Crazy, quilting that is

January means decluttering and organizing for many households. I am joining the bandwagon and decluttering my two drawers of fabric scraps. They are crammed and I get crabby every time I open one of them because I can't get anything out unless I dump the entire drawer (usually). The answer? A crazy quilt.

The solution of a crazy quilt came earlier this week when I was required to say what I would do should I win a quilting give away. The crazy quilt idea was solidified yesterday when I passed a shelf of new books at the public library. It was all about crazy quilts -- history, art, and how-to. I didn't check it out, but I read it for ten minutes. I remembered that my oldest had made a crazy quilt pillow top as an 8th grader. She told me how easy it was, knowing that I attempted and struggled and failed three years ago to make one. I came home from browsing the book at the library, studied her pillow, then tried to make a 8.5" square. It was so easy that I couldn't believe it. I have no idea what held me up in the past.

I ended up making five blocks yesterday and two today. I still have a heap of fabric on the ironing board to get through. Either I overbuy for the small amount of stitching that I do, feel extremely wasteful or guilty when considering the trash can for small pieces of fabric, or have a neurotic fabric attachment issue. Probably all three.

I have also given away G of GAIN's fingerless mitts to his paternal grandfather. Evidently his thick wrists are not accommodated by commercial gloves and mittens, and G's mitts stretch enough for him to wear. Whether he will use them is another question. But it is the thought.

To replace the mitts, I am making wristlets, thinner than the original mitts. These will be able to fit under his gloves to cover that patch of skin where his jacket and gloves fail to meet. I am finished with one wristlet, 2/3 done with the other. Small knitting projects are portable, so I was able to work an inch and a half at a family Christmas party today while watching a bit of _The Snowman_.

For information on the quilting giveaways, you can look at the ones I entered, listed below. There are many many more participants. You can view them all at the Whirl Into Winter website, here.

Zana's Ninis - I liked the look of things here. Her stash reports humored me. A lot.

Mid-Ohio Knitter -- A quilt giveaway on a blog with the word 'knit' in it -- right up my alley! I liked that she crafted across a spectrum of hobbies like me.

ART GIRL -- again, the diversity appealed to me. NaNoWriMo WINNER, artistic, and quilting -- all describe one woman. Wow.

Pat Sloan's Corner -- unsure if my entry was counted, so I'm not leaving an opinion.