I hate throwing things out. I mean hate it! My poor husband has to live with his slightly less than organized pack rat. In that way our home could not be more different than the one he grew up in. I joke that his mother will throw out your dinner while you're still eating it. In fact I have a gorgeous silver plated water jug and tray that I rescued from the recycling bin at her house on two separate occasions!

One of my big accomplishments of the holidays was sorting and giving away three huge boxes of kids' books. One went to Freecycle, one went to younger cousins and one is earmarked for the libraries at the children's schools. Notice I said 'gave away' not 'threw out'.

I used to save all my scraps to donate to the Art departments at their schools. Unfortunately I think a lot of other Moms had the same idea and a plea went out for no more fabric! I then started shoving snippets into a pillow case with the intention of donating it to an animal shelter for a doggy bed.

Well today I came across this idea for making a Fabric Collage and I remembered yet again why I hold on to everything. I mean come on, check out this new fabric I made! Once I've quilted the heck out of it and cut it up into hearts and other motifs it's going to be perfect for Valentines.

As I was pressing my tiny snippets onto the fusible web I felt like an archaeologist of my own quilting history. Memories of the quilt I made for Ariel before she was born came flooding back as did the image of the gorgeous two year old she has grown into. Which reminds me, I really have to bug her Mum Yael for a picture.

I write this post with new resolve to be proud of how little garbage my studio produces and to continue finding creative ways to "Use It Up".