- When it comes to making a scrap quilt, there's a fine line
between scrappy and crappy. In this episode of "The Midnight Quilter," I'm gonna show you a
scraptastic quilt pattern that not only uses
scraps and precut strips, it also looks amazing. Plus I'll share tips on how to machine quilt scrappy quilts. So let's get started. (upbeat music) There's enough crappy out
in the world right now. So I'm gonna stay inside
and make my beautiful quilt. To get started, I'm gonna
need the background fabric, some lovely accent fabric, and scraps. This quilt uses mostly 2 1/2 inch strips. So it's a great use of your scrap fabric, except I may have spent
too much time playing with my scrap fabric and not enough time sorting it. So I'm gonna take the easy
route and use a jelly roll. I'm gonna be using these pre-cut strips by Jennifer Sampou from
her Sky collection. Okay, I know it's not technically scraps, but it sure is pretty. I love pre-cut strips, but
they can be very linty. So I'm gonna use a lint roller
real quick to clean it up, and then we'll see the
beautiful ombre goodness of these strips. This is just gonna help
clean up the edges a bit and make it where I'm not
dealing with so much lint. It's like fabric confetti. If only there was a big
lint roller for life to clean up all the crappy messes. (upbeat music) What I love about this fabric
collection is that it's ombre. So it goes from dark to light
with this beautiful texture. So unlike a typical ombre, it's not going dark to light to dark. It just has that one
gradual color variation that's gonna look great in my scrap quilt. Plus it's like a solid,
but not technically. It does have a beautiful texture, and these colors are just
gonna shine on my quilt. And they kind of remind me of
a colorful bowl of chocolate. So pretty. Okay, okay, enough fabric fondling. Let's get this cut. Normally when working on a scrap quilt, I would just cut these strips up without worrying about
what color they were. But since these strips
go from light to dark, I'm gonna be more intentional
about the pieces I cut. Yes, yes, I am that person
that likes to control where the fabric goes in a scrap quilt. I can't help it. So I'm gonna open up my strips. And to make it go just a little quicker, I'm gonna stack a few of
them on top of each other, making sure that the
dark ends are lining up. And then I'm gonna cut
strips out of the dark side and then strips out the lighter side. (active music) And I love that even though
I'm using the same strip, I'm still gonna get that scrappy effect because the color change. But the next strips, I'm gonna cut just a little different. I'm gonna lay out the next
set of strips the same way, all of them opened up with the
dark sides lined up together, and cutting them in different lengths. By the way, you can get
the pattern or the kit if you want to make a
scraptastic quilt too. Just check out the link in
the description box below. Well, now that I have my
beautiful strips cut out, it's time to cut out the
background and the accent fabric so I can make my first block. I'm gonna cut this into
some strips and squares, and this accent fabric will be
repeated throughout the quilt to give it a look of repetition. One thing that keeps me
from having a crappy day is listening to musicals. And, of course, right
now I'm on "Hamilton." So anytime I think of being
young, scrappy, and hungry or I'm not gonna throw away my scrap. I mean, I know he makes
it sound better than I do, but it's fun. I'm just gonna cut up my background fabric into squares and triangles, and I'll be ready to make my blocks. (relaxed music) To make the first block, I need four a longer strips
of different fabrics, accent squares, the background squares, and four groups of fabric. Using the fabric groupings
is gonna give this quilt a little bit more cohesion,
still scrappy, just less crappy. So to make the first block I'm
gonna lay them out like this. One of the longer strips, the two pieces of fabric that match, my accent fabric, and
my background fabric. This block will actually need
four of these arrangements. And to make the piecing and
go a little bit quicker, I'm gonna do some chain piecing. So I'm gonna lay all
my pieces out in a pile and start sewing them together. (sewing machine whirs) (cheerful music) Once I'm done with the first section, I'm gonna cut these apart
using a thread cutter, making it go nice and quick. So I had my four blocks
all ready to assemble. And this is where we can start to see that that fabric grouping is so important. It's gonna make this strip look like it's coming underneath the next one and give it more of a uniform look. Now I'm gonna assemble the
four of these into the block, but I'm gonna square them
up first before I do it. I know it's gonna take
just a little bit longer but that the result is
gonna be so worth it when the block goes together like that. And the blocks that
aren't quite 6 1/2 inches, well, we'll just go ahead
and throw those in the pile. (playful music) Once these blocks are trimmed to somewhat close to the
size they're supposed to be, I'm gonna assemble them so that the accent fabric
comes together in the center. Once I have the pieces laid out with the fabric meeting in the center, I'm gonna sew the blocks into rows, and then sew the rows together. A quick press, and this block is finished. I'm actually gonna need several
more of these for the quilt, but I'm gonna show you how to
make the second block first. The second block is gonna make an X, and I'm gonna use four longer strips in the triangles of my background fabric. Again, here is where my
scrap OCD comes into play. These could all be different colors, but because I want each
part of the X to be similar, I'm kind of grouping
them in the same fabric. You don't have to do that. You can make it totally
random if you'd like. But no matter what fabrics you use, it still goes together the same way. I'm gonna take my longer
strip and find the center. Quick little finger press. Basically, I want to line up the midpoint so that that triangle is centered. Then I'm gonna right sides
together, and sew it. (sewing machine whirs) Now, I know it looks
kind of funny right now, but it'll make sense
here in just a moment. Then I'm gonna do the
same on the other side. (mellow music) Also finding that midpoint means that these triangles will be directly across from each other. And when I go to trim my
block, it'll be much easier. So this block is pressed
and ready to be trimmed, but I need to make sure that
this strip stays in the center. If it doesn't, it might
be more of a wonky X, which would still be fine, but we're going for scrappy, not crappy. So I'm still gonna use
my 6 1/2 inch ruler, even though these are
gonna be 5 1/2 inches. The most important thing to remember is as I'm trimming it up, I really want to keep this
