How do you approach scrappy?
 

I am planning to make a tumbler quilt for my son, and I have an assortment of red, white, and blue tumbler blocks already cut. Normally, I would set them all out on the floor in his room (the only room with enough clear floor space for the job, so I jokingly refer to his room as the lab for my quilting room, though he is not amused) and rearrange the blocks so the colors are distributed well.

However, that makes the process SO MUCH more time consuming...I have to pin the pieces of one row, take them to the sewing room, sew, press, take them back, get the next ones, keep track of the order. It takes a long while.

I could just pull blocks at random and sew them together; I'd be able to adjust placement somewhat as I went along a row, but I wouldn't have much control over placement vertically, I think. I dunno. I'd like to make this process simpler, but not at the price of having a quilt I don't like.

How do you do this type of thing?

The only thing I can think of is to layit out on a piece of paper. You wouldn't have to necessarily draw it but just put R/W/B on the paper. Your first row could be R/W/B/R/W/B/R/W/B, 2nd could be W/B/R/W/B/R/W/B/R, etc. If you are using a pattern you could just copy the pattern (B&W) and write directly on it.

I do have a design wall, but if working with a certain number of colors I have done as described above.

I have not done many scrappy quilts but to me it would depend on the size of the pieces. Most tumbler quilts I have seen have medium size pieces (6" long or so) and at that size or larger I would want to plan it out especially if you are just using a few colors. If the pieces were small (3" or smaller) and there were lots of colors/patterns, I would just chain piece them as the came out of the pile.

I'm a visual person so I usually lay it out on the floor and do one row at a time. I have been known to stack the pieces and sew from top down on the stack which makes it a little faster. I would do whatever method makes the quilt you want even if it takes a little longer.

I have space issues too. I actually pin them to a blanket and pin it to my curtains so I can take a day or two to look at it. This is actually my favorite part of the process and the part I started out helping grandma with so I don't think I could stand skipping it.

Then I pin each row and place a label on the left block to number the rows. From there I can sew them all and only have to worry about order too much. Because I'm new I occasionally get. Row flipped, but its usually one I can easily notice and restitch.

I wonder, and might not work as I just thought of it, if you layed it out on a flannel backed tablecloth, or just flannel I guess, then roll it up carefully and take the whole thing into your sewing room. Unroll a row at a time...sew it and put it back, keep on going

Since it's for him, maybe your son would put up with inching around it for a few days. During that time, you could get your layout done. Then, you could remove the entire thing before sewing by either a) stacking each row, labeling it and moving it somewhere else for assembly and/or b) making a diagram as you pick up each row, and/or c)take a picture of it and then pick up the whole thing in a heap. Just an idea.

I do the first 2, normally, but next time, I'll use the ipad to take a picture. Probably will put some paper numbers to the side of each row, as I am terrible at sighting down one.

hugs,
Charlotte

I saw this tip on a Fons and Porter show. Stack the pieces of each block on a cheap paper plate. Then just stack the paper plates on top of one another and carry the whole stack to your machine. I haven't tried it but it seems like you'd be able to keep everything in order.

Just re-read your post, and I see your blocks are already done. But maybe the paper plate method will still work after you get the layout you want.

when you have it laid on the floor, try labeling each block by row and column..,,. perhaps the first block in the top row is A1, the first block in the next row could be B1. and so on. then you can move them to your sewing area and your son's floor will be clear. oh, and put each number at the top of the block... that way, you can hold it by that top and have the right orientation of the block