Becky Tesch shares a fun way to make a quilt. She named it SCAMPER. Becky is our state quilt guild president this year. Thank you, Becky, for sharing.
Creativity? You Want Me to DO What? Creativity is at the heart of quilting. It allows us to experiment with colors, patterns, fabrics, and techniques while adding our own personality to every project. But how do we learn to become more creative? Years ago, I taught in a gifted and talented program, and one of the things we worked on was creativity. During that time, I came across a helpful process called SCAMPER. Each letter represents a different way to look at an idea or project: S — Substitute: Replace the thing or concept with something else. C — Combine: Unite two or more ideas or materials. A — Adapt: Adjust to a new purpose; reshape or tune up. M — Modify, Magnify, or Minify: Change the color, sound, motion, form, or size. Make it larger, stronger, thicker, higher, or longer—or make it smaller, lighter, slower, less frequent, or reduced. P — Put to Another Use: Change when, where, location, time, or how it is used. E — Eliminate: Omit, get rid of, cut out, simplify, or weed out. R — Rearrange or Reverse: Change the order, sequence, pattern, layout, plan, or scheme. Regroup or redistribute.
Using the ideas represented by each of these letters gives us a chance to look at our quilts in new ways. We can experiment with different colors, change a block, combine techniques, simplify a design, or rearrange a familiar pattern. Our quilts do not have to be perfect or follow every rule. They should reflect the imagination and joy of the person making them. Over the next few months, we will explore some of the SCAMPER ideas and learn how they can help us try things with our quilts and our quilting abilities that we may never have considered before. Let’s take a look at the first elements in the SCAMPER Model Substitute and Combine: Two Ways to Spark Creativity Substitute invites us to replace one part of a quilt with something different. This does not mean changing the entire project. Sometimes one small substitution is enough to give a familiar pattern a fresh look. Substituting can help us use what we already have, solve a problem, try a new technique, or make a quilt feel more personal. Here are some ways to use Substitute in quilting: • Replace the suggested colors in a pattern with colors you enjoy more. • Use scraps instead of purchasing new yardage. • Substitute a print fabric for a solid fabric, or a solid for a print. • Use flannel, denim, wool, batik, or recycled fabric instead of traditional quilting cotton. • Replace one block in a quilt with an appliquéd block. • Substitute half-square triangles for plain squares. • Replace a traditional border with piano keys, flying geese, prairie points, or no border at all. • Use buttons, embroidery, ribbons, lace, or decorative stitching in place of appliqué details. • Substitute machine quilting for hand quilting or try big stitch quilting instead of small hand stitches. • Replace traditional batting with a lighter or heavier batting to change the quilt’s texture and warmth. • Use a pieced backing instead of one large piece of fabric. • Substitute a facing for a traditional binding. • Turn a full-size quilt pattern into a wall hanging, table runner, pillow, or tote bag. • Replace perfect repetition with several variations of the same block. Substitute a favorite fabric from your collection for the featured fabric in a pattern. For example, imagine a traditional log cabin quilt made with red and cream fabrics. By substituting bright rainbow scraps for the red fabrics and black for the cream background, the same block can look bold and modern. The construction has not changed, but the feeling of the quilt is completely different.
Combine encourages us to bring two or more ideas, materials, patterns, or techniques together. Quilters often create something original by combining familiar elements in a new way. Combining allows us to use favorite techniques while also experimenting with something unexpected. Here are some ways to use Combine in quilting: • Combine two traditional blocks in the same quilt. • Use blocks from two different patterns to create a new lay out. • Combine piecing and appliqué in one project. • Add embroidery to a pieced quilt. • Mix hand quilting and machine quilting. • Combine modern fabrics with a traditional quilt pattern. • Use reproduction fabrics in a contemporary layout. • Mix large blocks with smaller blocks. • Combine curved piecing with straight-line piecing. • Add English paper-pieced shapes to a machine-pieced background. • Combine foundation paper piecing with traditional patch work. • Use both neutral and brightly colored backgrounds. • Mix floral, geometric, striped, and novelty prints. • Combine several sizes of the same block. • Join orphan blocks from different projects into one sampler quilt. • Use leftover blocks to make borders, labels, pockets, or a pieced backing. • Combine traditional quilting motifs with modern straight-line quilting. • Add photographs, printed words, signatures, or meaningful fabric to a memory quilt. • Combine quilting with another craft, such as embroidery, weaving, fabric painting, or clothing construction. Turn quilted pieces into bags, jackets, pillows, table runners, or home decorations. For example, you might combine a traditional star block with a modern improvisational background. You could also place appliquéd flowers in the center of pieced blocks or add embroidered details after the quilt top is assembled. Each technique may be familiar on its own but bringing them together creates something new. Substitute and Combine are simple ways to stretch our creativity without starting from scratch. We can begin with a pattern, block, or technique we already know and then ask ourselves two questions: What could I replace? and What could I bring together? Those questions can lead to quilts that are more person al, inventive, and uniquely our own.
We would love to see your quilts if you make one of these quilts. Post it on the state quilt guild page.
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