Sorting Scraps + Scrappy Summer Quilt Inspiration

by the.weekendquilter August 6, 2020

Scrap box fabrics scrappy summer sew along

It’s easy to put your scraps to one side and forget about it. Over time, Mt Scrapmore (a.k.a the box of doom, scrap stash) becomes a bit of an eyesore in your sewing space. And we totally get it. Tackling scraps can be daunting, especially when you need to sit on the box to close the lid, and fabrics explode in your face when you open it. The photo above is one of Wendy's many Mt Scrapmores.

Raye of The Homebody Company and Wendy of The Weekend Quilter have teamed up together to bring you Scrappy Summer Sew Along 2020. This 7 week sew along, starting from August 10, aims to give you the confidence to tackle what’s in your scrap stash. Raye and Wendy want to prove to you, there is so much potential in what you’ve been trying to hide in your cupboards, boxes, bags, or wherever you keep your scraps.

If you haven’t signed up for the sew along yet, there’s still time! Raye and Wendy suggests signing up and starting by Week 2 (Aug 17) to keep up with the weekly prompts. Click here for sew along details and sign up.

The following blog post contains a few pointers on how you can sort and go through your scraps for any scrappy project, and a few ideas on how you can use your scraps for your Scrappy Summer quilt.

INSPIRIATION

To get you inspired and pumped about the 7 week scrappy journey we’re about to embark on, let’s revisit some Scrappy Summer Sew Along projects from 2019:

CRAFT THE RAINBOW 🌈

MONOCHROMATIC

OMBRE

MIX IT UP

These are the scraps Raye and Wendy are going to incorporate into their 2020 Scrappy Summer Sew Along:

RAYE

Feeling all the summer vibes with pops of yellow and red among the blue and white pluses.

WENDY

No surprises here, Wendy going for a colourful and playful route with greens & blues, and pops of pinks & gold in the background, and white pluses. The nine-patches are going to be arranged randomly to become a rectangle throw size quilt.

For more inspiration on how you could go about with your Scrappy Summer quilt, Raye and Wendy has compiled a Pinterest board for colour and layout inspiration. Click here to view.

Raye has also put together a blog post on 9 different ways to layout your Nine-Patch blocks.

SORTING SCRAPS

Are you now feeling more motivated about tackling your Mt Scrapmore?

If you’re not quite there yet, we suggest putting on a movie, tv show, podcast or a playlist of your fave tunes in the background. Maybe a ‘Feel Good Fridays’ playlist curated by the quilting community on Feel Good Fibers? Or binge on episodes of Quilt Buzz?

Alright. Ready or not, we’re going to fire away with some tips on how to sort and go through your scrap stash:

Tackle one to two scrap sources at a time to make the task less daunting and more manageable. Scrap source is where or what your scraps are stored in, i.e. basket, bin.
Rummage through or turn over your container, bag, box or wherever you store your scraps, and roughly sort it by colour.

By sorting out your fabrics by colour, you can guesstimate and plan the colours or theme of your scrappy project.

And if you ever decide to tackle another scrappy project, this makes it easier to identify what you’ve got. Moreover, looking at the piles of rainbow you’ve created might make you feel more inspired to take on other scrappy projects in the near future.

Referring to example below, Wendy's scrap stash largely consists of greens and blues. This led to her decision to use most of these colours in her Scrappy Summer project.
In the mood for more sorting? Organise your stash by shape and size. This is a personal preference…

Anything between 2” x 2” and 10” x 10” stays in the scrap stash. Scraps smaller than 2” x 2”, keep aside to donate or discard. Pieces greater than the 10” x 10” goes in with the main fabric stash.

Strips of fabric, for example from binding, are kept in a ziploc bag in the scrap stash or seperate from the main scrap stash. Save these for future scrappy binding or strip piecing.

Finally, purge. Organising and saving scraps should not be done out of guilt. Channel your inner Marie Kondo, and donate or discard scraps that do not bring joy or inspire you. Scraps can be donated to various groups and organisations such as schools, guilds, fabric recycling programs for example FabScrap.

We hope that these tips have made you feel more energised to dive deep into your stash and excited about what we have installed for this year’s Scrappy Summer Sew Along. For more tips on organising your stash, including your where you keep your yardage, head on over to The Homebody Co.’s blog.

We also want to leave you with an episode of Love To Sew Podcast on scrap busting. The episode contains tips and other ideas on how to tackle your scrap stash.

Good luck and don’t forget to share your Summer Scrappy Sew Along moments on Instagram by tagging #scrappysummersal2020 @thehomebodycompany and @the.weekendquilter .