No Scrap Left Behind - A Book Review

I was recently contacted by CT Publishing with the offer of a free electronic copy of Amanda Jean Nyberg's No Scrap Left Behind book in return for a review of the book.  They noted my blog was all about scraps - imagine that!

I quickly took them up on their offer as this book has been on my wishlist since it was released.

I was really pleased with how the book is organized.  It walks you through all the steps of using your scraps to create beautiful quilts - from scrap management to color selections.

I also like that the quilt designs are organized by scrap shape - squares, triangles, strings and snippets.  Once you identify what type of scraps you have, you can take a look at the best quilt designs to the most out of your scraps.

Once I read through the book, I decided to start the Donuts quilt.  This design is in the string section and I have wanted to make this quilt for a really long time.  I am going to make my quilt a bit smaller - going with only 13 circles which will make a 66" square quilt.  While my pinks scraps were out, I put together enough of the components to make two of the "donuts".

Each "donut" is 16" square.  I haven't decided on a background fabric yet.  I will do that after I have the 13 blocks completed.  I am not sure if this will become an RSC project or if I will just sew up blocks as I come across scraps.  It shouldn't take much time to complete at all!

I am sure this will not be the only quilt I make using this book.  It is filled with so many great ideas for using your scraps.  

If you are interested in picking up this book, it is currently on sale here!

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A New Start to a RSC Quilt

For a couple of months now, I have been trying to land on a block design for my next Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt.  There were some types of fabric scraps I really wanted to focus on so I needed a block that had spaces for them.  I wanted to clean out some scraps with multiple colors and low volumes that had a lot of color in them.

I finally found a block that was going to work perfectly for what I wanted (thanks to Cathy and Diann).

My blocks look very different than theirs because they are using all low volume prints and making theirs far more scrappy.   I am using three fabrics on each block - the RSC color in the center, two low volume prints and two darker prints.

In no time at all, I made ten  6.5" blocks out of my pink bin.  I don't "love" them all.  Some have better contrast than others but I am okay with that.  In the end, I should be able to find a place for them all.  It has been ages since I made such a small RSC block.  And I laugh along with many of you, because I know this is large for some.

It is going to be fun to see this block in more colors and see what layout will present itself.

I love a new quilt start!

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It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

• This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
• You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
• If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
• If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
• This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
• Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)

Cooking Up Quilts (Main Crush Mondays)

Em's ScrapBag (Moving it Forward)

Freemotion by the River (Linky Tuesday)

Finally...Some CIL Finishes

Every time Kat over at Kat & Cat Quilts puts out a call for Covered in Love blocks, I always have the intention of making some.  Sadly, I rarely follow through with those intentions…

But this month I made it a priority and finished up some red, white and blue 12" maverick star blocks to send her way.  It is just a design I made up so I could use fabrics from my scrap bins.

I have a few bits of red, white and blue patriotic scraps and decided to start with those in the center of the blocks.  Then it was just a matter of finding a piece large enough to cut all the necessary pieces.

For the last one, I decided to get even more scrappy.

So I have three blocks to send off to Kat soon.  Now I won't have to feel so bad when I see the maps where the blocks come from and see Oregon not represented  :)

If you want to read more about the Covered in Love quilt block drives, you can read more about it here.  There is still lots of time to contribute some stars of your own!

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Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

From Bolt to Beauty (Brag about your Beauties)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

Some New Fabric

Today I thought I would share my recent fabric purchase and talk a bit about how I decide what cuts of fabric to buy.

Because I mostly make quilts from scraps nowadays, I rarely buy fabric for general piecing.  When I do, it is usually half yard cuts of a specific color I am low on or staples like low volume or black/whites.

So nowadays, when I see a good sale, it is backing and background pieces I am in the market for.

I keep all of my backing fabrics (anything larger than about 2.5 yards) in a dresser separate from my other stash.  I also keep it organized by color like I do all of my fabric.  When I am getting ready to make a purchase, I look through my stash and make note of which colors I am low on.  Above are some great stash pieces I have now.  You can see I focus on more tonal fabrics and stay away from the more multi color prints.

For this last purchase I made to Connecting Threads, I identified I needed yellow, orange and red.  I have purchased the sketch fabric before and love it.  And I can ALWAYS use navy so the dots went into my shopping cart too.  Because most of my quilts are lap size, (approx. 60 x 72), I buy 4 yard cuts.  This puts the seam horizontally on the quilt.  If I need a bigger backing, I usually end up piecing different fabrics together to make the size I need.

 In my last purchase, I also included some textured tonal prints to use as background fabrics.  I prefer these over solids so I like to have them on hand.  I usually buy 2.5 yard pieces for my stash.  I really fell for the soft sherbet orange chambray piece and have been day dreaming about how to use it.

And because most of my backing fabric stash are more tonal prints, most of the time I can also use those for background fabrics if there is one that is perfect for my project.

Keeping my stash stocked with fabric that can be used in lots of ways helps to ensure I can always find something in my stash when I am ready to sew.  Also, being able to pick them up when they are on sale, keeps me sewing without hurting my pocketbook!

It is time for me to get sewing!

So many possibilities...

If you prefer to use solids for your background fabrics, did you see that  the Fat Quarter Shop have their Kona solids on sale?  They are one of July's Basic of the Month.

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***This post contains affiliate links.  I appreciate the support!

Oh Scrap! : Pink Scraps

The pink scraps are coming out in July!

I had already started pulling some pink scraps for my improv garden quilt.  This time I paired the various shades of pink with some emerald green scraps.

I am really worried this quilt will not turn out as I envision but I am determined to follow it to see where it leads me!

I also whipped up some of my 2.5" color blocks in pink. 

My pink scraps are still a bit depleted so I just used what I had. 

I tucked the blocks in with all of the ones I have finished to date.

My plan is a 5 x 6 setting in a rainbow of colors.

Very simple quilt but I think it is going to be a lot of fun!

*********************************************

It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

• This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
• You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
• If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
• If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
• This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
• Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)

Cooking Up Quilts (Main Crush Mondays)

Em's ScrapBag (Moving it Forward)

Freemotion by the River (Linky Tuesday)