I started two new scrap quilts over the weekend, which meant that I thought much about what would work and what would not. I recently made a new dog, and I don’t want that to happen again. (A dog is an ugly quilt. So ugly that it should never see the light of day.)
One of the scrap quilts I started recently
First let’s talk about what I mean by “scrap quilt.” I do not mean a quilt made from leftovers. Some leftovers may be included, but what I’m talking about is a quilt made from lots and lots of fabrics. It’s not a quilt with five fabrics. It’s a quilt with 50 fabrics, or 500 fabrics. That’s what I consider a scrap quilt.
It’s actually harder to make a successful scrap quilt than to make a quilt with five fabrics. It takes a lot of deliberating, auditioning, weeding out, experimenting and sometimes agonizing. But when you’re finished, it’s worth the effort.
The original Baby Windmill block, 4″ x 4″
How do you begin? Where do you start? I began with a simple block idea. You may know that I’m on a lifelong mission to design and make quilts based on a simple Windmill block. I’ve been wanting to make some chubby Windmills, which means changing the proportions of the block.
I also wanted to increase the number of Christmas quilts in my Jingle Bells Trunk Show. So I set out to make a quilt with chubby Windmills in a Christmasy color recipe.
My original Baby Windmills are 4″ square. Each patch is twice as long as it is wide, making the ratio 1:2. To make them chubby, I decided on a ratio of 3:4 and then I made a test block.
One chubby Windmill
I liked it, so I made a few blocks in some black and green fabrics I had pulled.
These were all safe choices, and that’s where you have to start. You want to establish the main idea by creating most of the blocks in fabrics that play nicely together. You don’t want to throw in anything too far off the mark at this point.
I went to my drawers of green and pulled out yellow-greens in different values, with a variety of scales. (Value is just lightness or darkness; scale is how large or small the print is.)
When you’ve been quilting for 35 years, you have the luxury of a healthy stash. My guildmates give me a very hard time about my drawers.
I pulled fabrics from the black drawer, too. This brings up the first issue: I have blacks with cream and blacks with stark white. Should I mix them up, or stick with one or the other? And which one? I tend to be a mixer, but I’m going to make this decision as I go.
Another idea starts to take shape: If I make the chubby blocks only in blacks and greens, I can accent with red by making original Baby Windmills in sets of four. Each group of four will be the same size as one chubby block.
I made a few more black and green blocks and arranged them on my design wall. So far I love the accent of red Baby Windmills. I will keep making “safe” blocks and adding them to the mix. But as I was digging through fabric, I came upon a few renegades that I wanted to try.
I fussy cut a few partridges and made this block. We’ll see if it makes the cut as I go along. It might be too busy, or it might have too much red. Or it may be a perfect renegade that adds interest. It’s too early to know.
I went way out on a limb and made this renegade from a Japanese fabric for which I paid an arm, a leg and the rights to my firstborn. I don’t know if it will work but I’m cautiously optimistic.
All of this is to say that a great scrap quilt doesn’t just happen. It takes many decisions, a lot of practice, and sometimes a bit of luck.
I’m sewing this quilt on my HQ Stitch 510.
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