Mona Jean's Pizza Boxes

(a scrap jackpot!)

Since I am dealing with my unemployment anxiety through scrap-sewing, my friends have been awesome about letting me know of opportunities to acquire more fuel! (aka fresh scraps!! Droool!! I sound like an animal!! )

While I was visiting my parents last weekend, one of my childhood besties told me that she thought her grandmother maybe had some scraps in her sewing closet. Her grandma had recently moved into a local assisted living facility and is not able to sew anymore.

I never say no to an opportunity to see into someone’s sewing room, so I said I’d love to come take a look!

My friend’s grandma, Mona Jean, had made hundreds of beautiful, colorful quilts over her lifetime. Her sewing room was small for such production, but there was a closet that had the fabric no one else in the family wanted. Lots of holiday and themed fabric, and then at the bottom of the closet were some Pizza Hut boxes. My friend pulled them out and we looked inside!

One pizza box was full of some funky vintage scraps-I love the green piece the most!! Then, we opened the second pizza box—my favorite! Mona Jean had chaos-sewn her scraps into 5 inch blocks and kept them in an unsuspecting pizza box. I am obsessed.

A part of sewing that I do not subscribe to is the precise, pattern-following, perfectionism, strictly measured, corner-matching culture of quilt culture. Ouf. No thank you.

This is part of why I love scraps—the creativity is in figuring out what to do with a scrap pile that no one else has. The leftovers of your own personal projects, the memories from quilts you’ve long given away. Little measuring, lots of improv, nothing repeatable!

Mona Jean followed patterns and was very precise in her quilts. Finding these chaotic, artistic chaos blocks that she never made into anything made me so, so happy.

I am not sure what I will do with the chaos blocks yet. Many of them have different vibes, so I’ll probably separate them and see if I can add anything or arrange them in satisfying ways. I want to name the piece I make with these blocks, “Mona Jean”, and send my friend a picture to show her grandma.

I will honor the stories these scrap blocks contain.

I imagine Mona Jean debating over buying the fabric at the fabric store, holding it up next to other fabrics to see how they played together.

I imagine Mona Jean cutting her fabrics for a new project for one of her many grandchildren or great-grandchildren.

I also imagine Mona Jean being a little stressed out but also having fun putting her scraps together in unpredictable ways!

These blocks contains hours of work, lots of stories, and a little bit of liberation in them. I am grateful and honored to give them a new life and to let them be seen!

Sewing room pizza box surprises. What a delight!!