Easy Scrap Quilt with Floral Fabrics From Your Stash That Didn't Really Go Together at First Glance

   Sometimes you have fabrics that you really like, but you don't have anything special to do with them. So, they sit, and you know they will most likely never leave your stash, especially if you only have small amounts of them. That's why it's important to go through your stash occasionally, enjoying and touching your fabrics.

   For this quilt, I had several pretty floral prints, and just wanted to get them used up. The blocks in a sweet little Leisure Arts book, Wonderblocks by Terry Martin helped me on my way! Used copies are available online from Amazon I chose the big 12" blocks because I figured the quilt would be finished faster! To make this quilt simple, I cut a bunch of 4 1/2" strips, and further cut those into 12 1/2", 8 1/2", 6 1/2" and 4 1/2" pieces. If I had enough fabric, I cut a few 8 1/2" squares, but nothing bigger. I kept returning to my scraps for bits and pieces that would go with the quilt.

A Bright and Geometric Scrap Quilt with Mostly 2 1/2" Strips

   For the life of me, I don't understand why these blocks aren't called Square in a Square! But, they aren't...I'm not really sure if they have a name, but they are basically pattern for the first round of Courthouse Step blocks. The center squares were cut to 3 1/2" and the strips were sewn on opposite sides of that square, trimmed, then sewn in two rows across the top and bottom of the block. The block size is 7" finished.
   Of course, the quilt is perfect to create from your favorite fabric scraps...you only need 22" x 2 1/2" of fabric, in pieces as small as 7 1/2" (2 of them) and 2 1/2"(2 of them), which is just a strip cut on the long side of a fat quarter! In fact, a fat quarter will supply the outer square fabric for 7 blocks.

Adding Weird Colors Like Olive and Mustard to Your Quilts for Variety and Added Interest

   I'm a huge fan of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. First, I love the colors and the designs. I especially like that the colors appear what I call "flat" -- meaning that there isn't any shading in any individual color. This works for me in a quilt, because when you find a different fabric with that same color, your quilt begins to pick up all kinds of movement that more delicate fabrics don't seem to have. The colors and designs are bold enough to create new design elements unique to your quilt! I also love the quality and feel of the Kaffe Fassett fabrics...they are thick and luxurious, and a joy to touch and work with.

   I don't have many large pieces in my Kaffe stash...so I often have to come up with little challenges for myself. This quilt here has a number of challenges, as well as some odd colors I don't usually work with.

A Simple 4-Patch Scrap Quilt Using Asian Fabrics

   Sometimes you love the way some fabrics look....and just don't know what to do with them! I've often purchased 1/4 yards and fat quarters of very pretty Asian fabrics...and just never put them together. I enjoy the metallic golds, the swans and birds, and the flowers, as well as the ivy, leaves and branches. At one point, I had quite a lot of Asian fabric in bits and pieces, and no idea where to go from there! Here's how this quilt from Asian fabrics came together:

   One day, I decided I wouldn't allow myself to buy any more Asian fabric unless I used at least some of what I had! And because I didn't have any better ideas, and because some of the pieces were scaps under 5" wide, I chose to do a 4-patch pattern based on 4 1/2" squares. To make use of the smaller pieces, I told myself it was OK to use some 4 1/2" mini 4-patch blocks to fill in for some of the larger 41/2" pieces. That way, I would be able to use 2 1/2" strips as well.

Putting Together My "Kaffe Birds in the Air Taking Formation" Quilt

  Here are the original 42 10" squares. They are roughly lined up in 2 rows of 21....left to right from dark to light. This way, the darkest dark fabrics are combined with the darkest light fabrics. Eventually, all the fabrics are placed in groups of 6: 3 darks and 3 lights.

   You may notice that some of the fabrics have both dark and light elements in them, so it may be confusing to determine where they belong. How do you decide? The answer is simple: where do YOU feel they belong? One of the joys of doing a quilt like this is that it WILL work....and if you like the fabrics you put in the quilt, it will bring you much pleasure!