I love both planned and scrappy quilts, but seem to be partial to scrappies. I am fairly new to quilting and have struggled (I mean really struggled) with putting fabrics together. Then I made my first scrappy. Oh my gosh! Some of the fabrics I put next to each other looked terrible together, but I resisted the urge to pick and choose what went where. After the top was put together, I loved it and no longer noticed those pieces.

Looking at a scrappy quilt is like looking at a field of wildflowers. Individually, they may not be that impressive, but when put together...WOW!

I know what you mean about putting fabrics together that are not always right with each other, which is why I am drawn to fat quarter bundles.

If I want a primitive or country look I tend to be drawn to Kansas Troubles Quilters fabrics. The fabrics are just amazing and there is no way to not put them together that isn't just perfect. Most of her fabric lines are red, gold, blue, black, eggplant, green, and dark tans. Sometimes she throws in rust (my favorite color). Most of the time the fabric line has 40 prints, so a fat quarter bundle is perfect.

If I want a civil war sort of look I tend to be drawn to Jo Morton and Judie Rothermel (spelling?) fabric lines. Buying any of their fabrics (doesn't matter if it comes from the same fabric lines) will always work together.

So, a rule of thumb for me is to pick a designer you like and buy their fabrics and most often they always "play well" with each other. FYI, I think Jo and Judie's fabrics play well together too.

Suzanne

scrappy were the beginning
when we used what we had and stitched together pieces of our lives as well as our hearts

I think it depends on your definition of scrappy. I always defined scrappy as crazy quilts, or what some call crumb quilts - IOW quilts with no definable blocks. I don't like those either. I like order :)

But a lot of people define scrappy as using a lot of different fabrics - even if they are not necessarily "scraps". By this definition a LOT of quilts fall into this category. One of my favorite quilt types is small piece quilts - Omigosh, Dear Jane, Farmers Wife, small cut log cabins and pineapples. All of these can be made using a lot of different fabrics including but not limited to small scraps from your bin.

chaotic visual interest = says it all!

I think the biggest reason I can think of is to get rid of the scraps. I like them though.

Sometimes it's the challenge to make a beautiful design with a lot of colors. I do love the look of scrappy, and I've made a few, but I lean towards organized scrappy. At least with the ones that I do.

My favorite scrappy are the ones with a constant fabric so the eye has a place to rest while giving the eye the chaotic visual interest.

There is an art for doing a scrappy quilt. You really have to watch the lights and darks, really have that contrast.

I think it is the texture sometimes that makes them wonderful. For many, it is the joy of finding all those fabrics and enjoying them all. For others it is the thrift.

Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville.com has some great free patterns for scrappies. With finances being tight at this point in my life, I've been concentrating on scrappy quilts as a way of cost saving and continued therapy/enjoyment of the quilting process.