dunster

Like several others have said, log cabins (especially with 1" or smaller finished logs) are great users of all kinds of scraps. My first scrappy log cabin is here - http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...in-t23612.html

Sally J

I just made a quilt with scrap fabrics that included cow, building, cat and lots of other weird fabric. It came out beautiful and my friends thought it was wonderful. I hate log cabin so I made blocks of wonky stars and wonky squares. I did do the borders and back in one fabric to calm all the different fabrics. It is my favorite quilt.

ArtsyOne

I love buying scrap bags and there are always fabrics included that are really awful. I decided that I'd separate out all of the fabrics I'd never use for anything and make a string quilt (Eleanor Burns - Quilt In A Day). I cut everything into strips of varying widths and just started. No rhyme or reason, no coordination of colors, no decisions about light vs. dark. The resulting quilt is beautiful! I've had so many positive comments, and when people look at the individual fabrics they're surprised that they all combined to make something pretty. After that success, I decided to make another one just in greens and lilacs and blues. It's awful. Randomness apparently works much better.

ckcowl

if you can sort your scraps into lights/mediums/darks you can create fabulous quilts with a huge hodge-podge of variety that will work well. i've mixed homspuns, novelties, flannels, batiks--- an assortment of themes in the same quilt and been quite happy with the outcome...often it does not matter what the print is on a fabric-what matters is the value (light/medium/dark) placement.

IAmCatOwned

A 9 patch using narrow black sashing strips is a marvelous way to use completely random squares and make them play together. The sashing doesn't have to be more than about an inch wide finished. Found some examples by googling images.

I also think a scrappy irish chain also works with primarily dark and mediums (save the lights for another project). Here's Bonnie Hunter's instructions.

mom2boyz

Boy, those samples are beautiful. Some of Bonnie Hunter's squares don't look like much one square at a time, but the quilts are stunning. Some scrappy quilts look just bad to me and others are drop dead gorgeous. I don't know enough about color theory to be able to put my finger on why some just look better than others - is the secret in the darks vs med vs lights or what?

Valerie Ann

That is absolutely beautiful! So you sorted and cut based on color, right? Because when I look at your pictures, it really doesn't look so random--you have brown, green, and yellow (same family) together. Share your secret to sorting, please!

PaperPrincess

Another way to unify everything is use a single color sashing. I always use black, but any neutral will do. Frames the blocks, gives your eye a place to rest and ties everything together.

ladyredhawk

buy fabric that match alittle at a time like I do. fabric on the board has some good buy's on here and all kinds of material.

hopetoquilt

x marks the spot/ aka scrappity do dah (I made this with a ton of completely different fabric and gave it as a gift. (the recipients loved it)
cathedral window
shadow box (this is awesome with different and patterned fabrics... the more different, the better)
I feel like if you get a good quality white fabric, you could make a ton of different quilts with radically different fabrics and the white breaks it up. You could even do a more traditional quilt like an Irish chain with radically different fabric.
tumbling blocks looks great. Just have to worry about color values, not about coordinating fabrics.
You can even do a sampler quilt and just use the sashing to break things up a bit.
Rail fence is easy and fun

Enjoy making the quilt. Don't be too critical. Once it is quilted, alot of the "mistakes" fade away. I don't make "perfect" quilts. I make them fun. I enjoy learning new techniques. I also decided that some things are too difficult or not fun for me to do. I shy away from: machine applique (tried, disliked), hand piecing and handquilting (did well but too time consuming for me), anything three dimensional like purses (frighteningly bad results), and Y seams (tried but difficult and not fun for me). You may love the things I dislike or visa versa. Try some stuff on smaller quilts. See what you like/dislike and stick with the fun stuff. Enjoy it. Once you have done a few quilts, it becomes alot easier and alot more fun.