I'm a new quilter and LOVE scrappy quilts. I can decide in 2 seconds whether I like a quilt or not, and that is based solely on the colors in the quilt. I prefer scrappy quilts that have some type of color theme.

Can you share your advice to create a scrappy quilt that looks like it has a color-theme or is color-unified? (Did I just make up those words?) I've seen photos of scrappy quilts on this board and obviously you know what you're doing!

a multitude of prints but all in basicly the same color group. Not hard to collect but longer to get enough together. To me scrappy is the many many prints used and not necessarily the color.

I think it differs with different people. What I do if I want a controlled scrappy is to chose some colors that I know look good together. IE:, red and blue, pinks and greens, purple and green, orange and yellows. Now add in a third color that to your eye looks good. To the pink and green family I might add some purples, to the orange and yellow group I might add some green. So on and so forth. In the end some of my controlled scrappys end up looking very scrappy, depends on my mood and the fabrics I have.

You can also stick with the same color family, just get plenty of variety and pattern scale and hue.

If your worried about a certain color combo just photo it and put it on this board, the members all have good advice.

Remember to have fun!!

Easiest way it to buy pre-cuts from the same collection and sometimes
same designer. You can get about 40 different fabrics in one collection.

I love scrappy quilts but some are scrappier than others :D
When I want some sort of control effect I usually buy from the same line.
My house could be described as scrappy!!! Nothing matches b/c I love antiques of many kinds but it all works for me.

The easiest way for me is to start with a print that has several colours in it. Then check the little colour dots along the selvedge and pull those for your quilt. If your print has red in it, choose several different fabrics with the same red shade. Often for a scrap quilt, I'll have five or six different fabrics for each colour selected from the chosen print. This method works every time.

There are some scrappy quilts that are basically one main color. Collect many different fabrics with that color and just throw them all together even if they don't really seem to go together. Don't forget to throw in a little bit of color that is close but not the color you are collecting. Red, maroon, pink or lots of shades of green from yellowish to blueish. I've found the hardest to work with are the blues but I've seem some beautiful blue scrappy quilts done. Most of the time even if you think a fabric doesn't work it will in the big picture of the whole quilt.

I'll throw my 2 cents in:

The key to a successful scrap quilt (or any quilt, really) has less to do with color than with VALUE. Value is the key.

If you want to make, let's say, a purple quilt, if you choose all dark purples, even with a nice selection of textures and prints, you're going to get a "blob" of a quilt. The eye doesn't really travel over the whole quilt because there's nothing different about the different sections. No variations.

Now, if that's what you want, and it's for your yellow bedroom, then it will definitely stand out against the walls.

However, if you want some definition in a quilt, imagine now a collection of dark purple fabrics along with a variety of lilac or lighter colored purple fabrics. Again, the color is actually secondary.

I've seen scrap quilts made out of the ugliest fabrics - all colors - but the value placement was so brilliant you didn't really notice.

So my suggestion would be to learn a bit more about value, and how that can make or break or a quilt.

"Spectacular Scraps: A Simple Approach to Stunning Quilts" was a great book by Judy Hoosworth. Much better than some of the more recent ones out there.

Just my 2 cents. And NAYY.

If you want to see a great example of the value of value, there is a blog called http://exuberantcolor.blogspot.com/. She (Wanda?) only works with Kaffe Fasset & the like fabrics. But if you look through her quilts, even though she used blocks as simple as Rail Fence, her quilts are bursting with vibrancy because of her value placement.

Also, scrapquilts.com has some free patterns and additional inspiration and directions.

Good luck.

-MTS

Pick a favorite fabric color and add a contrasting color and use those two fabrics along with any other scraps you have.

Most of my quilts come from similar color values, so they "should" theoretically all go together. When I do a scrappy, I usually presort my scraps and pull out any pieces that I KNOW don't go. From there I like to use light/dark patterns and sort my stash accordingly. My scrappies generally start with a block and I ramdomly sew the blocks. Then I cannot do a pure random layout. I pick and chose my layout and audition it - even if it is a scrappy.