Thursday, September 5, 2013

Making Progress on the Scrap Front

(Groan) I am still working on getting to the bottom of the scrap bin. Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts commented that scrap management is a full time job and I think she is right. Thought I would share the second quilt top I just finished.



For this one, I sorted out all my fabric bits with black or grey backgrounds but also had some bright colors. I cut everything into 2 1/2" squares. As I was sorting, I came across a bunch of different shades of blue and turquoise solids that were old die lots or manufacturers so I thought I would use this opportunity to use them up as well.


When I am sewing scraps, I really don't like to match up seams and I also knew that I wasn't that careful with my cutting.  I took all this into account when I started deciding how to sew this top.





This quilt top is made from 2 blocks.

Block A uses a total of 48 scrap squares.
*sew 4 into a 4 patch for the center
*sew 2 sets of the following in rows (3, 5, 6, 8)
*cuts for 1.5" wide solids (2 ea) are 4.5", 6.5", 10.5", 12.5"

Assemble as you would a square in a square block.  Due to my bad cutting, I always squared up the block after finishing a round with the squares.

Block B uses 36 scrap squares.  The solid center is a 4.5" square.

*sew 2 sets of the following in rows (2, 4, 5, 7)
*cuts for the 1.5" wide solids (2 ea) are 8.5", 10.5", 14.5", 16.5"






Completed block size is 16.5" unfinished.




Then just alternate the blocks and sew them together.

....And celebrate that all those bits are now on its way to being a quilt!




 Many of these scraps have been collecting for years.  I would have loved to make this top in some other fabrics but it definitely worked great for these busy difficult scraps.  I was just happy to find a way to get rid of use them.


BTW - If you like this design, you might like some of my other patterns that can be found here.







Remember this one?

Well, it all quilted up and listed in my Etsy shop.

Whoo Hoo!!











And a little triangle baby quilt I also cut some scraps for is finished too.


I have been one busy girl lately!






Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Thursday Threads at 627Handworks and  Finish it up Fridays at Crazy Mom Quilts.

18 comments:

Janet @ Simply Pieced said...

This is an amazing pattern and I love the scrappiness! Nice finished top.

Lauren Deel said...

I'm so impressed with how you used all those dark prints - it's gorgeous!

Linda said...

Love it! A scrappy delight.

Pat Merkle said...

I'm not normally a fan of scrap quilts, but I love the scraps with the aqua. It really pops! I don't think I would have ever thought to use that color, but it is wonderful!

Ali said...

I love the bold colours of the first quilt and I really like the fact you've made them from scraps.
Ali x

Elise Lea said...

Love this second quilt! You do some beautiful work. I am impressed at what you could do with scraps!

Unknown said...

Great job, love the aqua!

Tami C said...

Another Great scrappy quilt! Thanks for sharing.

jan said...

I love the dark prints with that blue. gorgeous.
xo jan@sewandsowfarm

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation said...

you are a scrap using queen! Love these darker scrappy blocks with the blue sashing!

Thank you so much for sharing this at Needle and Thread Thursday!

:) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Joanie's Trendy Quilts said...

Wow! You have been busy! All are beautiful! Amamzing how many quilts you have made out of your scrap basket.

Sandy Panagos said...

That may just be the coolest scrap quilt ever!

imquilternity said...

I love it... it inspires me and that's good since I've got lots and lots of scraps!

Anonymous said...

Love that scrap quilt and the bright colour just sets it off beautifully. Thanks for sharing. Marie (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)

Sandi said...

Im a little late to the comment section being that its 2016 now but I love the blue squares..so vibrant.

Sherry Galloway said...

I love it! You are an inspiration.

Sharon Tucker said...

I'm participating in Scrap Attack 2018 with Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict and I pulled up this design to work on for August! I don't have a lot of black or blue so I'm not sure how this is going to turn out...but I'm giving it a shot!! Thanks for the inspiration!!

marguerite said...

I'm a bit late to this party! But if you are still here......Just wanted to thank you for sharing this great design for 2 1/2" squares. You literally made my day. I had forced myself to spend most of the day dealing with my overflowing scrap bins...too much clutter, inefficient use of space, guilt over buying fabric when I could open my own store. I finally decided to break down and follow the advice of so many quilters and cut them into useful and neat pieces. Not surprisingly, I ended up with a mountain of 2 1/2" squares, a size I rarely use. I knew I could just fling them all together onto a postage stamp type quilt, but the fact is I don't like totally scrappy quilts; they look chaotic to me. I always include unifying elements when working with scraps. SO- Bingo, I found your gorgeous idea. I use a lot of purple, had some yardage of a tone on tone purple for the narrow pieces and set to work. The icing on the cake is that it is so easy to make. Not only did I reduce my pile of squares, I unearthed some baggies of scraps I had planned to donate and made more! Who'd have thought???
Anyway, thanks!!! marguerite from Brenham, Texas.

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