Question regarding scrappy quilts
06-23-2015, 04:07 AM
#32
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 38
I agree that it's all about the value and contrast.
But I also find that the more diverse and discordant the fabrics, the smaller the pieces should be. you can blend pretty much anything into a pleasant whole so long as the pieces are small enough and there is a lot of variety. If you have 98 % flour sack prints and 2 % batiks, those batiks will look out of place, but if you have just a huge mix of every color and style of print under the sun, it can work.
But I also find that the more diverse and discordant the fabrics, the smaller the pieces should be. you can blend pretty much anything into a pleasant whole so long as the pieces are small enough and there is a lot of variety. If you have 98 % flour sack prints and 2 % batiks, those batiks will look out of place, but if you have just a huge mix of every color and style of print under the sun, it can work.
I like random scrappies, I like planned scrappies. I've found over the years the things I threw together without much planning and thought weren't all that pretty were the ones other people absolutely loved. Go figure. I don't know if that means I have no sense of style or if it just confirms everybody is different!
06-23-2015, 05:26 AM
#33
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Somewhere inTexas
Posts: 968
06-23-2015, 08:09 AM
#36
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: West Kentucky
Posts: 1,100
In this scrappy that I'm working on I didn't really know where I was going, but tried to look at the first fabric and try to pick up a color for the next. Attaching pic as it's a bit hard to explain. Good luck with yours.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]523218[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]523218[/ATTACH]
06-23-2015, 08:25 AM
#37
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 5,973
For me the key to scrappies is a good white or beige solid. I have made a few that weren't planned. If the different fabrics/colors are separated, they seem to work. But then, the ones I love the most are the ones that have a color theme. Blue/yellow/white, green/red/ white ect. Many different fabrics.
06-23-2015, 12:10 PM
#38
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: southeast iowa
Posts: 2,887
It seems like everyone is correct
You can control your scrappies by color, background, value, etc. The smaller the pieces the more diverse you can be. I love scrappies. I also think some people have a flair for it. Everyone's posted pictures are great!!
You can control your scrappies by color, background, value, etc. The smaller the pieces the more diverse you can be. I love scrappies. I also think some people have a flair for it. Everyone's posted pictures are great!!
06-23-2015, 01:37 PM
#39
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 947
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 precuts-- 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, but none of them are available for photo sharing just now. The one I have in mind where I got lots of compliments was 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.
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 precuts-- 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, but none of them are available for photo sharing just now. The one I have in mind where I got lots of compliments was 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.
06-23-2015, 02:24 PM
#40
Super Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Round Rock,Texas
Posts: 6,135
A successful scrap quilt needs light,medium and dark. I don't so much go by color, but rather by value. This website gives you a better explanation. http://www.colorsontheweb.com/colorterms.asp
Sharon in Texas
Sharon in Texas
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