Scrap Quilt #2: A Christmas Gift to Myself

This quilt gets a boring name, but I love it too much to call it "scrap vomit" or "technicolor yawn," though that's what you'll see similar quilts called. "Technicolor yawn" seemed like a clever name until I discovered it was actually Australian slang for vomit; no thanks. It is not completely scraps, but mostly. Finished just before Christmas, I'm totally keeping this one for myself. (Having the Christmas tree in front of the patio door definitely complicated the photo shoot.)

This quilt features 1110 2.5" squares (20 blocks of 49 squares plus a border) and I quilted through every square twice. It is much more heavily quilted than most of my quilts and required a lot of thread. I quilted with a light pink thread to match the backing fabric. I originally intended to make the top even scrappier, with only one ring of matching fabric, but I'm really pleased I had enough matching scraps to do it the way I did.

The pink fabric in the center is left from my Sunburst quilt. The green and blue fabrics are scraps from two quilts which have since been disassembled, which is the only way I would have had enough matching scraps for 10 blocks of those rings. The yellow ring is a fat quarter, not scraps, but it wasn't a new purchase; I suspect I purchased it as an option for the Purple and Yellow quilt, and it just didn't quite go with the rest of the yellows.

I *love* the fabric I used for the backing. It was purchased at least seven years ago for a completely different project that has yet to materialize. That quilt may never happen, and this fabric deserved a quilt. The binding fabric isn't quilt a scrap, but a leftover from the Elephant Pinwheel quilt. I was glad I had a blue fabric that matched the fabric in the ring of blue fairly well.

My favorite square

Another unique square

With 1110 squares, not every fabric is unique, but I did try to make sure every block of 49 squares had no duplicate fabrics. I failed on at least two blocks. It's also amazing how two squares of the same fabric in different blocks end up really close together in the final layout. There shouldn't be more than 20 squares of any one fabric, though I'd be surprised if any one fabric showed up in every block.

My first scrap quilt was made in 2001 with 4.5" squares. It is still the one I use on my bed in the winter, but this new one is definitely a favorite. There are some fabrics that show up in both quilts. In June I set three goals for scrap quilts and completed only one this year. I don't think I'll do the Arkansas Crossroads one, but I still plan to do the other. I definitely still have enough 2.5" squares left! I will have to assess if there will be enough diversity among the fabrics though.

My favorite four square of fabrics

New items purchased to finish this quilt: batting and four spools of thread (it only used 2.5 spools, but there was a buy one, get one free sale)

Finished size: 58" x 71"