What to do with lots of different fabric?
 

I haven't been making quilt tops, because I don't like the "fussiness" and perfection required for it. However, I have accumulated LOTS of cotton stash anyway. Some scraps are quite large, and others are not. I found a quilt top that I did years ago and had forgotten about, and it inspired me to maybe try again. The thing is, the scraps that I have don't go together. I mean, there is homespuns, zebra strips, flowers, fish, solids, stripes, skulls... just about anything you can imagine!! I don't want my next attempt to be a total mess. So should I just wait until I have even more scraps to play with?

You could visit www.quiltville.com and read about Bonnie Hunter's system of taming her scraps and stash. She specializes in scrap quilt designs and has a very systematic approach to separating colors and cutting scraps for future use. After attending one of her lectures recently I've gotten hooked on reading her blog every day.

I know that the quilt police will say only use cotton but, I have used what I have all my life and it works for me. I just had to piece a back together and used a piece of polycotton in it, When my grandma taught me to quilt we used whatever we had and mixed it all the time. Some of those quilts are still around.

I would do a string quilt because the variety of strips makes the pattern look great. Here is a link to some beautiful examples in our Quilt Gallery http://www.quiltingboard.com/blogs/s...lts-b2192.html

I made a log cabin with the strangest fabric prints and it is absolutely stunning. When you cut them up in strips of 1.5 inches wide, you won't see all that weird stuff. I divided the fabric into two piles: dark and light. And the light only has to be lighter than the dark in the square. Some of the light was even into medium colors but still lighter than the dark.

I love this, lillybeck!! I, too, use whatever I want and have on hand in my quilts. The recipients don't care if it's 100% quilt-grade cotton or not so why should I? I have quilts my grandmother has made over her lifetime, and most of the material in those are poly/cotton and still look beautiful even with minor wear and tears.

To AshleyR:
Scrap quilts are really becomming the latest trend, in my opinion, based off what I see on the boards daily. If ya have a decent selection of lights/darks, why not a log cabin or basic 4/9 patches? I love looking at close-ups of scrap quilts, it is so amazing what all fabrics ya can find in one! But once all together, ya don't notice the Christmas trees next to skulls/crossbones or whatever else may be in one. Give it a go and good luck!

When you get all your 'unmatching' fabrics sewn together you will find that what you notice most is value, not a lot of individual pieces that don't look like they go together. To me that is the beauty of a scrap quilt.

To give you a little confidence, I never liked strippy quilts before I got desperate to use up scraps. "Gemstate" is absolutely right that the value comes out, not the individual strips. Try a square and just see. Throw in a rather plain strip every few rows and it also can make a tremendous difference. I made one for my granddaughter and she absolutely loved it and it was as scrappy as could be.

I lovet the log caebin idea, but even with scrappy blocks or half square triangles, just having a consistent background color/shade can really tie a lot of different fabrics into a lovely quilt. I have seen black, white and cream really make the quilt pop.

Try Bonnie's methods. Her scrappy quilts are beautiful.