sewbizgirl

I'm cool with "scrappy" for a descriptive term.

Once upon a time, when people actually used their clothes until they wore out, quilts were made with the scraps from that clothing that were still usable. Today we use the scraps from other quiltmaking. (Tho, I have made many beautiful quilts from old shirts.) These scraps are new fabric and cost just as much per yard as new yardage... so 'scrappy' is not a derogatory term, to me.

Jo Belmont

How about eclectic or multifarious?

KalamaQuilts

quilts from cheater cloth are a whole different thing, Cheater cloth is a quilt pattern printed as yardage.
as far from scrappy as you can get, they are whole cloth quilts

juliasb

When I am doing scrappy quilts I can use hundreds of different pieces to complete a quilt top. I just finished one scrappy quilt top from a challenge here that I have no idea how many different fabrics are in it and am also working on a king size quilt that has several hundred different fabrics in the various blocks. For me the more the merrier. It is a good way for me to go through my scrap bins and make wonderful use of all those pieces. When I make double wedding ring quilts I can have easily a thousand different fabrics as I am cutting and using so many different pieces. Keep in mind I have been saving my scraps and using them bit by bit for more than 30 years now and some are older than that. Anything over 2" is saved.

juliasb

I found myself for years, after I finished a quilt project that was patterned or themed, cutting the larger pieces into FQ's or even 1/2 yard segments if the pieces were less than a yard. The remaining cut aways pieces ended up in the scrap bins. So I have a large number of FQ's to draw from that can be used as a quilt top that works only with FQ's then the scraps form that will end up in the bins.

rjwilder

I call them leftover quilts, just like leftovers for dinner, we all have leftovers from our sewing projects. However, most of my friends and I call them stash buster quilts.

peaceandjoy

I fully admit that most of my quits are scrappy style, but not truly made from scraps of other projects. I love the look of quilts with several fabrics in a color look, so will use anywhere from 10 - 20 or more reds, for example. Were they actually pieces of red left over from other quilts? Probably not. Some would be strips or squares left, the rest would be cut from FQ's or half yards that I now buy (unless it's something I absolutely love - then I'll still buy a yard).

Here is "Talkin' Turkey", from Bonnie Hunter's book, "String Fling". It includes pieces left from other quilts, black vintage phones on red that I used to cover notebooks for senior center Christmas gifts, tomatoes that were originally purchased for cloth shopping bags, etc., as well as reds that I bought just because. Same is true for the neutrals; some were from swaps, some were scraps, some were cut from yardage. (Second picture was before binding, and is shown so you can see some of the individual fabrics better. Cooper, ever curious, stopped by.)

wildyard

I am a dedicated scrappy quilt maker. I do not use yardage in a scrappy quilt, Only less than half yard pieces of fabric. I buy remnants also, which to me are technically scraps. I do not think a scrap has to be used fabric, but it certainly can be. I think scrappy is a very appropriate term for what I do. There are lots of modifiers that can be used. I like controlled scrappy for when one limits the number of colors or types of print such as florals or geometrics. If one uses a fat quarter collection of coordinating fabrics, to me that is not scrappy. But I wouldn't have an argument with anyone about it. lol

SusieQOH

peaceandjoy- I love your quilt but the first thing I noticed was your beautiful furkid! He/she looks just like our cat, Fluffles. He was a Main Coon.

joe'smom

Beautiful Talkin' Turkey, peaceandjoy!