diagonal line along the center. If your ruler doesn't have
this diagonal line, no worries. You can take your block
and fold it in half, and it will give you a
nice crease to follow. So lining it up on the fold
or along that diagonal line, I'm gonna extend it just past
the 5 1/2 inch square mark so I can trim two sides, and then rotate it and trim the rest. (gentle music) (tool scrapes) And there's my first adorable block. I'm gonna do that with
the rest of the blocks, and then we'll put them together. Now that I have my blocks,
I'm gonna arrange them so that they all aim towards the center. And then I'm gonna alternate the colors so that I have the one
continuous line of fabric. To add the center, I'm
gonna use my accent fabric. So we have a cute little plus
sign in the middle of our X, and then two different
groupings of our other strips. I'm gonna sew these pieces together and sew the block into rows, and then sew the rows
together for my second block. (lighthearted music) And there I have my second block finished. I love how it makes a
little cross in the center, how the fabric comes
together to make that X. And even though I'm using scraps, that background fabric still
keeps it nice and cohesive. So now that I have my first
and second blocks done, I'm gonna make several more of those, and then show you how to lay
it out to make the quilt. I'll be right back. This quilt goes together so easily because there's no sashing, no borders, just these glorious blocks. So for the first row, I'm
gonna lay out my first block with the second block in between. (cheery music) Now, these blocks are
completely interchangeable, so I can move them around if I think, "Hmm, that's not working,
that does not work for me." I can easily switch it out,
rotate it, do whatever I need until I think the color
placement looks perfect. Once I decided it looks great, then I can sew that first row together. But here's the best news. No matching seams. Oh yeah. (snaps) Oh yeah. All right, I'm gonna
get this sewn together, and I'll show you what it looks like. My first row is finished. I even have the second row done. And now you can start to see
the secondary pattern come out where those Xs are just kind of lining up. I'm so excited about the blocks, I've even finished the bottom part. So I'm gonna get this assembled so you can see the finished top. My quilt top is assembled, and I'm almost ready for the quilting, but I want to show you
what this would look like if it was totally scraptastic. Obviously, with this quilt top, I've had a little bit of
control of where the fabrics go, but if you want a total scrap vomit quilt, you can achieve that by not having any control
of the placement at all. Let me show you what it looks like. So these are actually blocks from a class I taught over at my shop. I have a quilt shop in Liberty, Missouri. So if you're ever in the area, you should stop in and see us, but it was from a mystery
scrap buster class. So it was actually this pattern. And I think you can see all the beautiful different
scrappy fabric placement. So it'll still look lovely, but if you like the bold, beautiful colors of this jelly roll, just so happens, I have a limited supply, so you can order the kit on my website. But I'm gonna stick with this placement. I'm gonna get this quilt sandwich basted, and get to quilting. I'll see you in just a sec. Machine quilting scrappy
quilts can be so much fun because with all those different prints, you'll have plenty of room and opportunity to try different designs. I've got my quilt sandwich
basted and ready to go, and I've selected two thread colors that'll be perfect for the
coordinating thread collection. A soft linen that will blend in nicely into that subtle background, and then a brilliant blue
that's gonna look great in all the other prints. I'm also gonna do a little
bit of ruler quilting to create some different effects. Quilting 2 inch finished
strips is my favorite because there's so many
design possibilities. So let's try a few of them out. In this portion of my X block, I'm gonna do a little bit of
curved piecing with Shelly. Now, what I love about the Shelly ruler is that it creates the
same curve on both sides. So that means I don't have to work from all different sides
of the foot of my machine. I can stick with one side. What I wanted to do is I'm
gonna position it on a strip, and I want it to land
on the halfway point. I'll quilt two curves, and
then work from the other side to create another set of
curves, that mirror image, and overlap. It sounds more intricate and more difficult than it actually is. (sewing machine whirs) (upbeat music) Once I have one strip done, I can easily go right into
the next and continue on. (energetic music) In the background sections, I'm gonna quickly quilt those with a continuous curve design, which is as simple as quilting a line that curves from point to point to point. (upbeat music) I don't mind free-handing
these larger curves, but if that scares you, you could definitely use a
curved ruler for that area. Now in these longer strips,
I'm gonna put the ruler away and do a little bit of
wishbone and ribbon candy, something that's nice and
quick and easy to quilt. (sewing machine whirs) (mellow music) What's great about having a quilt made with so many different fabrics is that as you're using different designs, if you don't like the way they look, you can easily switch to something else. And the little plus signs of my block, I'm gonna create a little
dot-to-dot quilting to give it a little geometric look that will look great
next to the curviness. Now, I could use a straight
edge for this part, but Shelly has enough
of a straight edge on it that I can just continue using this one. For this design, I'm just quilting lines that connect points on the block. So quick and easy and intricate looking. Well, it's obvious that I'm gonna have a lot of fun quilting this quilt. So I'm gonna get to pulling
out all my favorite designs, and I'll show you what it
looks like when I'm finished. This quilt is finished, and I can definitely say it is not crappy. I love how you can make a scrap quilt as organized or as random as you want. By using just a little control
of the fabric placement, I've created a gorgeous scrap
quilt that almost sparkles. Since the blocks go together
so quickly and easily, and with no matching seams, this quilt can brighten anyone's day. Plus the strips were just the right size for machine quilting with
some of my favorite rulers. I've had a blast turning a crappy day into a scraptastic quilt. Thank you so much for joining me. I'll be back next week with a new episode of
"The Midnight Quilter." And don't forget, if you like the quilt, you can get the pattern or the
kit at themidnightquilter.com or just click the link in
the description box below. (mellow music)
