Hello, friends! Happy Friday to you! Today I’m sharing 7 Tips for Fabulous Scrap Quilts along with a fun video I filmed recently. As I share some of my favorite scrap quilts I share my best tips on creating beautiful scrap quilts you love from your stash of fabrics.
7 Tips for Fabulous Scrap Quilts
Personally, I love scrap quilts with a bit of open space; however, that open space doesn’t have to be a solid white fabric. There are several ways to provide continuity in your scrap quilts while at the same time giving the eyes a resting place and allowing enjoyment of a wide variety of prints and patterns.
Scrap Tips Video
I had a lot of fun sharing some of my favorite scrap quilts and discussing what I feel like are the elements in each of the quilts that make them “work.” There were a few quilts I wasn’t able to share because they’re either still with my publisher or on loan to a couple of quilt shops. I’ll share them in a photo gallery at the end of the post. You can watch the video above or watch it here on my YouTube channel.
1. Use Neutral Backgrounds to Combine a Variety of Scraps.
In my scrappy half-square triangle quilt pictured above I used a wide variety of fabrics from nearly all of our fabric collections to date. I used a neutral cream solid or tone on tone for the background of nearly all of the half-square triangles in order to create a sense of unity in the quilt.
2. Use a Single Sashing Fabric and Single Contrast Post Fabric to Unify your Quilt.
Another method I used to unify the scrappy half-square triangle quilt above was to use the same sashing throughout and also use a contrast post fabric throughout. The light floral sashing and blue daisy print posts help bring the quilt together.
3. Try a Medallion Style Scrap Quilt.
Making a medallion quilt can be a great way for beginner scrap quilters to achieve a look they love. Because each section of the quilt is completed from the inside out, you can make sure you are happy with the mix of fabrics each step of the way. If a border doesn’t work, it can be easily changed before the next “layer” is added.
4. Unify by Including One Color in Each Block.
In my Flowers for Emma Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt pictured above, I unified the quilt by using a yellow center for each flower. While the shades of yellow varied, this continuity helped to unite the various blocks in the quilt.
5. Unify with a Small Scale Medium or Dark Background.
I used a medium grey small scale polka dot as a background in order to unify my scrappy Richmond quilt pictured above. I also used a bit of white in each of the blocks to make the blocks stand out. While the sashing posts are scrappy, the background print does a great job of unifying the quilt as a whole.
6. Use Open Space to Unify Your Quilt.
In my scrappy Mahalo quilt pictured above and pieced with a variety of fabrics by designer Denyse Schmidt, I depended on the open space in order to unify the quilt. In this quilt, the string of pearls all-over quilting pattern also kept the quilting from distracting the eyes too much and led to a more cohesive finish.
7. Use a Bold Binding to Help Unify the Scrap Quilt.
In my Pier 44 scrappy pineapple quilt above, and in a scrappy patriotic quilt in the video, I used a bold binding to bring the quilts together. The bright pink binding for this quilt really makes the variety of scrappy pink fabrics included stand out. And a bold stripe binding on my red, white and blue quilt in the video also helped unify the quilt.
More Scrappy Favorites
Pictured above are some more of my favorite scrappy quilts…still at the publisher for now. But you can see that I utilized the principles I discussed in this post in each of these projects. Scrappy quilts are always my favorites!
I hope you enjoyed today’s visit with 7 Tips for Fabulous Scrap Quilts. Happy quilting, and thanks so much for stopping by!
Kathy Z says
Thanks , Sherri, for the Scraps Tip video today. The quilts you showed were so beautiful and inspiring. I needed some sunshine in my day and you did that for me. Keep up the great work!
Linda Jennings says
I love your posts every week, but I can never get any of your videos. when I go to your you tube channel only old ones come up from when you first started with the videos.
Nonnie says
search thru the playlist on the channel … or thru the video list because those are usually posted in order the most recent first in the list
Kimberley Rose says
What exactly do you mean by using a “cool pallette”? Would a color wheel help to find the right combination of colors to use in a scrap quilt?
Marilee Botos says
I really enjoyed this article and the visuals that accompanied it! Although the information was not unknown to me, I liked that it was clarified and explained. All of these tips really do help a scrappy quilt to be more eye-pleasing!
Lynne Stockstill says
Thank you so much for sharing. I learn so much from you. You are so talented and inspire me, I appreciate your time and efforts.
Kat Walker says
Love all of your “scrappy” quilts but especially the “2019 Free BOM” quilt. How can I pull these BOM instructions up from your blogs for 2019?
Glenna says
Love your tips on scrap quilts. Do you know if the grey Moda Dottie fabric you used in the Richmond Scrap quilt is still available or possible the SKU number for it?
Helen L says
Great video Sherri! I love your scrappy quilts! And I’m looking forward to seeing the book that you hinted at that is coming out soon! 🙂 Hugs, H
Cathy Koger says
I think your scrap quilts are some of the prettiest ones I’ve ever seen. Can you tell us where we can buy the patterns?
sherri McConnell says
All of the patterns have links in my post! Thank you!
Ronna says
Can’t wait for this next book!! Love your colors in scrappy. I need to get out of my box? Thank you for the lesson, inspiration & confidence that I can do this.
Sherry G says
This was helpful! I’m currently working on a scrappy quilt as a gift and found that it felt too busy. I struggled to get some of the prints to look good next to each other so I ended up swapping out four of the fabrics for ones that read more solid. That helped a lot since there isn’t a lot of space in the pattern for a neutral background. My question though is selecting a backing. I had one picked out that is a large scale floral with all the colors from the front of the quilt (blues, yellows, and pinks) plus some additional colors like greens, golden yellows, and some coral. I thought it would help tie all the colors on the front together but it feels way too busy with the front already being so busy. Is it better with a busy front to choose a backing that would feel more restful like a fabric in just one of the colors from the front in a subtle stripe or gingham print or tiny polka dot? The pattern calls for a scrappy binding using all of the fabrics from the top but I’m questioning that also unless I keep the back really simple. Thanks in advance for your guidance!