I like to call it nostalgic, but i might just be a hoarder. I’ve been keeping fabric scraps from the very first collection i released back in 2010… for no reason that i can explain. Finally i decided i had to do something with them or get rid of them, and for some reason i was emotionally attached to all those little pieces of fabric. So i decided to make a quilt!
It took absolute ages but i really love it. I cut all the pieces of leftover fabric into either triangles or strips for the binding, and the quilt backing is a vintage sheet. It’s so big thats its kind of hard to get a good photo of, but these are a few from our old house (below). It’s been really useful as an extra layer in winter, and as a nice thin blanket for summer – even better its become my kids comfort blanket of choice for when they’re sick, that kind of melts my heart. It even found it’s way into my maternity lookbook as a picnic blanket prop!
I’m so glad to have found a way to use up all those special pieces of fabric and to have a special memento of that very first collection. I like how this idea turned out so much that i would really like to create a collection scrap quilt for all of my collections.
Any suggestions for good quilting patterns?
This is gorgeous and so simple, yet has the charm and warmth of a much more complicated quilt.
I don’t tend to buy quilt patterns, but I have a bunch of books. My favorites are Kaffe Fassett quilt books. I haven’t seen his newer ones but I have a bunch that are 6 to 12 years old. He does use his own very bright fabrics but you can figure out how they will look using any of your own. I think his quilts look more complicated than they are and I like that about him. He’s got one somewhere that he calls a postage stamp quilt, using little squares of scrap fabric….like, the final square after the seams are sewn is about an inch. It’s a spectacular effect!
Thanks Colleen! I really appreciate the suggestions – i’m so new to quilting, and sometimes i feel a little at a loss. It’s amazing how different it is to apparel sewing :) XO
Really, Meg. It’s so much easier than apparel sewing because you can’t do anything wrong on a quilt….especially a scrap one! I came to apparel sewing through quilting and I will tell you it’s much much harder to follow apparel patterns!!!!
I hoard all my scraps (unless they’re really really tiny) for exactly this! So far no actual quilting has been done, though… But I get emotional enough rummaging through them, and can’t wait to get into it one day! Also, I noticed recently that the fabrics I choose have unintentionally matched up pretty well into consistent colour palettes, so when it comes to deciding which ones to use together it’ll be pretty easy!
Jo you’re a girl after my own heart! i feel much better knowing i’m not the only one hoarding tiny scraps hehe. I know what you mean about coordinated scraps – i think that’s why i like the idea of collection scrap quilts so much, the scraps just go together so nicely :)
I hope you end up making some progress on your quilting plans!
I love scrap quilts…every piece has a story attached. Yours is just lovely.
Thanks Katherine! I totally feel that way – i love the story behind it :)
That’s so beautiful! The colors go so well together. I haven’t made many quilts (only some smaller projects, like throw pillows) but I’d like to learn!
Thanks Vivi! I think that’s one of the things i like about using scraps from my collections, the colour story always seems nice and consistent since the work of coordinating fabrics was done years ago, you know? I just finished my second scrap quilt from another colleciton and it was so fun seeing how well the fabrics coordinated! Now i just need to get neater!
This is so pretty! What a great way to use your scraps! It’s absolutely beautiful!
Thanks honey i really appreciate that! i was honestly a little nervous about blogging it because it’s not the most amazing/complicated/neat/whatever quilt out there… but i do love it :)
This is such a pretty quilt! I love that the fabrics are getting a new life!
Thanks Kelly! I absolutely hate waste – so i’ts defintiely nice to give those old fabric scraps a new use :)
I wish you would make me one! It would go perfectly with the colors in my apartment!
This is exceptional, has a beautiful feel to it :) Gorgeous colors and little people under it :)
Thanks so much Liss!! I need to send you an email it’s been too long!! HUGS xoxo