My flannel scrap busters
I have had a bin of flannel scraps from making self binding receiving blankets for the church for years. It just sat in the floor of the closet, collecting more and more as time went by and nagging at my conscience. I decided enough was enough and decided to piece the tops, and buy just enough yardage to finish off the total bin. Putting 9 patches together didn't mix up the colors enough, so I opted for a disappearing 9 patch. Most of the scraps had been cut into 4.5" sqs. previously, along with a few bricks 2.5" x 4.5" and some 2.5" strips. I sorted coordinating colors in piles to make tops that were between 28" - 31" and figured out how much yardage to buy using a 41" sq. for the backing. I ended up completing 21 pieced tops, and used the remaining yardage (in addition to my stock of 11.5 yds. I had to buy 2-8 yd. bolts on sale online) for another self binding receiving blanket and a hemmed 41" single layer blanket, for a total of 23. The scraps from cutting that unpieced top smaller was used for burp pads and I'm left with only enough scraps that fit in a sandwich bag to donate!
Once the blankets were finished I stitched in the ditch around the border & into the mitered corners, and between the blocks to stabilize when washed. Here is a sample of a pieced top prior to adding the backing, and the finished pile, along with 2 prayer shawls, all ready to donate.