Scrappy - consisting of disorganized, untidy, or incomplete parts:
No one wants a quilt that is disorganized, untidy or incomplete. So how do you use scraps in a quilt and keep it organized, tidy, and complete. Well here is Q. T. # 1.
"Choose an inspiration fabric and let it be your guide."
I began by looking through my stash of fabric. The fabric below had been in my stash for a few years waiting for the perfect quilt. I decided to use it as my inspiration fabric.
It is a hand dyed fabric. Not sure how I will use it in the quilt but it will serve as my guide for selecting scraps of fabric. After looking at the inspiration fabric, I remembered that I had recently purchased a small amount of various colors of hand dyed ombre fabrics. I placed then on the inspiration.
I eliminated the gray and red fabrics. The gray was completely wrong and the red was a little too red. (not pinkish enough)
I decide to go with these six colors. Again I'm not sure how I will use them but I added them to my stack.
Now comes the fun part, gathering together my scraps. Since this is the Scrap Squad the scraps will be the focal part of the quilt.
I began by going through my scraps and selecting fabrics that were similar in color to the six colors above.
I auditioned each fabric and some were eliminated as was the yellow fabric shown below. It has similar colors but was too yellow.
I have a maybe "pile" of scraps. You can see them at the top of the photo below. I can always go back and add then to the mix if I choose.
If you are having trouble deciding whether or not to use a certain fabric, sometimes it helps to take a photo and look at the photo. It can give you another point of view. Here I used my IPad and took a photo. I eliminated a few fabrics after viewing the photo.
Below is my final selection of scraps. You will notice that I eliminated the orange ombre and one of the blues. I also eliminated the orange scraps and combined all the blues into one stack. Now I have my inspiration fabric, 4 ombre hand dyes, and my scraps in four piles.
All of these selections were based on my one inspiration fabric. I have found this to be a simple and effective means of selecting a variety of scraps for my quilts.
My final stack of scraps
And I didn't add in any of my "maybe" fabric this time but often I do go back and revisit those fabrics. This time I had enough variety without them.
Hope you enjoyed my Keeping it on the "Q.T." Quilting Tip # 1.
"Let an inspiration fabric be your guide."
Oh yes! Leave your fabric out on your table for a few hours or days. Walk by and see if you are concerned about any of the fabrics or if something is missing. After doing this, I decided I needed a POP of COLOR. Referring back to my inspiration fabric, I decided to add yellow as my POP.
Remember, I still don't know how I will use these fabrics but my quilt design is beginning to come into focus. I'm pleased with the fabrics I selected and know that they "fit together". Now the quilt design will begin to take shape. I won't be able to share the quilt pattern until my quilt is revealed in March but I will share more later as I make design decisions.
