Violin Concerto

Once upon a time there was a violin printed on a fabric scrap rectangle.  It sat in the scrap bag for a very long time because it was not really 'light', and not completely 'dark.'  So, it just didn't fit in.  It really was a sad little thing.

One day the quilter was looking through the scrap bag for something entirely different when the little violin scrap called out "I want to BE something!  Can't you think of a way for me to play?"  It was so insistent that the quilter stopped what she was doing and gave the little violin a chance.

The other scraps all wanted to help the little violin play.  A scrap of music notes on white appeared from the scrap bag, and then came a bit of mottled rust.  The little violin became the center of an uneven 9-patch block.  A narrow black border framed the block.  And it was quite happy.

Then, unexpectedly, a strip of black fabric with white music notes fell out of the bag and wanted to become part of the song.  It wasn't long enough to be a full border, but the last scrap of mottled fabric offered to become cornerstones.  So they did, and a nice mini-dot tan frame squared them up and held them all together.

Then the little violin said that the music really needed to keep better time, and suggested that a border of hour-glass blocks was just the thing it needed.  Blacks and browns volunteered to keep time, and another tan border helped them stay in tempo.

Soon, some leftover black and white strip sets stepped forward and wanted to be a border too.  They weren't quite long enough to be piano keys, but they squared their shoulders and said they would do their best.  And, of course, they needed a border too.

The music called for a repeat: the same color that was in the center block.  But none was to be found in the bag or box.  Then the quilter remembered that she had used that fabric to make pumpkin applique's and looked in a project box.  Sure enough, there was a piece just exactly big enough to make a lovely border.

Finally, a piece of gold and brown paisley named 'Versailles' called out to say that this lovely piece of music needed to finish with a flourish!  And so it became the final border on the little violin's piece.

And that is how a little 2 1/2 x 4-inch violin, quite unexpectedly, became a 41-inch square "Violin Concerto."

The quilter thinks this is "the end", but who can say for sure?