The Bag Lady

The only type of quilts that I have ever made are scrappy quilts. But, I make sure that the colors go well together. I usually have 20-30 different prints to make it interesting and attractive.My most recent is the Bento Box pattern and I used Asian prints that went well together.

brushandthimble

An easy way to get started with making scrap quilts, is what I call a controlled scrap quilt. Pull all your left over fabric in ONE color family, no regard to if they match or go together, and use ONE background fabric. Might be called a two color quilt.
I taught my nieces to quilt with a cut out scrap quilt projects that I had. Don't think they were to sure how all those fabrics would look together :lol: When finished they loved them, kept saying never thought all those fabrics went together or would look nice.

pollyjvan9

What I find appealing about scrap quilts is the variety. Sometimes a color you would never think about looking good with something else will really make everything else POP!

Boston1954

I sometimes worry that something will not look good next to something else, then I stop and realize that when they are all sewn together, that you are not really looking at any one fabric, you are seeing it as a whole.

KiwiQuilter

Scrap quilts seem to come together and look fabulous. I think it is the play between dark, medium, and light values.

I have some friends who give me their scraps. Which I really appreciate. Anyway - when I show the quilts that are made they often search the tops for their fabrics. They really get a thrill to know the fabric has been used - from something they wouldn't work with any more - into something fabulous. They often talk about the stories of the original quilt. I feel like I am maintaining some long unspoken quilting tradition/mystery.

Oh for me "scraps" are any left over fabric from previous projects (mine or others) where there isn't enough to use in a "co-ordinated/planned" top.

ann clare

A quilt that has lots and lots of different colours. Log cabin can be a wonderful scrap quilt because you are dealing with dark and bright fabrics.

Pamela Artman

My grandmother made traditional scrap quilts, with everything but the kitchen sink. She kept her scraps (everything left over from sewing projects from many years) in a closet in bags and boxes. When she cut out a quilt, she just pulled a scrap from the bag and cut it out, regardless of what print or color it was. She never used a rotary cutter and I remember the fist time she actually bought fabric for a whole quilt top. I tend to like controlled scrappy quilts, or scrappy quilts in one or two colors. I've made three scrappy purple quilts, a scrappy blue quilt, a scrappy teal quilt, and am working on two scrappy burgundy and tan quilts. I use a wide assortment of fabrics, from my scraps (leftovers) from fat quarters and I'll cut a strip or two from each of my yardage fabrics in that color. They key to having an interesting scrap quilt from one or two colors is to use a variety of shades, tones, hues, values, prints, etc. of that color. For instance, in my blue quilt, I use royal blues, baby blues, navy blues, greenish blues, purplish blues and florals, stripes, solids and plaids. When all put together, the colors have depth and seem to sparkle! I just love them! And I like knowing that I am using up fabrics from my stash. It makes me feel good to use that last little bit of some scrap, but it also makes me feel good when I cut a couple strips off a yard and can put the rest back into my stash for another quilt!

meemersmom

My philosophy is "you put them together they go together". I have made quite a few quilts. It does look odd when you first begin a scrap project because you only see a few fabrics then. But, as you make more blocks and it gets bigger, that's when the magic happens. My only two rules for scrap quilting is that I won't repeat a fabric in a block (if I can help it) and I won't put a fabric piece next to itself. Other than that, your options are open.