Sierra

Perhaps we are automatically going back to the roots of quilting. Our guild had a lecturer (with lots of examples) and she had spent a lot of time researching quilting. The first quilting was simply patching. At some point it evloved into if you have to patch, why not make it beautiful? At some very later date deliberate design were started. We are simply going back to the roots of quilting!

Probaby the economic crisis is influencing us. How many of us recyle? Not because we "need" to, but because it helps us have a cleaner world. Why do we use up our scrapes? Many of us have huge stashes and could make "designed" quilts out of what we have, but the awareness that times are hard, that fabric prices are going up, and, of course, the beautiful scrappies we see others doing makes us want to do what our ancestors did long ago.... be thrifty and have fun using the pieces we have on hand. Even those who buy fat quarters for scrappies are influenced by the history, the "feel" of making quilts our of small pieces.

ScrapQuilter

Thank you for all the wonderful posts............ here are some of the scrappy quilts I have done.

Central Ohio Quilter

I agree - I am just not a fan of most scrappies at all. Some of them I can appreciate, IF they are somewhat controlled and have a color theme or some kind of unifying theme. I still keep my scraps in case I need something in that specific color.

craftyheart2

Scrapquilter I love your scrappies. Looks like you are a Bonnie Hunter fan too.

Nilla

I love the look of a true scrappy quilt, where someone just pulls a square from the bag, but I haven't made one myself yet. I have tons of fabric in bins that I've purchased on sale or had leftover from another project so even when I decide to pull from my stash, it ends up being color coordinated. I've been slowly cutting leftover pieces into strips though with the eventual intention of cutting them into squares and putting them in bags for a true scrappy Irish Chain.

I suppose it's like most things in life; for some scrappies may be a sign of the troubled economy and for others just a love of scrappy!

Tashana

I like all kinds of quilts including scrappies BUT on my recent visit to Canada I realized that if I still lived there I would have to either give up quilting or work with scraps only. The fabric prices are outrageous! I went to a LQS and a chain store (Fabricland) and both had great variety of fabrics but I could afford to buy only deeply discounted ones. To give you an example - I like batiks and they were $22 per meter (slightly longer than a yard). So 10 yards of batik for my bargello would cost $220 + 12% tax . I bought the same amount of fabric in the fall in PA for $100. So yes, scrap quilts are becoming a necessity if you want to keep quilting, unless you have enough disposable income to feed your fabric addiction. If you do, all the power to you and keep on quilting.

meldmac

I live in Canada and I mostly agree but there are great sales here so that's where I will try and get most of my fabric.