made all the blocks for this charity quilt and I've got the quilt designed. I have used up all the pre-cut squares I had made, and I found more of the yellow and white in my stash to finish up the corner squares. Finally putting this quilt together, I remembered why I liked this block design in the first place.
The quilt measures about 72 x 80. One of the long print strips (on the far right) is narrower than the one at the far left, and I may leave them uneven. In this design, I don't think it matters that they're not symmetrical. I should have time this weekend to stitch the top together."
 This collage features 5 of Barb's small quilt tops. Again, working with what she had on hand, and what was leftover from other projects or recycled fabric, she created these for Debra S. Deb is collecting quilts for a woman's shelter, I believe. The single block(a shoofly)is a wonderful example of taking something and MAKING it work with what you have. Barbs sums up with with leftovers with this insight:"Here's what I learned from the process: pre-cut strips are an asset. If I needed a piece of sashing or some 4-patch blocks, it was great to leaf through my strips to see what was already cut. I've made a big dent in my store of 2.5 and 3.5" strips, so I'm going to cut into some of my fabrics and replenish the drawer. Orphan blocks are great starters for these little projects too. I think I've gone through a lot of stash in the process, but more importantly, I've uncovered some works-in-progress that I want to go back and finish. It's been a mind de-cluttering as well as a destash exercise. Next I'll be making a larger quilt for Debra's efforts, then I'm going to round up some the ghost projects that are haunting my sewing room, and finish them up and show them the light of day." I've seen absolutely astonishing results from her recycle efforts. A recent inspiration has resulted in recycled cotton yarn. Who knew you could unravel a cotton knit and reclaim the yarn? Not me, but it is being done. Check out Barb's blog and archives for multiple projects using reclaimed materials. You're one of the most creative people I know Barb!! High Fives and a "way to go"!!