Bits, inspiration or distraction?

So I had some planned time off work this week.  My focus was on getting all of the sampler quilt blocks up to size at 12.5 inches. The amount that needed to be added differed from block to block.

I have finished that, apologies if you were expecting pictures of the sized blocks, I did not take any pictures of them. I have got them all marked up using felt tip pens that are washable. 

It is just as well they are washable as the pen comes off onto the ruler and from the ruler to my hands. Funnily enough that transfer struck me as funny so I do have a picture of that.

 Happily the pen washes off hands as easily as they do from material.

So rather than moving on to the sashing for the sampler quilt another distraction has occurred.

Now most of the material in the sampler quilt was a gift from a friends mother in law who had to give up her crafting supplies as she moved into a care home.

Along with the supplies I was also the lucky recipient of her patchwork/quilting note book, I revisited it as all the small bits, the scraps, from the sampler quilt were nagging at me.  The bits really were too small to add to a bits a quilt yet it felt wasteful just to throw them away.

In the back of my mind was a Sunbonnet Sue in Mrs Jacksons note book.

Here it is.

Happily there was the pattern as well as the example, that meant I could draw templates out on the back of a Mrs Peaks Christmas pudding box (nice strong cardboard) and then looked at the bits.

So far I have sewn together (on the machine)  enough bits for four sets of skirts.  The rest of the pattern will be hand sewn, needle turned and also from bits. That is something I can do watching the TV and in the company of my family.  A pick up put down project with no deadline and at the moment a very loose plan of what to do with them depending on how they turn out. I will come back to that as they progress.

Here are the skirts.

You may be able to see numbers on the skirts, to help me get the bits sewn in order , again used those washable markers so no concerns about having the numbers on the front of the design.

As for the sampler quilt, perhaps next weekend, if being back at work does not wear out my brain I may revisit the layout, firm that up and start on the sashing.