Jump start your scrap-pile into a coordinated scrappy quilt

I'll share a tip for those of you who would like to make a scrappy quilt but who feel like you don't have the knack. It's also a great short cut for those who are pro and experienced at fabric mixology, but just want to jump-start a scrappy quilt project.

Start with a pre-cut pack, charms or a jelly roll are easy to work with. Fan out all the fabrics and get a good look at them. If there is one colorway or design that you don't like, go ahead and set it aside, but don't be too exclusionary-- this is going to be scrappy, after all.

Then, with the fabric line freshly in mind, go through your stash and scrap bins and pull everything you think could work with the pre-cuts-- either based on color or style. The more the merrier. It's fine if you use a little piece that will only make one appearance in the quilt. I give myself a couple of rules: If I add say, more green, I need to add at least 3 more greens, so that it becomes a range of related greens, not just one mis-matched green that shows up and kind of sticks out from the matchy bunch. Also, often there will be one or two prints that incorporate all the colors used in the fabric line -- you can use that to help you find the scope of scraps to pull from you bins. While there might be a lot of read-as-solid-pinks in the fabric line, when you look at the mother-lode print, you may see that a couple of shades of red work too.

Now that you've pulled a tonne of scraps, it's time to do another edit and maybe refine the direction that your project is going-- you might add more of a certain color or delete a whole color family. More than once I realize that I'll be happier splitting this into 2 quilts, say one done in cool colors, the other in warms. Or one done with pastels, the other with more vibrant fabrics. Sometimes I decide to keep everything and add even more variety.

When you like the color/print fabric range you have out, you can choose a neutral background fabric or collection of scraps. I like to audition not only the expected white and beige, but also greys, black, or a solid in an unexpected color, just to see if a surprise background might be called for.

I have several quilts where I've used this short-cut-to-scrappy with good success.

Here's one where I got lots of compliments for my color selection--it;s a Dresden Plate using just one charm pack of Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille. I chose to minimize (though not completely delete) the pinks and add more green and aqua from my stash. I took the green range pretty extreme, but still within the palette established by the inspiration fabric line. Then I added a fairly intense aqua blue for plate centers and corner blocks and binding. I like the end result because it's a scrappy yet coordinated quilt, and while someone who knows her fabric lines well may recognize the Vintage Modern line, the end result is unique, not exactly like any of the other dresden plates made with that line.

It's also a thrifty way to make what feels like a very contemporary quilt -- the color scheme is very "now"-- but I only used one charm pack (on sale for $8) together with my big stash of older scraps.

I've had a lot of people look at that quilt and marvel that "all those colors and patterns work together-- you wouldn't think they could." Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked all those colors and patterns out of a basket on my own, but by working off an established collection, and editing repeatedly, I got something I'm quite pleased with.

Some other "rules of scrappy design" *

• Color value is more important than shade.  Using a camera and converting to gray scale can help you spot places where the value selection is off.
• If you aren't happy with a fabric on your design wall, either cut it smaller or add other fabrics that are close but not exact matches.  The smaller the pieces, the more liberty you have in mixing unexpected elements
• Remember that any 3 yellows (or insert color of your choice) may clash, but any 30 yellows will pretty much work -- so add more diversity to get a better blend.
• Sometimes your quilting will be the thing that melds the whole discordant collection of colors and patterns into a unified whole.  Sometimes it will just take a lot of washing in hot water and time in the sun to make them all work together.  (heh-- joking there)
• An unexpected background fabric color can pull a quilt together wonderfully.  Audition a variety of backgrounds -- not just neutrals (though they are often what I end up with).
• Also try out a variety of border and binding treatments.  I've had some excessively scrappy quilts that didn't quite gel until I added a narrow inner border in black.  While I'm not a huge fan of big border treatments or the classic 3 layer border approach I was taught way back in the day, I have found that sometimes a scalloped or wave border is just the perfect thing to pull a scrappy quilt together.

*Not rules, more like guidelines.

Gravity Quilt-along June and Block 5

Some more random thoughts re. my experience in making this quilt strictly with fabrics from my stash:

• My batik stash (supplemented with some tone on tone and subtle textural prints) is working out fine, but one thing I find is that my color selection for each block is dictated by the shapes and quantities I have on hand, not any approximation of the colors used in Jaybird's pattern.

• This block goes together very easily, despite looking a bit more complicated.  I see myself adapting the central "flower" shape and using it in another project, maybe a crib quilt or a table topper.  

