How doyou use up your small scraps and pieces?

So for this one quilt I did, I have a lot of pieces that didn't measure right for the quilt and I had to redo them. So now... I have alot of really small squares...about 3inch by 3inch and some 4 inch by 3 inch and some 2inch by 3,1/2 inch etc pieces and not always that same size...but about. I want to put them together to make a panel for pillows to match the quilt in my living room. I have heard of "scrap quilts" which uses these odd pieces, however, in searching on YouTube..I find only only tuts that show how to use strips and you sew the strips onto a foundation piece,and make it large, then use a template to cut the size strips you want etc.

However, these little pieces won't do that. They are small squares/rectangles. So if I sew one down to the foundation, then sew another one next to it, after 3-4 of them, I will have an odd side that I can't cover.

I don't think I am explaining this right, but maybe you can get the point of what I am trying to say...how do you use up your small scraps? Scraps that are around 3 inches in size, but still not all the same size?

Cheri. you go to Bonnie Hunter's site (at quiltville.com) and down the right hand side you will see a couple of dozen free patterns for doing just this. Bonnie calls those little pieces 'crumbs' and by crumbs she sure knows what to do with them! Its also worth having a look at her scrap management program at the same site.

Mary B

I'm making a spiderweb quilt with mine but I'm going to take a look at the site that Mary B has mentioned.

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Originally Posted by MaryB

Cheri. you go to Bonnie Hunter's site (at quiltville.com) and down the right hand side you will see a couple of dozen free patterns for doing just this. Bonnie calls those little pieces 'crumbs' and by crumbs she sure knows what to do with them! Its also worth having a look at her scrap management program at the same site.

Mary B

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Thanks Mary...really cute site and good ideas. I'm bookmarking it. My problem is tho...all these little pieces are about the same size...when I place them together, I can only go that size bigger as there are no "bigger" pieces. And if I sew one on to the origination piece...one side is left unable to be sewn. I know I can sew them into about 2,1/2 inch "jellyroll" strips, but I was hoping for more than just straight vertical and horizontal strips. I might be asking the impossible....

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Originally Posted by MaryB

Cheri. you go to Bonnie Hunter's site (at quiltville.com) and down the right hand side you will see a couple of dozen free patterns for doing just this. Bonnie calls those little pieces 'crumbs' and by crumbs she sure knows what to do with them! Its also worth having a look at her scrap management program at the same site.

Mary B

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Mary..I don't get the "Orca Bay" issue other than it is a place in AL, but boy, that red one looks amazing! Thanks for this site..lot of good ideas!

Cheri, out of little scraps scrappy quilts are built. Sounds like they would be good to use for some paper-piecing.

Sorry ladies, for those of you who went to bonnie's blog looking for her free patterns, I have just found that they are no longer listed down the right hand side of her site, but have their own tab at the top - under 'Free Patterns'... what else!. I have made four of them, but it doesn't seem to have reduced my scrap supply a lot LOL!

That's really a fantastic site. I love her ideas for scraps.

Good morning. You can iron a coffee filter flat and lay one scrap right side up and lay another scrap face down on it. Sew 1/4 inch, finger press open, sew another piece on, finger press open and keep adding until your circle is complete. Trim up your circle and use them somehow in a quilt. It would be good for small pieces and be different at the same time. This is on my to-do list. :-)

coffeebreak, leave your scraps be, and in a short time your scrap heap will grow- I swear my scraps breed like rabbits!!! No matter how many scrap quilts I make, my bins never seems to get any emptier! LOL

Coffee filters - hmmm! Do you remove them after finishing the block? Do they tear off easily? I have really good luck using tracing paper and it's super easy to remove.

Some quilt patterns that were traditionally done into 2 color quilts are wonderful projects for scrap/crumb pieces. Jacob's Ladder, Bear Claw, Irish Chain even... Piece the scraps together until you get a "piece of fabric" the size that one color of the block would fit on, then cut out the blocks from them. Add the "scrappy blocks" to the second color blocks to complete the quilt top.

You could even just make a simple 4 square pattern or pinwheels. Just use larger squares than you would normally to get more of the "scrap look" into the pattern. The patterns that you end up with can be delightful if you pair your scrap blocks with a dark solid color, such as navy or green.

Go for crumb quilts. Just be warned that it is totally addictive and you seem to have more crumbs at the finishing line than you had at the start. I have just complete 48 6 inch blocks with crumbs and I"m using them in a DP9 with bright (really brigth) pinks. I recently presented a class to opur quilting group and the creations that followed were WOW! Join the crumbing club!

There's really no directions on this link... just a picture to make a point. You can put any sizes or even shapes together.... just as long as when it's all over, you end up with a really really big rectangle. LOL.

http://cauchycomplete.wordpress.com/...ove-of-colors/

Here's an interesting "how-to" for scrappy quilting using log-cabin techniques for joining... same blog.

http://cauchycomplete.wordpress.com/...larity-part-i/