Planned "scrappy" quilt question?
 

After re-looking @ JennyPenny STUNNING Pulsar quilt I HAVE TO ASK !! How does one PLAN a beautiful scrappy quilt like this? Do you have to have a HUGH stash? How do you know you'll have enough fabric to finish it? My scrappy quilts are just that - scrappy! I cut all my pieces, put them in a paper bag, give em a good shake and what ever I pull out is what I sew next. Somebody! Please! splain it to me ???? Thanks! cause I want to make one of these...

Well I'm not an expert, but the ones that I've made and liked, (or seen and liked) had one or more of the following traits:
- Single color neutral sashing, especially black or white
- A single color element in the same place in all the blocks
- the scraps were sorted into general colors
- the scraps were sorted into lights and darks
- the scraps were sorted into neutrals and everything else.
I also prefer an actual pieced block as opposed to a crumb block.

I agree with Paperprincess, I've made some scrappy star quilts where all the points are the same color. Sometimes all of the sashing is the same color. Makes the scrappy quilt look more cohesive instead of helter skelter. Other times I've just done whatever, really depends on the block being used and the effect I want.

Controlled scrappy is one way I like to do scrappy quilts. You pick a color palette and use all your scraps in those groups. I also like one neutral to sort of bind it all together.

Scrappy quilts are my favourite. Having said that I do "controlled scrappy" and I am always pleased with the result. You can bring it altogether with border and sashing fabrics. Good luck with it and don't forget to show piccies of the end result.

Hi BorntoQuilt,
For a good planned scrappy, you can pick out a quilt block that has a fair amount of pieces in it. You decide that one component of the block - like star points- will be from one color family. You also decide that another component - like the background in each block - will be from another color family.
In Pulsar, my star points were dark blues and purples. My background was cream (6 or 7 different cream fabrics).
I knew how many blocks I needed and how big each piece needed to be, so I could generally figure out if I had enough blue and enough cream before I got started.
My method for picking out all the rest of the fabrics was this: put them on the floor in a random way. Put some of your darks and lights (previously chosen) with them. Stand on a step-stool, sturdy chair, or go up two or three stairs. My sewing room is at the bottom of a well-lit stairway. The base of the staircase has been the stage for auditioning many fabrics for many quilts. You may not know what you like to start with, but you will see right away the fabrics that don't work or play nicely together. This distance of more than your height helps to see the fabrics in a different way. You want some blending and a little contrast. If you like how a certain color looks, add more of that color in different shades.
I hope that helps. pm me at any time!

I really think your question is fabulous! I love scrappy quilts, but sometimes my choices do look rather "trashy". I had to go and search out the quilt you were mentioning. JenniePenny did a great job in creating this quilt and in explaining her method. I know I am going to have to try standing on a chair and looking down at my fabric selections and choosing one or two main color fabrics that will help tie everything together better. Thanks again for asking a question I had never really thought about.

This really works. Last month was trying to decide on fabrics for my first controlled scrappy. I drove myself crazy with the sheer amount of fabrics thought might work. JenniePenny made a suggestion (see her message below) and it worked. Within a half hour I had eliminated more than half the fabrics. Also had quite an aerobic workout up and down the flight of stairs trying to get perspective. What I found most interesting was that he fabrics I was absolutely certain would work, became apparent that they wouldn't. Had so much fun with this scrappy, that before I squirreled away the leftovers, I made a second scrappy.

I do something similiar to Jennie Penny ... I toss my on the floor... stand back a few feet and those screaming "I don't belong here" get tossed into another pile. Often that pile of "other" scraps is its own great scrappy. One key I find is having a balance of light color fabrics ( I collect lots of tone on tone cream) to off set the variety of colors in the scraps.

These are all excellent methods! One thing I'll add is that I sometimes group my block pieces by color - very quickly and without thinking about each piece very much. Blacks in 1 pile, blues in another, etc. Then I literally deal them like playing cards into however many blocks I need. This helps me distribute some of the prints, especially those that say "look at ME!" This gives me a nice randomness that works for me...I just have never been able to do the paper bag technique. :-) Laura