Having said goodbye to these quilts when I donated them recently, I’m showing them one last time just for fun!
Made from scraps
Wonky Log Cabin Remix, from scraps
Rescued Dots from a quilt that went wrong
A quilt made years ago, from actual yardage!
Another scrap quilt!And to my chagrin, there were three others I never even took pictures of! Anyway, these were fun and I’m now reminded to take pictures of everything!
I found this quilt on Pinterest and followed the link to the directions because I thought it was such a great example of “color gets the credit, value does the work”. Also, it used a lot of scraps! In particular, I had TWO bins full of 5″ charms from a swap group I used to belong to, and I used an entire bin to make this quilt 🙂
You can find the free pattern here: Kitchen Table Quilting
Yes! There were a lot of little intersections to match–good practice!
If you ask Ms. Google or search on Pinterest, you can see many variations made by other quilters.
QUILT DETAILS
Name: Plaidish
Finished size: 63.5” x 63.5”
Designed by Erica at Kitchen Table Quilting
Made by me
Quilted by Julia Madison
I don’t recall where I first heard the statement that titles this post but, when I ask Ms. Google, I find it a common saying on art teaching sites. It is certainly true in quilting.
The class I taught most recently was about learning to use color in quilts. We used Linda Hahn’s pattern Junk to Jems. I gave each student a handout with numerous ways to vary the blocks. Everyone brought scraps and we all worked on different ways to combine them. It was fun and we got some very interesting color combinations.
Here are some of the blocks made in the class:
And here are a couple of variations I made as class samples:
As with all Linda’s patterns, Junk to Jems was clearly written. I’ll probably use it again because so many variations can be made with this block.
And yes, I am using both cream and white backgrounds in the same quilt 🙂
One of my quilt groups makes donation quilts about 40″ square for various organizations. The size is easy to construct and quilt at home, and is appropriate for the children who receive the quilts. Here are the recent group donations:
We often use swap blocks for our quilts and recently decided on a new swap and I want to tell you about it. One of your quilt groups may enjoy it, too! Here’s how:
First make a big wonky log cabin block. Our blocks started with a 5″ square, which was modified to make a wonky center. It was then surrounded by strips from my scrap bins, and occasional strips were trimmed so they were wonky, too. 
These big blocks are 21″ square (unfinished).
We cut each block in quarters, so each quarter is 10.5″ unfinished, and started arranging them to make a quilt top that would finish at 40″ square.
This was how we eventually decided to arrange them in the finished top:
And then, of course, we made 4 more:
If you decide to do this, there are only 2 things to watch out for:
This is a really fun way to use scraps! If you make one, or use this for a group swap, send me a picture!
There is no shortage of patterns for scrap quilts, and often I start with a pattern I’ve found somewhere and modify it to suit me. I have notebooks full of pictures from magazines and photos I’ve taken of vintage or show quilts, so I use those for inspiration. Here is a quilt I made by modifying a pattern from a magazine I’d been saving for a long time:
You can find the original pattern for this quilt by going to AllPeopleQuilt.com and searching for the “trail mix” pattern
The above quilt was made from my husband’s old shirts–whether that counts as scraps or yardage is a matter of opinion 🙂
I have some favorite scrap patterns I’ve used repeatedly over the years. This one, which I learned from Barbara Lenox many years ago, is intended to be made at the end of the year using scraps from all the projects you made that year. I love that idea and have made several of these. You can see my post explaining the basic block here.
Another favorite quilt pattern is Junk to Jems, by Linda J. Hahn. Here is my version which has been modified a fair amount from the pattern.
One thing I love about this pattern is that it is possible to make the elements of each block then re-arrange them so that there are several different variations on the same block. So yes, my version is not quite like hers.
Augusta Cole is another teacher whose scrap quilts I admire, and I have made several from her Snappy Scrappy Stars pattern. This makes a great leaders-and-enders project for me and I often use the blocks in donation quilts.
This is a leaders-and-enders project from Augusta Cole’s Scrappy Snappy Stars pattern
Of course, often a quilt starts as a pattern and then veers off course (surprise!). The quilt below started as a way to use both a linen background and a group of fabrics I had in small amounts. The original pattern is one of Karla Alexander’s stack and shuffle designs, and you probably can see that if you know the pattern. This is my variation.
