Scrap Quilts: Throwing Caution To The Wind

After you’ve made a few quilts from specific patterns, you will probably have piles of leftover fabric remnants cluttering up your craft area. You could just throw them out, but why let that beautiful fabric go to waste when you could use it to make a gorgeous scrap quilt instead?

With scrap quilts, the possibilities are endless. You can follow a pattern or just follow your heart! The only rule in scrap quilting is that there are no rules. Arrange those bits of fabric however they look good to you, and don’t be afraid of color! This is your golden opportunity to let your creative side run wild.

Getting started with scrap quilting can be a bit overwhelming, since there are so many possibilities. But don’t be intimidated! We have some great information here to get you started.

Fantastic Scraps And Where To Find Them

The first thing to think about is what type of scraps you’ll be working with. Each different size has its own name and use.

• Crumbs: The very smallest scrap pieces! You can make entire quilts out of these itty-bitty fabric scraps.
• Jelly rolls: These are strips of fabric 2.5 inches wide and of varying lengths. These scraps are extremely versatile and can be put to a variety of uses in your quilts.
• Charms: These are 5-inch squares and often are sold in packages that include 25-40 different fabrics for plenty of variety in your quilt.
• Mini-charms: If you need something a bit smaller, try the mini-charms! These are 2.5-inch squares that come in the same varieties as the 5-inch charms.
• Layer cakes: These are 10-inch squares and are great for when you want to finish a project quickly.
• Fat quarters: Even bigger than layer cakes, these squares are 18 by 22 inches.

But what if you have a great idea in mind for a beautiful quilt, but you don’t have quite enough scraps of the right size? First, check with your fellow quilters and see if any of them would interested in doing a scrap swap. Another great resource is your local quilting store; they often have scrap bags on hand that you might be able to dig through to find what you’re looking for. And don’t forget the Internet. Several eBay and Etsy stores carry beautiful fabric scraps that could be just the thing to round out your project.

You can also try using precut fabric to save you time. After all, it can take quite a while to cut all your fabric remnants down to uniform sizes. Using fabric that has been pre-cut by either your quilt store or the manufacturer can really cut down on the time you spend preparing your quilt materials, not to mention the tedium of cutting everything out. Precuts can also eliminate some of the guesswork of color matching, especially if you’re a bit hesitant about using many different colors.

What To Do With All Those Scraps

Although scrap quilts by definition can be absolutely anything, you might find it helpful to have a specific starting point to get you going.

• Scrappy Trips Around The World: Designed by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com, this is a fun variation on the “many trips around the world” quilt pattern. Instead of planning out your color chains to form the diamonds around a center square, just use up your scraps! This way you can still clearly see the diamond pattern, but it’s a fun riot of colors instead of a planned color scheme.
• Scrappy Bargello: Another great idea from Bonnie Hunter! Bargello quilts are made in a wave or zigzag pattern. Again, just lay out those scraps however they look good to you. You can try moving from darker colors to lighter or vice-versa, or simply follow whatever creative inspiration you choose.
• Scrap Vomit Quilt: Yes, you read that right! Coined by popular quilting blogger Katy Jones (I’m a Ginger Monkey), this is a term for a quilt designed to use up all of those bits left over from previous projects. Darker-colored diamond patterns are surrounded by bright, fun squares.

Keep in mind, however, that the beauty of a scrap quilt is that you don’t have to follow a pattern at all. This is your chance to experiment. Play around with different colors; after all, this is your project and they don’t have to match. If a particular combination looks good to you, use it, no matter what a pattern might say. Throw caution to the wind and go wild!

Also, scraps don’t have to be used for making more quilts. You could turn those lovely bits of fabric into a stuffed animal, a new covering for a footstool, or any other project where quilting techniques can be used.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink

If you’re wondering what to do with all of those bins of leftover fabric, consider a scrap quilt. Not only will you cut down on clutter, but you’ll be able to stretch your creativity and design something beautiful. Anything and everything can go into a scrap quilt – the only limit is your own imagination.