Scrappy quilts...
06-05-2020, 12:54 PM
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Central NM
Posts: 1,582
Scrappy quilts...
Just reorganized my fabric and I have pounds and I mean of scraps...all dif colors and sizes. Most of the scraps are small but not crumb size. So my question is: How do you start a scrappy quit? I just feel so over whelmed. Should I go thru the containers first and cut them down to 5" and 2.5" size and see what happens? Can't wait for your suggestions.
Last edited by QuiltnNan; 06-05-2020 at 05:47 PM. Reason: shouting/all caps
06-05-2020, 01:49 PM
#2
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 5,901
On the days I just feel like cutting fabric, I will go thru my scraps and cut into 2.5, 2 and 1.5 squares. I keep them in large zip loc bags. My favorite thing to do is simply grab a bag and sew together into place mats. Though one time I made 12.5 inch squares out of batiks. I sashed them into a quilt, it was an awesome use of color.
06-05-2020, 02:00 PM
#3
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 3,252
quiltville.blogspot.com This is a link to Bonnie Hunter who is the queen of scrappy quilts. This link should lead you her website besides her blog. She has a ton of info on scrap organization, cutting sizes and patterns, etc. I would not start cutting until you read her info unless you already have an idea of the sizes that will work for you. Enjoy!
06-05-2020, 02:54 PM
#4
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Outside St. Louis
Posts: 38,196
I start by cutting the largest squares I can. If I am going to make a string or strip quilt then I star sewing strips together and cut into blocks. I think all colors go together, not always next to each other. Scatter the blocks and sew into a quilt.
06-05-2020, 03:25 PM
#5
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 41,467
I find a pattern I want to try before cutting scraps. Nothing worse then getting all excited about a Spiderweb or Boxes of Strings pattern and all the scraps are cut into unusable pieces. Boxes of Strings is a pattern on QB Where you sort your scraps into lights and darks for a cool 3D designed quilt top. Bonnie Hunters free Spiderweb pattern can use all your strips of fabric around a centre kite shaped middle.
06-06-2020, 03:46 AM
#8
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Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Greater Peoria, IL -- just moved!
Posts: 6,070
There are many ways to do scrappy. Sometimes you just throw everything you've got together. Sometimes you are very carefully planned and value shaded to achieve specific results.
You are on the right track -- you've identified fabric that is small and that you wish to do something with! I'd say go ahead and spend a little time on what you want to do with it first to determine what you want.
When I first started quilting I did not like any of the scrap quilts I had ever seen. That's because they were "wash" quilts, meant for use and practicality and not about design. When Judy Martin came out with her book Scrap Quilts, it changed my view of what scrap quilting was/could be.
https://www.amazon.com/Scrap-Quilts-.../dp/096029709X
Even though I do a lot of scrap quilting, I still find a lot of it to be rather chaotic. I have a couple of albums linked through my profile, feel free to look. Some more chaotic, some more planned. A lot of them just specifically to use collections of fabric, whether that is size or style or bags from the thrift store.
https://www.quiltingboard.com/member...bums20314.html
For saving your scraps there are many different ways. I started with a hamper I threw small stuff into. That turned into a horrible jumbled mess that I didn't want to deal with. Then I started cutting down into strip sizes, that had a lot of appeal to me but it turned out whatever I wanted was never the right size. I made string quilts/projects. After trying different things for the last 20 years, in the last couple I've decided I simply don't want to save anything smaller than 6.5" x something bigger than a square because "I can always cut down but I can't cut up". I found a lovely crumb quilter through conversations on the boards and a couple times a year I send her a box of my various cutting scraps -- most of which are too big to be crumbs but she can cut down...
It's ok to not deal with the scraps if you don't want to and know you will never do anything with them, then just pass them on. Fold them up neatly and put them in a clear plastic sealed bag and donate them to your local group, senior center, or thrift store and set them free.
You are on the right track -- you've identified fabric that is small and that you wish to do something with! I'd say go ahead and spend a little time on what you want to do with it first to determine what you want.
When I first started quilting I did not like any of the scrap quilts I had ever seen. That's because they were "wash" quilts, meant for use and practicality and not about design. When Judy Martin came out with her book Scrap Quilts, it changed my view of what scrap quilting was/could be.
https://www.amazon.com/Scrap-Quilts-.../dp/096029709X
Even though I do a lot of scrap quilting, I still find a lot of it to be rather chaotic. I have a couple of albums linked through my profile, feel free to look. Some more chaotic, some more planned. A lot of them just specifically to use collections of fabric, whether that is size or style or bags from the thrift store.
https://www.quiltingboard.com/member...bums20314.html
For saving your scraps there are many different ways. I started with a hamper I threw small stuff into. That turned into a horrible jumbled mess that I didn't want to deal with. Then I started cutting down into strip sizes, that had a lot of appeal to me but it turned out whatever I wanted was never the right size. I made string quilts/projects. After trying different things for the last 20 years, in the last couple I've decided I simply don't want to save anything smaller than 6.5" x something bigger than a square because "I can always cut down but I can't cut up". I found a lovely crumb quilter through conversations on the boards and a couple times a year I send her a box of my various cutting scraps -- most of which are too big to be crumbs but she can cut down...
It's ok to not deal with the scraps if you don't want to and know you will never do anything with them, then just pass them on. Fold them up neatly and put them in a clear plastic sealed bag and donate them to your local group, senior center, or thrift store and set them free.
06-06-2020, 05:18 AM
#9
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,186
I keep my fabric separated by color, except that I keep:
- a bag of selvages cut from yardage
- a basket of "strings" - strips of many widths and lengths, divided by light and dark
- a box of 2" squares of all colors
- a box of 2.5" squares of all colors
- a miscellaneous box of half-square triangles of all colors, divided by size (different sizes are in baggies
Do whatever works for you!
- a bag of selvages cut from yardage
- a basket of "strings" - strips of many widths and lengths, divided by light and dark
- a box of 2" squares of all colors
- a box of 2.5" squares of all colors
- a miscellaneous box of half-square triangles of all colors, divided by size (different sizes are in baggies
Do whatever works for you!
06-06-2020, 06:13 AM
#10
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Waterford Michigan
Posts: 7,241
The larger the scraps the larger the squares I make. I keep the smaller one, less that 2.5 to be use for pieces for DWR if they are longer and narrow to make the spikes for a Joseph's Coat. These are 2 of my favorite scrappy quilts. I store all my cut squares in marked baggies. The rest I will save for emergency pieces or cut away what is less and 3/4" and discard. I have large scrap baskets that I can use to manage scraps until I am ready to start cutting then I take a day and sit on the floor and begin to cut. Now that I have my Accuquilt Go! I can see where this is going to go much faster and easier.
