How to Make a Scrap Quilt

Scrap quilts are sewn with a random assortment of fabric scraps, at times using the most peculiar and wonky pieces. As a quilter, looking at a massive pile of scraps can bring flashbacks to the ghost of fabric store's past with feelings of excitement (or sometimes regret) for stocking up on all sorts of adored colors and patterns. 

Knowing how to make scrap quilts is a thrifty, practical skill inviting quilters to play with color and value. Here's the good news: experts in the craft have been teaching quilters how to make the most of their scraps, from combining colors, using odd shapes, and sewing traditional and modern blocks, for years! You'll find enthusiastic ones ready to teach you and answer all your questions at Creative Spark Online Learning.

Now, we'll let our Creative Spark instructors do the talking and give you a tour of the world of scrappy quilting.

Ultimate Scrap Transformation

Are you looking at a sewing room full of scraps? No problem! Judy Gauthier, known as the Scraps Whisperer, is ready to teach you how to transform your scraps into original quilt artistry. Judy has authored multiple books on using fabric scraps in quilts and has inspired thousands of folks to use their leftover pieces of fabric.

Starting with color, Judy will take you step-by-step, using several different methods, on how to use a color wheel to pick your perfect color scheme. Then, using your color-theory-informed scrap collection, start constructing the treasure box block, a quilt block so versatile that you can’t help but revisit it again and again! 

Sign up for Transform Your Scraps: The Treasure Box Quilt Block

Get Started in Improv Quilting!

Let’s talk creative blocks — we’ve all been there. Take it from Timna Tarr, an art quilter who found a cure in the form of Strip Sandwiches. Put together basic improvisational piecing and play with color combinations using Timna’s Strip Sandwiches technique, perfect for getting out of your head and back into your quilting. They are easy to make, incredibly forgiving, and can be tailored to quilts of all shapes and sizes. 

Strip Sandwiches is so much more than just an improv quilt course. If you need a creative jump start or have ever wanted to try out an easy improv technique, this class is a great way to get started. Value and color placement in quilts is a significant component of the workshop. Timna demonstrates the basic skills needed to create your own sandwiches, a scrap, charm pack, and jelly roll-friendly technique.

Sign up for Strip Sandwiches Improv Quilting

Fast & Accurate Piecing with Scrappy Star

You know that scrap stash you've been saving for the "right project"? Look no further! Play with color and prints for endless scrappy nine-patch variations. Using the May Chappell Scrappy Star Quilt pattern (downloadable pattern included), you will learn about making accurate square-in-a-square elements and scrappy nine patches. Lee Chappell Monroe is her name and quilt fabric fun is her game.

By the end of the course, you'll have several techniques to add to your quilter's toolkit and a finished project checked off your list. The May Chappell Scrappy Star Quilt makes a thoughtful memory quilt for a loved one by using their favorite tees or other clothing for scraps or background.

Sign up for Scrappy Star Quilt: Perfecting Your Piecing Series

Set Your Creativity Free With with Scrappy Wonky Versions of Classic Quilt Blocks

Enter a magical world of wild abandon where we sew using our eyes and decision-making skills instead of store-bought patterns. In this class, award-winning designers Shannon Leigh Roudhán and Jason Bowlsby will teach you to develop the critical eye and skills needed to create your own unique, contemporary, wonky interpretations of iconic quilt blocks. Enjoy the fun of making scrappy blocks (no predetermined pattern!) that match your style and taste, with guidance on improv techniques and color choice. 

Starting with Scrappy Wonky Log Cabin block, follow a progressively wonky path through pineapples, two kinds of stars, the ever-popular Scrappy Wonky Rose, and the wild and fun Genie in a Bottle Block. Piece them together into a wall hanging, throw, or full-size quilt — it’s up to you! 

Sign up for Scrappy Wonky Block Bonanza

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