5 Tips for Using Fabric Scraps in Quilting Projects
Several weeks ago, while testing my new Treasure Box Quilt Pattern, I decided that I wanted to make a version of the quilt completely from my scraps.
I’ve been blogging and sewing for over a decade, and collecting and using fabric all that time. This means I have a ridiculous (extensive is a more neutral term, I guess) stash of fabric.
I also make a lot of quilts, which means that I have a lot of leftovers. So no matter how many times I sell, donate, or trash my fabric scraps, I’m perpetually making more.
This can be a good thing—some people love making quilts using scraps. Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts is a scrap quilting rockstar.
For the rest of us (especially myself!) I wrote up 5 tips for using scraps in our projects.
I love this old picture I found. Babies love fabric scraps, too.
Take your scraps out of wherever they are stored, and spread them out on your table/floor. Choose a brand new color palette, and sort them accordingly. Everyone stores scraps differently. I prefer the “throw them all in a pretty wire bin” method. But whether they are sorted by color in plastic bins tucked away, or sorted by size out in the open, or whatever else your storage looks like, pull them out. Choose a palette, and sort them (some, doesn’t have to be all) according to a new color palette. It can help breathe life into your scraps and inspire you in ways you haven’t been before!
2. Use your scraps to start a new project, using a technique you want to learn, or don’t use often. Sometimes, you don’t want to use your favorite fabrics to finally learn how to sew curves, or practice paper piecing (more waste than some other techniques) or experiment with improv (lots of people find this intimidating. Using scraps frees up the intimidation factor).
I drastically limited the color palette for this scrappy improv quilt, and I think it helped me focus just on improv.
3. Think small—you don’t have to just use fabric scraps from quilts to make more quilts. Try a zippered pouch, a new pincushion, or a fabric bucket!
4. Use some of your scraps to sew up a pattern you already have. I can’t be the only one who purchases print and/or pdf patterns to make “someday.” Use your scraps, pull out the pattern, and win-win!
5. Make a strip quilt—there are so many different kinds! Foundation paper pieced string quilts, coin quilts with alternating solid fabric strips in between the columns, or a full on scrappy coin quilt like this one. Vary the widths of the fabric strips so you don’t have to match seams, if you want a chill sewing experience. Also: I like to make the strips slightly longer than needed, and then trim to size once they are sewn together in columns.
Bonus tip! You don’t have to make a scrap-only quilt! Incorporate some of your scraps into a project you are working on. This is the Firefly Quilt Pattern, designed by Pen and Paper Patterns. I used a kit from Sewtopia to make it, but also dug in my scrap bin, to personalize the quilt a little bit. I love the results!
