Silver Needle

What would yo do with scraps when most of them are medium, a lot are dark and very few are light? Do you start buying light fabrics of new yardage? 💊 That's a bitter pill to swallow. I thought the idea was to use your scraps so you save money!

Tartan

​Pick up neutral fat quarters when you find sales. I did this last year (as I was low on neutrals) at $1 each at a LQS.

sandrab64

I have thought the same thing! I would have to go out and buy more light fabrics. Maybe they should call some of these patterns "half-scrap" quilts.

Lori S

I too often find myself with out enough lights in my scraps. I do purchase cream on cream or white on white just for use in my scrap quilts. I buy it when I see it on sale . I do try to find people to swap scraps , but I think a good deal of us also are missing the light colors in our scrap bins. I have found saving the trimmings from my backings ( I use lots of muslin for backings) does give me some good size lights for use in scrap quilts.

mighty

I agree I would buy up some lights to use with my scraps.

Nammie to 7

I had the same problem. I purchased lights so I could use the darks and mediums. You really need the contrast for your quilt to pop. Remember lights are not just white and cream -- they can be lighter colors also.

PABerard

Time to clean out your linen closet? Perhaps a used pillowcase is getting tired and needs to be retired...

dunster

You can have contrast in a quilt using lights and darks, or by using different colors. For instance, if you have a lot of medium and dark blues, and also a lot of medium and dark reds, you can use those in much the same way as using lights and darks. Or you can always make string quilts, which often have no light/dark contrast at all and rely on the wild assortment of colors to make them beautiful. Some other patterns, such as "just" squares will work too, and you can throw in a little muslin sashing if you want to give it a more planned appearance.

feline fanatic

this is exactly what I did when I found my stash sorely lacking in lights. It is very easy to find lights at rock bottom sale prices to make that bitter pill much more sugar coated ;-) IMHO one can always use light neutrals and lights no matter what. When you go to the LQS check out the remnant bin and sale table. Check out sales on line. Hancocks fabrics currently has many on sale for $2.99 per yard, Thousands of Bolts has many choices at $4.95 per yard, Marshalls Dry Goods has some for $3.99.

charlottequilts

Kaffe Fassett comes to mind. Were it not for him, I'd have a light neutral in every quilt.

Charlotte