Scrappy Patchwork Quilting – The Perfect Escape for a Busy Mind

Do you ever have days when your mind is racing with ideas and you really just want some peace? When that happens to me, one of the ways I’ve found to silence my mind from the worries, ideas or even just the endless list of to-do items, is to spend an hour with my (usually overflowing) basket of scraps and do some scrappy patchwork and quilting.

This doesn’t need to be structured; it can be anything from:

• Sorting scraps into colour groups for projects
• Crumb quilting (the art of turning teeny tiny scraps into usable fabric)
• Scrappy quilt-as-you-go squares

Sorting Scraps

There is nothing more satisfying than settling at your desk with a hot cuppa (and biscuit), then sorting out the ever-increasing scrap pile.

I prefer to sort my scraps by colour group. The ones I use are:

1. Hot Colours – Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink, Burgundy
2. Cold Colours – Blue, Turquoise, Aqua, Teal, Mint, Purples, Lilacs, Greens
3. Monotone – White, Black, Grey
4. Naturals – Beige, Cream, Ivory, Stone, Brown

There is some overlap in these sections, but I look for the most prevalent colour in the fabric/pattern and sort by that. This means if you want to use a colour group for a project, they should all tone together well. Here is an example of some scrappy patchwork fabric I made in 2023 over the Christmas holidays. – insert the black and blue/purple scrap sewing pictures

Once the scraps are sorted by colour, you can decide if they need to be sorted by size – small and large or cut into squares or strips. I find it useful to cut my smaller scraps down to 2.5” by whatever width. This means I can use them for scrappy patchwork or scrappy binding for quilts too.

If the scraps are larger, it may be best to keep these and cut to size once you have decided on a project. To store my scraps, I keep them in small white pots and then in a hat box – but when they are out of control, they do need a larger basket for each colour.

You will find as you lose yourself in this project for an hour or two that your mind quiets as you focus on each colour. You will also get great satisfaction from sorting each colour group, knowing that you have many projects ahead.

Crumb Quilting

There are lots of tutorials online for crumb quilting. This is where you take your smallest scraps and sew them together (in any order you want). Each time you add a piece of fabric, you give yourself a square edge until you have a full square of fabric. You can make these to any size you want, but if you make them all the same, you will eventually have enough to make your own scrappy quilt.

My favourite tutorial on this is by Jenny Doan at Missouri Star Quilt Co on YouTube. There is something magical when you use your scrap fabrics to make what seems like ‘free’ fabric. Until you spend the time to process it and make it usable, it was essentially rubbish, and now you have made it into a fabric treasure. This magical little square that could end up as anything – you created it from waste.

Scrappy Quilt-As-You-Go Squares

My most recent scrap project was when my Ruby Star Society scrap basket was overflowing. Most of the scraps were cut into long strips of different widths. Rather than cut them down, I decided to make large quilt-as-you-go squares.

I had some leftover strips of wadding from other projects, so I cut these down to 12” squares (36 of them). Armed with my wadding squares and longer strips, I decided to do all the squares on the diagonal. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube, but this is the basic method:

1. Lay the wadding down
2. Lay the first fabric strip right side up on the diagonal
3. Lay the second fabric strip right side down
4. Sew through both fabric strips and the wadding using a ¼” (6mm) seam allowance
5. Once sewn, press the fabric open and repeat from step 3 until the wadding is all covered.

Once you have as many squares as needed for your project, you can add a backing fabric to each square and then quilt them in whatever design you like. I used a relaxed wiggly line, but it’s your project – you can do whatever you are inspired to do.

Below is a picture of my finished scrappy project:

I finished this one so that it can be used as a wall hanging or as a quilt. That’s part of the appeal of making your own items – you can do whatever you want with them. 

You too could feel the satisfaction from making your own scrappy items. Feel how your racing mind full of ideas or worries can be silenced for a few hours with the joy of sewing.  Experience the rush of happiness and accomplishment when you finish a project.

Find Out How

If you don’t already know how to sew, I can help you with that too with my range of sewing classes. Check them out here or email me at andrea@uphousecrafts.com