If you have ever tried your hand at making a quilt out of scraps of fabric, you may have found that it is, in some respects, more challenging than making a quilt out of brand-new fabric.
A number of years ago, I participated in a workshop where I made the cute little heart wall hanging that is displayed below.
The goal of the project was to create a secondary design by appliquing quarter-square triangle patches, which were made from scraps, around heart appliqué patches. This secondary design could take the form of star points around the hearts.
After rearranging the patches for what seemed like hours, I finally gave up and just sewed them all together. It’s possible that you’ll be able to see the stars if you go to certain places.
My problem was that because I was making a scrap quilt, I did not have enough of each type of fabric—light, medium, and dark—to complete the quilt. Because I restricted myself to using only the fabric that I already owned, it was challenging to achieve the look that I was going for. (In order for the star points to differentiate themselves from the medium fabric, they required either light or dark fabric.)
However, the majority of the time I was just met with frustration, and as a result, I never attempted another scrap quilt.
This year, I’ve decided to try my hand at making some new scrap quilts using various techniques. Given that my fabric scrap pile has outgrown the cardboard boxes it was previously stored in, I feel compelled to use it as inspiration for some kind of creative endeavor.
There are a few “rules” that can be followed to help ensure the success of scrap quilts. If you follow just a few of these “rules,” your quilt might end up being a little more successful than mine was:
- include something dark
- include something light
- include something dull
- include something bright
- combine large, medium and small-scale prints
- use bright accent colors sparingly and consistently throughout the quilt to keep your eye moving
- use neutrals to give your eye a rest (black and/or white could be considered neutrals)
- pay attention to the amount of dark and light contrast within the individual prints of the fabrics you choose
One more rule: keep in mind that rules were never meant to be followed exactly, especially when it comes to quilting. Therefore, do not restrict either your quilt or your imagination on the basis of these so-called rules.
| Scrap Quilt with Appliqué Hearts | This quilt was made from leftover strips of fabric. |
| The hearts in this baby quilt were made with scraps of fabric appliquéd onto a white background. | This heart quilt is also made using scraps of fabric – strips, triangles and squares. |
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