Using 3 inch squares
 

I was gifted a lot of 3 inch squares. I had some of my own so now I have a photo box full. Most of the gifted ones are brown tones, Joe Morton type colors. I believe they were cut for the draw a line and make a HST technique. I don’t make my HST’s like that and I’d like to use them up faster.
Any ideas?
I have to use up a lot of fabric this year or give some away. I really have too much! And let’s not even THINK about the scraps!
Thanks all
Cindy

Hi Cindy, if you look at the candy (2.5-inch) square swap on this board (under "member swaps and round robins") there are lots of posts with links to ideas for 2.5 inch squares. Okay not 3-inch but same concept! You do have to do a bit of scrolling though.
I wish I were in your spot with scraps. I'm a new quilter, not much stash and fabric prices are getting high. So many people here with either too much stash, or the opposite problem, fabric budget being squeezed by inflation...
Wishing you a fun project with those little squares!
--Pam

Normally, I'm a reader, not a writer because there are many times where there are plenty of suggestions to help someone out. Since there aren't very many, here are my suggestions:
a nine patch- if want more sparkle, add bright colors to either the sashings, or into the 9 patch itself,
a disappearing 9 patch,
as a patchwork border around panels or along edges of actual quilts,
an irish chain (using 3" squares instead of the normal size),
or applique letters of the alphabet or numbers or I spy items to the squares and make kids quilts.
Hopefully you will find plenty of suggestions that give you an aha moment. Good luck.

I had fun watching bonnie hunter make the speedy hour glass blocks. A member of this board recently posted the liink to the video, except Bonnie uses smaller squares. Have fun and show us what you decide.
Speedy Hourglass! (youtube.com)

That was my first thought. The Birthday Swap group posts lots of suggestions. Use any pattern that calls for 2.5" squares. You can either cut your 3"'s down to 2.5" or just use them as 3" and get a bigger quilt. Of course some patterns will need some adjustments to accommodate the larger size. But you know that. ;)

The most simple would be to create a checker board quilt. Choose a color from your stash, purple, cheddar, black, turquoise or what ever to use as your alternate block and go for it. You will soon create an interesting donation quilt, utility quilt or a picnic quilt. Enjoy your abundance.
.

You could make 9 patches and alternate with a plain squares from
your stash. That would make a quick quilt.

I have found 9-patches from squares (instead of strips) to be anything but fast. All that corner matching, plus sometimes a row will look just fine until it’s connected to another row, and then it’s suddenly wonky.. “Just squares” is akin to straight line quilting, which many find hard and fiddly to do.

To minimize that, I’d choose a background color that is low-contrast, so that any slightly misaligned corners will be harder to find. Or go with one of the common no-match designs, where a rectangle is sewn to a square and rotated.

charlotte

And check out the quilted twins blog for free patterns and pictures of finished quilts for inspiration, too. https://www.quiltedtwins.com/free-patterns.htm

Bonnie Hunter's free pattern link is here: https://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/free-patterns.html

lucky lucky to have a ton of already cut squares to work with!! Have fun!

@ibex94 Thank you for the quilted twins link. It is fabulous. So great to see whole quilts hanging to give you a real idea of the completed design. And so many ideas!