Scrap Quilt Patterns - 4 Easy Steps to the Perfect Scrappy Quilt

Choosing fabric for a scrap quilt is like a big scavenger hunt. You never know what you will find or where you will find it, but you are sure to uncover some real gems!

What is a Controlled Scrappy Quilt?

Not every fabric in your stash is a contender for this type of quilt. Our goal is to create a quilt with a controlled color palette that uses a wide range of quilt fabrics from your stash or shopping excursions.

Step 1 - Choose a Focus Object

It's not necessarily a 'focus fabric'. Anything will do here; but it must be pleasing to your eye. A picture from a magazine, a string of beads, a scarf...or yes, even a scrumptious piece of quilt fabric. Having a basic knowledge of color theory is great (and something I recommend), but trusting in your own eyes is just as valuable!

For my quilt, I chose a focus fabric with fish on it. Not exactly pretty, but it was interesting.

Step 2 - The Hunt

There's only one guideline for finding fabric with this method...

Your fabric choices must be friends with the focus object.

Now what does that mean?

They need not be exact matches in color, or in brightness, and certainly not in scale or pattern. The fabrics can be ugly. In fact, scrap quilts are a wonderful place to put some of those ugly fabrics that you can't for the life of you remember why you bought.

Stripes, plaids, batiks, reproductions, floral fabrics...all these fabrics belong together in a scrap quilt.

As you find them, whether from your coveted stash or shopping forays, lay them out against your focus object. If they 'play nicely' (again, no reason for matchy-matchy here) it is a keeper for now.

Be adventurous, but trust your instincts. Find yourself hemming and hawing over a fabric? Then it just does not belong. Do not over-think.

Once you have a big pile of fabrics in your project stash, it is...

Step 3 - Time to Decide

Do you want your final quilt to 'read' a certain color, say, as a 'red quilt'? Then be sure to add more red fabrics to your pile. If you want it to read as a total scrap quilt, then choose pretty even piles of all the basic colors found in your focus object. (For my fish quilt, the basic colors were purple, fuchsia, gold, green, orange and brown.) Not every fabric will make it into your quilt...but that's just a good reason to make another.

Step 4 - Put it Together

Sometimes a simple rule can take the fear out of piecing a scrap quilt. With so many fabrics to choose from in your project stash, it can be a bit overwhelming.

When I piece scrap quilt blocks, the only rule I use is that a color is only used once in the block, unless the quilt block pattern calls more. For my fish quilt each color was used just once in a block. Once a fabric was used, it was put into the used pile. That way there was an even distribution of fabrics and colors across the whole top of the quilt.

Sewing It Up!

In summary, to make a pleasing scrap quilt, just follow these simple guidelines:


Choose a focus object that pleases YOUR eyes
Fabrics in this project "stash" should be friends with the focus object, no fighting allowed!
Make your final selections for your project stash
Employ simple rules to create each block to control the quilt's overall appearance
Enjoy the process! Sewing scrap quilts patterns is a wonderful way to use up your stash!

Julie Baird is a quilt teacher, designer and fabric dyer from Plainfield, IL. She believes you can learn to make any quilt, one stitch at a time. Her website at http://www.generations-quilt-patterns.com is here to assist you with a variety of techniques and online helps when you need it.

Now if you are curious, her finished scrappy quilt with the fish focus fabric quilted up just fine. It turns out, the focus fabric made the perfect binding to tie the whole quilt together.

The steps of making a Baby Quilt

When your friends or family members in their family welcome a newborn baby is often the cause for celebration and gift giving. One of the most appreciated gifts his baby quilts. Newborns are used for the comfort and heat delivered during pregnancy; and after birth they enjoy tight this time in soft, warm material. As they grow up babies are an annex to their favorite blanket and they love the spring. Many types of duvets are designed for babies. The best part is you don't necessarily to buy a special quilt for the new addition, allows you to create with love. Create a quilt Hand will allow you to create a truly personal gift for the newborn, and all the love and hard work that goes into making the quilt will be greatly appreciated.

There are kits available that contain all the material necessary to create a quilt for beginners quilting thread. These kits contain step by step instructions that you can make of the goods in hand-crafted duvet for the new addition. Kits are also great because they help new quilters, so they learn the basics of quilting in the future to other, more personalized duvets. While experienced Quilters often aware of the hard work and the materials that go into creating the perfect duvet; create the perfect baby blanket can still be difficult.

Create any type of quilt requires planning and arranging items in the perfect order. While baby quilts can vary in complexity of appearance they needed so much work often as a full size quill. There are five major steps in planning and creating the perfect duvet.

Size is the first element to consider when it comes to making baby quilts. A baby quilt must significantly smaller than a typical quilt. Some quilts can be used for quilts or as bedding in cribs, so it's a wise choice to make a quilt that matches the size of the cradle is equipped. In addition, size may refer to the thickness of the duvet. Quilts that are built for adult use or even decoration are quite thick. A quilt that is created for a baby should, however, relatively thin.

Design is the next step in the process of creating the perfect baby quilt. Different types of duvets require different materials in different amounts; Therefore, it is essential that your duvet designed before you buy materials. Another variable is time: patchwork quilts take much more time and dedication than bind duvets and crochet costs even more time than a patchwork quilt. Quilters should be drawn up for the amount of work they're going to dedicate to the duvet.

Once you have your design set, the following considerations are the materials that you want to create the duvet. The race is the material for the child nursery; is the theme for their gender? In addition, the cloth should me comfortable for the newborn; cotton or fleece fibers are among the best choices. If you use two different materials are used, they must be of the same type with the only difference is the pattern. In addition to the cloth or yarn will you should use wire and save for the inside of the rug.

The construction of the blanket is the most time consuming part. Many Quilters actually pin the materials of the duvet to sew together before they start so they can see what it will look like. This allows them to move, and the placement of the stitching thread customize as needed. The construction process will greatly vary depending on the type of quilt that you create. Regardless of that style, it is important to take your time and pay attention to detail.

Completion of the quilt does not mean that the process is actually finished. After the duvet is mounted should be gently washed and dried the duvet. This will be good for shrink or instant blur from the material that you used. In addition, the removal of all brands or chemical substances which are used during creation of the materials and the duvet. This is important for every baby quilt as babies are extremely susceptible to disease and chemical reactions. As soon as the quilt is washed and dried it is completed and can be given to your new beloved.

Jennifer r. Scott has written for more than ten years on a wide range of topics. She has a background in which such diverse areas as environmental movement, cooking, animal care and technology. If you would like more information about baby quilts, quilts, please visit a site all about Quilting.