I tipped the contents of my scrap drawer onto the cutting table and sorted out a heap of shorter strips to cut up for Boxy Bow Ties. It's a wonderful pattern for using little bits and scrag ends that have been overlooked time and time again.

It really annoys me when strips end up frayed and resembling a centipede, and that means I reject these bits over and over again.  Not this time.  It's use it, or throw it out. It will only get worse if it sits in the drawer for another couple of years.

A big cutting session this morning used up that pile of strips, and left me with the background bits for 60 of the block quadrants.

I packaged them in ziplock bags, 4 to a bag. There's no order to this lot, I just wanted them corralled until I get the other pieces for the blocks cut.

I'll be going through the boxes of  squares next, looking for pairs, and then laying out the little blocks. I'm looking forward to that.

I've been ironing the scraps from the bags I bought on Facebook, and cutting them into red squares and blue rectangles. I'll have to raid my own scraps for the cream and white coloured pieces, which is a good thing.  It will swallow a lot of scraps, and it will last a long time as a leader-ender.

My pink cactus is one I grew from a little piece that I pinched from my FIL's garden, at least 15 years ago.  For ages the flowers were very modest and unassuming, but just lately they have really come into their own, with masses of blooms that last ages. They make me smile, remembering my second Dad and his beautiful garden.