• I'm glad to have the specialty rulers-- super sidekick and the hex n'more.  They make accurate cutting so fast and easy.  The only times I run into issues with matching key points is when I've got variation in weave of the fabrics -- so for example, a tight, smooth batik next to a kona solid -- sometimes the fabrics are are responding to pressing and manipulaton differently and that's giving me tiny imperfections.  I tend to be of the "Never mind if it won't be noted from a trotting horse" school of thinking, so no worries.

The quilt along by Busy Hands quilter, complete with good tips and prize drawings is worth checking out -- click here:

Gravity Quilt along -- June

I've been adding to my batik, scrappy, strictly from the stash Gravity blocks steadily in the last few weeks. Check out the quilt along hosted by Busy Hands Quilts at this link

Quilting along with Busy Hands Quilts block of the month: Gravity

I've heard it said that Gravity, by Jbird quilts, is a design that is all about color placement and careful planning.  I agree, but I'm going rogue and doing a completely unplanned, scrappy, batiks and tone on tone texture prints ,stash and scraps only take.

A few random thoughts on striking out on a different take like this:

• I use my design wall to try out color placement a lot more than I would if I were following the directions.
• I may not like the end result, but I figure that there's an equal chance that it will be pleasing in the end
• I reserve the right to change the finished assembly -- in other words, maybe not all my blocks will end up in the same project. I may just make a table topper with 6 diamonds. I'll wait to see what I think.
• I'm going to believe that quilting will pull it together if it feels a little too disjointed right now.
• One of the benefits of using a pattern or batik is that there is just a tiny bit of forgiveness for points that don't completely, perfectly, absolutely match as they should -- solids show every flaw.
• I have an amazing array or batiks, and it's almost ludicrous how most of them are from the blue/green/purple colorways.  I guess my tastes are consistent. 

Check out the quilt along I'm following.  Lots of great prizes, I'm told. Click on the image below to check it out.

Dala horse mini

Just a little mini-fabric wall hanging of a Dala horse (aka Swedish horse) that I made for my son's room.  It's fusible web applique with a straight stitch around the perimeter and some quick free motion quilting.

I've been given odd pieces of fabric of dubious quality -- it's probably from JoAnn or Walmart, and it just doesn't look as substantial as the quilt shop quality cottons I like working with.  Little pieces like this one are a great place to use those sub par fabrics.  I also can use up the tinyest bits of favorite fabrics --- the framing blues on the piece above are from Summer House -- one of my favorite fabric lines ever.

Just another day or so

I spent a month and 3 days in the hospital with my son as he recovered from a spinal fusion surgery and complications. My sewing project during that time was doing the hand applique on these Dresden Plate blocks.

They're very scrappy blocks, with portions of a pack of charm squares from "Vintage Modern" by Bonnie and Camille, together with all the scrappy bits in my stash that remotely go with the dominant floral print. I didn't spend a lot of time with placement of individual blades in these blocks, preferring to go with a very scrappy and informal look.

I appliqued the 12 blocks in 14 days, each day thinking, maybe we go home soon.  But then D had a bunch of complications which lengthened our stay, for "just another day or so". I had to wait until I had a few hours at home to make the center circles, which I completed during the last week we were in-patient.  My little trick for applique circles is to use water soluble interfacing to back the circles-- it disappears after the first washing, leaving perfect (or as close to perfect as I get) circles with a uniform turned edge.

Here they all are-- just need to decide on a sashing and cornerstone blocks. I have a grey print I plan to use for the back and binding. And there is enough to use it for sashing too, if I decide to go that route.

Quilting Bees -- 2014 style

As a little challenge to myself to work outside my own comfort zone, I joined an online quilting bee.  The idea is that each member takes a turn as the Queen of the hive and picks a block, colorway, and style for the blocks which each member will make and then send to her. Each of us (theoretically) will make a block for every other member, and will in turn receive 10 blocks from other hive members.  I've been in online swap groups before, so I know the potential for disappointment and failures, but it's still fun, and a good way to force myself to try something new.

For January, we made these strip pieced star blocks with a pallette of black and white, grey, navy, aqua and salmon/peach.

Pretty, yes?

For February, the block requires paper piecing and curved seams-- a  New York Beauty pattern.

These blocks just about did me in. There's a reason I've sworn I would never do curved piecing ever again, as these blocks reminded me.

I'm mailing them untrimmed, leaving it to the queen bee of the month to figure out how to trim to uniform or at least usable sizes.