Scrappy vs Many Fabrics
 

It seems when I see the term "scrappy" - it means one of two things -

"Clean out the refrigerator" - which is using all sorts of odds and ends that may or may not coordinate, just to get them used up.

"Sampler plate" - which is buying/using small amounts of many different fabrics that (usually) seem to be somewhat coordinated and are deliberately acquired for a particular project.

How do you define them?

Scrappy- Quilt made using leftover fabric from many quilts made in the past. No new fabric used.

I think those are both scrappy quilts. When I hear "sampler", I usually think of a quilt with different types of blocks, not a variety of new fabrics. I made 2 "scrappy Irish chain" quilts. For the first one, I went to the store and bought a variety of Fat Eighth fabrics that I pieced willy-nilly throughout the chain. For the second one, I used the leftover fabrics from the first quilt ... plus a few others I had lying around ... plus before it's finished, I'll have to grab a bit more from LQS to make it big enough.

I also think they are both scrappy. If you replace the 'red' patches in a pattern with a multiple of red fabrics, either specifically purchased or from your bin, it's scrappy. Using a jelly roll or layer cake also results in a scrappy look. Of course, if you make an entire quilt with stuff you find on the floor, that's scrappy too!

I think of scrappy as using many different colors, and making your design using value instead of color. But I can see scrappy as a bunch of red, for instance, in a quilt rather than using only one red. I personally don't like to use the former scrappy-value method for my quilts, although it can be effective when someone does it right.

I see scrappy as not using a collection of fabrics. I usually use all batiks. My printed fabric scraps I donate to the Guild's free table. I use all colors and all sizes. My favorite is to use a traditional pattern in batiks.

Scrappy means a lot of different fabrics, not necessarily leftovers. I often buy 1/4 or 1/8 of a yard of many fabrics to get a quilt to look scrappy.

For me, a scrappy is a wide assortment of fabrics, and sampler is a wide assortment of blocks. Now, one can have a scrappy sampler too!

Scrappy means many fabrics. As many as you can stuff into your design! It should be a smorgasbord to look at. And remember, those scraps cost just as much per yard and the first piece you cut out of the fabric. Never disparage them.

I think bearisgray is thinking of a charm quilt too, where each fabric/scrap is a different fabric.......Not made from a charm pack