Some of my pieced batting and scraps from trimmed quilts to add later.

I was working on a quilting project last week and needed some batting to put in the middle of the fabric layers. When I found it, I had to stop and admire it for a while. The piece that I found was pieced from scraps of batting from other projects. I love the randomness of the different sized pieces. I remember times I’ve set aside to stitch scraps of batting together to make wider strips and then larger pieces of fabric. I enjoy the process of setting my machine to a honeycomb stitch, finding batting colored threads to use and then stitching away. This kind of pieced batting is sound for my purposes. There’s more thread, but it will work the same as a freshly cut whole piece.

What struck me when I looked at my beautiful pieced batting sample was not only how much time went into making it, and the deliberate economy, but also that it was going to be used in a place no one would ever see it. It will be in the middle of two layers of fabric and stitched together. No one will ever see of know, other than me and now you, that this labor of love is in the middle, hidden away.

How many other places in our lives does this kind of thing happen? I’ve thought about education, experience, deliberate practice and things like cooking and gardening. Are there any things you do that may have deeply worked hidden layers?