Can a quilter learn to be scrappy?

When starting this sew along I thought it would be a great way to learn how to sew scrappy quilts. Then I realized my fabric stash needed some serious work. It wasn’t organized, it’s stuffed in all the many corners of my sewing room, and I didn’t feel like I had enough colors in it to use. So lucky for me, Lori Holt had this scrappy bundle put together that was perfect for people like me! Not only that, I could just follow along with some of the color choices in the pattern and come out with a similar look as the example! What a great way to make a scrappy quilt…but am I learning how to sew scrappy?

While I ponder this, let me show you all the many quilt blocks I have finished for this quilt along! As usual, I am behind, but still trucking along with my best furry friends by my side!

Week 3: Chex Mix Block

Let’s start easy with this little block that reminds me of a checker board. Though it came together quickly, there were definitely a lot of seams with lots of tiny pieces.

Week 4: Criss-Cross Star Block

This block felt very scrappy to me. I had the hardest time choosing colors due to the many options I had in Lori Holt’s scrappy bundle! I’m not a huge fan of pink, but decided to stick with the pattern and use it in the center anyway.

Week 5: Happy Trails Block

I love blocks that encourage me to try different techniques. This block instructed me to do some strip piecing to help with those tiny squares and it was a lot of fun!

Week 6: Lincoln Logs Block

So I have a confession to make….I made a mistake. I didn’t quite read the sew along schedule close enough and accidentally made the First Lincoln Logs block instead of the Second Lincoln Logs block. However, it doesn’t really matter since both blocks come out the exact same size. So I am keeping it in the quilt and moving on! Love it when a mistake still works out in the end. Phew!

Week 7: Plaid Block

Time for another easy block! This block literally took me no time at all. I think I sneezed and the block was done!

Week 8: Tall Pumpkin Patched Block

This was one of those weeks I could not wait to get to. I wanted to make a patchwork pumpkin block so bad and I enjoyed every minute of it! I also had a moment of clarity and actually read the schedule correctly, so I knew which pumpkin to make from the pattern book. Go me!

Week 9: Santa Hat

How cute is this! This Santa hat inspires me to design a big pieced Santa Claus one day. For those of you that don’t know me well, I am all about Christmas and was of course excited to make this block. I will warn you the pom pom uses some pretty tiny pieces, but once that’s done, the rest of the block go together pretty easily.

That’s about where I stopped at for this sew along, but will keep you updated on my progress as I make more blocks.

I realized while working through this project that I do a lot of unnecessary ironing. I typically iron/starch the fabric I plan to use, then refold it, and then have to iron it again the next week when I want to use it. So I decided to change how I store fabric and now don’t fold it again once it’s ironed for a project. The down side to this is that it takes up a lot of space in my sewing room. These good news is it has saved me time by eliminating a step that was slowing me down immensely. So from now on, I will apply this practice to all my sew along fabrics to save some time!

Let me know in the comments below what you do in your sewing room to save time. Also, do you think a quilter can learn to be scrappy? I would love to here your opinion! Happy Quilting!

– Leslee