Tamed I Spy Stash

I have been asked about my I Spy stash. Those of you who sew know that you usually receive fabric in a 42/44" wide piece. When I first started making I Spy quilts for my children and neices and nephews, I liked a LOT of the prints. I got 1/4 yards of a lot of them. So if I only needed a 4-1/2" square of that print...well, you do the math. I started selling sets of unique fabric squares on eBay. That was actually the first quilty thing I sold on eBay.

Above is my current stack of 4-1/2" squares. I have so much fabric for these that I thought of making charity quilts. But they it dawned on me that I know LOTS of children personally. We are making small quilts (about 42" square) for babies at church. I've also made larger ones for older children (not infants). When I run out of those I know, I may make them for hospitals, etc. That seems like a long way off.

The picture above is "yardage"...in other words, large enough for backing or borders. There is a quilting hoop that I never use and two waiting to be quilted tops in the center.

Last, but not least, is my pieces too small for borders or backing (w/o piecing) that still need to be cut into usable squares. Every once in a while my DD3 or I will go through and cut some new squares from this. It is neat and orderly. We have quite a few squares now, so we won't need to do this for some time.

There you have it...I Spy fabric usability!

~Joan