And finally, even when I buy fabric for a quilt, I often buy fat quarters, which pretty much guarantees a scrappy look. And I don’t really like making the same block twice, so often I make a variety of blocks for a single quilt. Here is one last example of a quilt made from a fat quarter bundle, though it appears scrappy.
The pattern is Bermuda Sunset, another one by Linda Hahn.
A friend who is a writer mentioned the other day that her stories sometimes take on a life of their own and lead where she didn’t expect to go. She asked if my quilts do that, too. Absolutely! Start out headed for A, end up at Q!
It’s all good. 🙂
Many of my scrap quilts are inspired by other quilters. I still find it useful to start with a collection of fabrics I think “go together”. In that regard, I do NOT worry about color per se, though I recognize that color is a big “bugaboo” for many quilters. I do find it useful to decide at the outset whether the quilt is to be bright or muted colors, but beyond that I don’t worry much. And of course I break that rule sometimes, too.
One of my first inspired-by-others adventures was a series of quilts I made after reading Gwen Marston’s books. I just love her aesthetic, and wish I had been able to take a class with her while she was alive. Here is a quilt I made for the Quilt Alliance annual contest a few years ago, based on Gwen’s published quilts:
“Gwen Visits the Farm” is a quilt I made for the Quilt Alliance contest; the black fabric has words representing animal sounds such as “quack”
I also used a collection of Cherrywood scraps to make this quilt based on Gwen’s “liberated log cabin” idea:
Cherrywood Toss, 59″ x 61″, 2016. My favorite part of this was making the background out of a mixture of dark colors.
Also, taking a cue from my friend who makes a small art quilt each week, I made these 3 quilts based on lessons in one of Gwen’s books:
I continue to learn from the quilters I consider “the best” by making quilts inspired by their ideas. A recent one was inspired by Maria Shell’s tutorial on improvised flying geese:
The colors of the quilt blended with the colors of my chimney, where I stuck it up to be photographed
Of course, not all such experiments are particularly successful. I love Freddy Moran’s aesthetic, but this table runner based on her ideas didn’t turn out very well, in my opinion. I expect to make more things using her ideas, and they’ll improve 🙂
I designed and made this runner for a guild challenge
Since, at this point in my quilting career, most of my fabric collection is scraps, there will be many more scrap quilts to come! Next week I’ll discuss how I use scraps in quilts made from patterns.
When I mentioned recently that I was making a basket to hold scraps as I work on a project, my blogging friend Elizabeth asked how I decide what to do with the scraps. This first post will be about how I design scrap quilts; the second in the series will be about how I use inspiration from other quilters; the third will be about how I modify published patterns for scrap quilts.
My first improvised scrap quilt was made close to 20 years ago. I absolutely just starting sewing scraps together and kept it up until I had a collection of blocks. The scraps were all from an Amish-style quilt I had made, which kept the blocks cohesive.
I then added 2 shades of yellow for sashing.
Nothing Is Wasted, my first improvisational quilt, 2001-2002
Using scraps from a single project is one way to be sure the scraps all play well together, assuming the fabrics were well coordinated in the original project. After making the quilt below for Modern Quilts Unlimited with some yummy Cotton Couture fabrics provided by Michael Miller…
My Zippy Star Quilt and Pillow as shown in Modern Quilts Unlimited, Summer 2014
I started sewing all my tiny scraps together and added a tiny paper-pieced star to make a donation quilt for the Quilt Alliance annual contest:
Confetti Star, 20″ x 20″, 2014. Some of these pieces finish less than 1/4″ square
I then started combining scraps of a single color to make blocks. I called them “slabs”, since the idea of making single-color scrap blocks came from Cheryl Arkison (though hers are much more orderly than mine). Here is one example of a quilt made from these single-color blocks:
On at least one occasion I decided a collection of yellow and orange scrap blocks were booooring, so I cut them up and inserted some bright blue before combining them in a quilt:
Sometimes I am “forced” to design a new quilt because the scrap bins are overflowing. When the strip bins got out of hand last spring, I designed this quilt. The idea of putting a circle in the alternate blocks came from my friend Jerri. The triangle blocks were because I have a 60 degree triangle ruler 🙂
Machine applique of these circles was done after the quilting, so there was no need for further stabilizer
On another occasion, some friends and I had way too many 2.5″ blocks, so we developed these blocks and set them on point. That quilt hung around for a long time “needing something”. Eventually I added a central motif, and here it is:
The petals were fused on with Heat’n’Bond, and then I buttonhole stitched around them
Another design process I like to use is to simply fill a piece of batting with scraps. For the table runners shown below, I selected a group of fabrics for the top and a piece of backing fabric about 6″ longer and wider than the finished runner. I spray basted the batting to the backing, then started filling the space on the batting with pieces of fabric from my collection. I didn’t sew them down until I had a whole section done, since this type of designing involves cutting off bits here and there to keep edges even.
