Ideas for scraps...Part 1

I wanted to share with you a few ideas about what I think makes a good scrap quilt and also the method I use for storing my scraps.  Many of you are already familiar with Bonnie's Scrap System, but it is so good that I thought it was worth mentioning again.  By cutting your fabric down into manageable sizes you can then start to piece them together into quilts.  Anything that is too small to fit into one of the boxes is classed as a crumb and anything too large for the system is called yardage :o)

The trick to a good scrap quilt is that you need to give the eye of the viewer a resting place.  What do I mean by that?..well if a quilt is just a sea of random colours and shapes it can appear messy.  So I like to use a common element to give the eye a place to rest.  Sometimes this is with colour..For example I might make all my crumb blocks the same colour as seen in these 2 quilts.  Or maybe I'll use the same fabric throughout for the sashing like in this one.  Another example would be to use value (light and dark) as a theme as I did here.  And lastly you could use shape as I did in these two quilts for Project Linus.  By giving your scrap quilt a "theme" you are bringing all these variations in colour together thus creating something of beauty that has sparkle. 

A few days ago I told you about the bag of scraps Lynda gave me.  Although I teased that she was "burdening" me with them, I'm actually quite excited with the ideas that I've come up with.  So Lynda, thank you for the inspiration :o)   She's given me a chance to make some lovely cuddly quilts for Linus.  Here is one of the ideas that I plan to try.

As some of the scraps are full widths, Lynda suggested that I sew the strips together in a colour family or graduating through the colours of the rainbow.  But somehow that seems a bit plain, so I'm going to applique some flowers and vines over the top.  The idea isn't new and I've seen variations on the internet both with vines and without.  I took a bit of time yesterday morning (while it poured with rain) to draft my own version in EQ7.  If you too want a copy of my flower shape to use in your own personal quilts you can find a copy of a PDF with the flower and the leaf.  Just enlarge or reduce on a photocopier for bigger and smaller sizes.

The end result should be quite pretty...
Until next time... when I'll share my second idea.