A quiltlet that might not fly

While pawing through yet another bag of "bits" I rescued these tending-towards-neutral offcuts saved from making journal quilts and bookwraps, thinking they could be part of an A3-sized quilt on a theme I had in mind, onto which would go some of the buttons etc printed onto transfer paper that had turned up some time earlier. Originally this quiltlet was going to be about "sampling, stitching, sewing" ... I had planned log-cabin type borders, in calico/muslin, around little pieces of various samples, with buttons etc ironed onto the neutral fabric. [Sudden thought: why not have the buttons etc images in the centre of the squares...]

But these bits cried out to be used, so I laid them out and then ransacked the rest of the bag to find patches for the missing areas and to improve the design. The bits are all quilted, and need some way of being put together - and the title that is running through my head in relation to this is along the lines of "Sampling, stitching ... piecing, patching ... making, mending".

The problem is, it looks too busy, too last-century. It'll probably stay laid out, on the shelf, till the deadline has passed, and the bits will go back into the bag. Some of my best (most useful, most compelling, most inspiring) materials are the scraps and bits - it's the quintessential link with the patchwork heritage.