Here is one of the samples for my improvised table runner class
I have taught this method as a class, but it proved to be too unstructured for some people, who really just wanted to make my runner. I continue to use the method for myself but have not attempted to teach it to others again!
So, in response to the question of my process for designing scrap quilts, it’s really just “by the seat of my pants”. I do start with a collection of fabrics I like together, but otherwise it’s sew first, plan later. What I’m not showing, of course, is all the “fizzles” that got thrown out along the way!
Please stay tuned for Part II, scrap quilts inspired by other quilters. And go visit Elizabeth, who inspired this post!
I love this quilt because it gets rid of both a UFO and some scraps!
I had this great backing fabric with all the color names you can imagine written on it, and I had just finished backing a quilt with it. Did NOT want to put the scraps in a scrap drawer if I could help it–those are overflowing!
Blocks finish 6″, so this is an 18″ square section to show fabrics
At the same time, I had these great little sew-and-flip stars from a block swap and needed to do something with them. Serendipity!
Here is a single block showing the quilting:
Here is the finished quilt:
QUILT DETAILS
Name: Serendipity
Finished size: 42” x 42”
Alternate blocks are Windham Fabrics Modern Hand fabric
Sew and flip stars from a group swap
Designed, made, and quilted by me
Augusta Cole’s motto is “Variety is the spice of life” and she travels with a lovely quilted wall hanging bearing that motto. You can see the wall hanging and a good picture of her on the front page of her website.
Augusta designs and teaches beautiful scrap quilts that I’ve admired for years, and certainly scrap quilts have plenty of variety!. She was one of the instructors at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium, so I took the opportunity to interview her. I’ve been following her online ever since I found her Snappy, Scrappy Stars quilt pattern many years ago. Here is one of the multiple versions I’ve made of that quilt (her version has a much fancier border):
I was unable to lift pictures from her site–which usually is how people want me to get pictures to go with my interviews–due to the format. These pictures of some of her quilts are those I took at the quilt symposium. 
Augusta says she has a lifelong history of crafting and keeping her hands busy. She took up quilting after her second child was born, and “it came very naturally.” A class with Karen Pervier was especially influential, and Karen remains a good friend.
After living in New York state and North Carolina, Augusta now lives in the Richmond (Virginia) area. Since retiring from her career as a physical education teacher, she travels to teach quilting. Her husband is supportive and even keeps the books for her!
I was unable to fit in a class with Augusta, but a friend who took her class really enjoyed it. She reports Augusta is a lively and engaging teacher. Augusta’s patterns are available on her website. (Go look at her pretty quilts even if you don’t need a pattern!). I continue to be inspired by her many variations on scrap quilts.
Addendum: Here is a picture from Augusta’s Cutting Bee class, kindly provided by Chris Crouch:
It’s been over a year since I purchased the Indygo Junction pattern for a basket made of covered clothesline, so I expect everybody else in America has tried this already. Anyway, it was fun.
The pattern gives basic instructions for starting the basket, shaping the bottom, and then shaping the sides. Instructions are given for two types of handles, and for making the lining. The basket itself was easier than I expected, then the lining was a little tricky. Probably my fault because I changed the instructions 😀
My husband sometimes asks, “What is this one for?” The answer is, “For making something I’ve never made before.” Which means I have no idea of a use for this basket, but I do want to make at least one of (almost) everything just for the experience! (Bonus: this used a lot of scraps!)
What about you? Do you have a plan for everything you make?
Zippy Quilts 