i think most of my quilts are the 'controlled' scrappy type. that's because i use a lot of different fabrics in small amounts instead of a large amount of a few fabrics. it always seems to work out for me even though some of the fabrics don't go together at all. i usually chose a 'theme' so for instance the latest one i did was 'manly' so i chose manly fabrics like plaid, denim, corderoy and tartans. then i cut some of each and put them together so they are basically random other than not allowing two peices of the same fabric to touch. i did another one in a fall theme. many of the fabrics i chose were not fall themed at all, some were summer or spring but in orange, red or yellow. i think i used over 20 different fabrics. one was even ice cream cones. the only rule i made for myself on that one was that each fabric had to have a fall colour in which i included orange, red, yellow, greens and browns. so although alot of the fabrics had nothing to do with fall the overall look was 'fall'. so that is why i call them controlled because i set boundries but for each fabric i chose i probably did not use more than a fat quarters worth to make twin size quilts. i have more scraps from these scrappy quilt fabrics than what i used, i think. anyways just jump in and have fun. the first will probably be a learning lesson but that doesn't mean it won't be beautiful. (: