Therapeutic Scraps

Back in May while I was having a bad arthritis flare-up I went to the scraps bin to dig out something I could sew on the machine, and settled on a bundle of green scraps and a charm pack in what I think are Kaffe Fassett prints (where I got those is anyone's guess).

I had enough charm squares to make a decent size table topper, and I knew I could sew it all together on my machine in one night.

As I was piecing the top my angst over my hands being too crippled to hand sew eased a bit. I've been struggling to accept my new limitations, and it's difficult letting go of my hand work, but the transition is becoming more necessary by the month. Eventually I won't be able to do anything but machine work.

I pieced the backing, too. Using scraps to make things on the machine is fun, and I don't mind if I mess up (which I did.) These bright colors were also really cheerful, and I need more of that, too.

The final topper came out okay. I definitely need more practice on the machine, but it was nice to get a project like this done in a night versus two weeks doing it by hand.

I used the last four charm blocks and green scraps to make a mug rug to match the table topper. I want it to remind me that it's okay to be creative on the machine, too, and I can always try and improve with what I'm able to do, so the mug rug will head for my home office desk.

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