Deb's 1000 fabrics scrappy quilt journey

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                                                 Deb's 1000 Fabrics Scrappy Quilt Challenge

                                                                       The Beginning


From the minute that I heard of Twila’s “It’s a Scrappy World After All” Quilt Fest Challenge, I thought what an excellent way of getting rid of the many scrap bins in my sewing room.  And yours! Twila was kind enough to supply a simple block to get this big-girl quilt together and you can find this and also a very interesting history of the original 1,000 Scrappy Quilt on the UQG website at www.utahquiltguild.org. 

I began my scrappy journey but I knew that I did not want to make a traditional quilt.  I possess this gorgeous Asian, black and red batik which I have had in my stash for over 20 years (come on - it was way too pretty to use!) I started cutting and placing this on my design wall.  My project entails using 1-inch finished blocks. 

As a Tip - If you do not have a formal design wall, just purchase a felt-sided tablecloth from a Five and Dime store and hang on a door or wall with thumb tacks.  Your blocks stick to this and you can always remove it and roll it up.

When cutting small pieces, accuracy in cutting is more important.  I am using two different Creative Grid rulers and the Creative Grid Cutting Mat.  I always match up my mats to my rulers for added accuracy.  When using Fiskars, I switch to Fiskar rulers and Fiskars mats.  Now alignment of the ruler with the mat is key.  The inch increments should line up with the coordinating mats.  A slight slip to the right or left can really mess up small pieces.


Has anyone purchased the CutterPiller glass mat that lights up?  This is super cool!  As a Vendor at the 2024 Quilt Fest, they were selling these like hotcakes!  The link for these is:  https://cutterpillar.com. 


I wanted to make a Red and Black Block the size of 6 inches by 8 inches. I had 15 of these lovely Asian prints but I needed more, much more. I needed 48 total.  I searched through my plain Red Batik bin and pulled lots of pretty things.  I then remembered that I had a Jelly-Roll of Reds named, “Essentials,” by Wilmington Prints.  You see one of the strips in the above photo.  My bin of Black Batiks gave me nothing.  They were all mixed with Grey or White.  Surprise!  I did find a swirly Black/Grey that I am using but I am not revealing how for now.  My goal is to have 50 (or more) pieces per block.


It was rather slow going because even though this is SCRAPPY, I didn’t want it to look scrappy (if you catch my drift).  Plus, cutting all of these pieces takes a lot of time.  I arranged and re-arranged.  My hubby thought that I had lost my mind (a normal thought of his) and his eyes glazed over when I was showing him what I was trying to do.    

But - In the process of finding various Black/Red fabrics, this is what happened:


My sewing room exploded into a mess.  When I opened one bin there were fabrics that did not belong and I had to remove them and place where they did belong.  It was never ending!  Finally, after about 4 hours of truly organizing my fabric stash, I could finally get back to my design wall.  And, then Eureka!  My squares finally were arranged.  I quickly snapped pictures just in case one (or two) fell and got myself and machine ready to stitch.  

Tip - Always take photos of your work on-going.  You will thank yourself later.


Here is my first 4-Patch.   





Here is my final 48-Patch Block.  Can you locate my first one?

 

Lesson learned - 

You must have your scraps in some type of orderly fashion before you begin this 1,000 Scrappy journey or it will take you forever to find just the right fabric you were looking for.  Also, to ensure that I am not repeating any fabric whatsoever, I am pulling every piece of the singular scrap fabric and placing it in a special pull-out plastic drawer.  It is totally removed from my original scrap bin so that I do not re-pull it down the road.  I love this challenge!!!  Next block is DOTS!  


Deb Slechta          

UQG President       


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