My scraps tend to be dark, so a cream background works better for me. I have seen some stunning scrappy quilts with black as well. (Such as your avatar!) I just try to make sure I don't have the same fabric touching itself. Or too close to itself.

This has been a hoot hearing from all of you!!! I would love to be sitting in a circle with all of you and hear the chatter on "Scraping"!!! :)

Well.. I'm a scrappy-girl.
All of my scraps are really just... scraps.
Bits & pieces leftover from projects from days/times gone by and many of them not even my own!

My avatar is a prime example of my version of scrappy. :)

I even have 3 grocery totes with 2" strips sorted by light/medium/dark for string quilts.
I just reach into a bag of whatever value I need and use whatever comes out.

I say.. to each their own.
Work with whatcha got or get whatcha need...
just have FUN and ENJOY!

Your Avatar is gorgeous!!! :-D

I agree with you, yet you see all this scrappy qults with so much matching colors, is it really scrappy?

Going to try a string quilt out of all my scrappy stuff, just can't find the heart to throw away anything that is over a inch.

If it's made out of scraps it's scrappy. Smilessssss....

To me scrappy means having a multitude of unco-ordinated fabrics. Then there is planned scrappy, which is a multitude of similar fabrics...like a scrappy batik or a scrappy floral or a scrappy Civil War reproduction. Many of us favor certain kinds of fabrics and avoid others (I love batiks and Orientals but hate homespuns and Thimbleberry) so if your fabric choices are not eclectic your stash, and hence your scraps, are kind of planned anyway. If I looked at your avatar picture would I see juvenile prints, depression era fabrics, novelties, florals, fruits and veggies, skulls, etc. In effect your scrappy quilt is probably kind of "planned" just by virtue of the nature of your stash/scraps.
And for what it's worth...I love planned scrappy but not completely wanton scrappy.

Do you have to have a pattern with a scrappy quilt? I REALLY WANT to know. What makes a pattern good for a scrappy quilt?

:?: :?:

Scrappy, to me, is taking all those little piece that no one wants and making a quilt out of them. Usually, the colors should be entirely random. If the pink fits best next to the red, so be it. Now, i do frequently separate the lights from the darks to give the quilt depth. Scrappy is all that I do. It may turn out to be a nine patch, four patch, or a one patch. Frequently, it is a string quilt, or the ultimate scrappy and my favorite, a crumb block.