Hi, I'm Karen Brown of Just Get it Done Quilts,
and today, we're visiting Mount Scrapmore again.
Last week, we organized our scraps.
This week, I'm going to show you how to use them.
I'm going to show you my top 10 scrap sampler blocks,
so stick with me, and I'll show you how to do it.
If you're new to my channel,
I have tips, tricks, strategies, and stories to help you make the quilt that you want to make.
One of the best ways to manage Mount Scrapmore is to have a couple of block patterns ready
so we can continuously use up our scraps
because we all know if we don't keep them under control,
they have babies while we sleep.
In my last video, one of the strategies we talked about was
cutting your scraps up into 2.5 inch and 5 inch strips.
If you haven't seen my video on scrap management,
I'm going to put a connection right up here.
Today's blocks are sampler blocks.
They use consistent size pieces in an organized block.
That means it's highly repeatable, and there are so many designs you can make using just 2.5 and 5 inch strips.
The first one is a four-patch,
and you're probably looking at me going, "Duh."
I know this is an obvious one, but you probably all have a stack of these mini charms in your
sewing room somewhere, so just keep a stack of them by your sewing machine and use them
as the leaders in enders. It's basically a bonus block that you can accumulate while
you sew other projects. They can be totally random, or you can play with lights and darks.
Just press to the left and up, and they go together nice and easy.
This is my favourite block. It's made from two 2.5 x 4.5 inch strips,
and it looks great scrappy, and when you have longer strips,
it looks great in a 2 x 2 or a 3 x 3 pattern.
The 3 x 3 block, this is perfect for any leftover width of fabric (WOF) strips,
whether they be jelly rolls or binding strip.
Just sew them together, and then divide them into three.
I've been taking one solid and one print and putting them together.
Sew them all together. Then cut three strips of 4.5 inches. Then spin the centerpiece around,
and sew them all together.
Take advantage of some English paper piecing scraps to make a fussy cut block.
You might look at this block and just think that this is 4 four-patches sewn together.
The difference is in the construction.
This is made by sewing four strips, 2.5" x 10" together,
and then we slice these into 2.5 inch strips, and then sew these together.
Let's just pause here for a second and talkabout value in scrappy blocks.
If you don't know what I mean about value, when it refers to colour, go watch my series on colour theory.
I'll put a link to that series up here.
For most of us, it would take a long time to accumulate enough fabric in one colour,
in a range of tones, tint, and shades to make enough scrappy blocks to make a quilt.
It's a lot easier to do it with value.
We can look at a block and identify where low, medium, and high value blocks should go.
t can turn a muddy pattern into one where the eye can follow.
In this postage stamp block, I put the highest value blocks along the diagonal.
When I'm making these strips, I'm actually making four different types.
Follow this guide for ironing, and your blocks will nest together nicely.
The nine-patch. Why make a nine-patch when the four-patch is so simple?
Well, two reasons. The nine-patch is inherently scrappy,
and often, when we have scraps, we have more than just one block of them.
This is a good place to use four at a time up.
The second reason is the nine-patch has a centre, which we canhighlight or fussy cut
or even put a tinier block in the middle. These are the offcuts from my circus tent quilt.
Don't forget to play with value in the layout.
What should we call this one? Spot in the middle?
It's perfect for 2.5 inch strips leftover from a fat quarter or half a jelly roll strip.
Cut two 2.5" x 6.5" strips, and then cut three 2.5 inch squares.
You'll use two on this block and use one as a centre for another block.
Of course, fussy cut that centre when you get the chance.
The key here is you need enough contrast between the outside and the inside to make it interesting.
You can do it with hue, you can do it with saturation, and you can do it with value.
Here's a example of this quilt done by my Stitch and Chat partner, Susan Gray.
It is done in these beautiful desaturated browns and greys.
The cross,
you'll need one 2.5 x 6.5 inch strip plus two 2.5 inch squares.
The other four squares can be all the same fabric, or they can be in a variety of fabrics
as long as there's good contrast between them and the cross.
You can also alternate the value of the crosses.
And follow this ironing guide, and they'll go together smoothly.
The HST. Now, I debated about putting this HST on the list.
Yes, they're simple, and you can combine it a number of different ways with your four-patches,
but I always need to trim my HSTs up, so making it fast might be an iffy claim.
So making the 5 inch one isn't too bad, but the 2.5-inch, now,
you can make them, but they're not going to be fast.
Make sure you use my HST buster from my video, Five Sewing Hacks With Masking Tape.
I'll put a link up here to that.
The main reason why I wanted to include it are all the amazing layouts.
This is just a simple Google search for scrappy HST quilts.
When you combine it with a four-patch, things really begin to get interesting.
Now, let me show you a trick with your five-inch strips.
When we make an HST the regular way, just going across and sewing quarter of an inch from the line,
we end up with these tails at the tips of our corners that are simply wasted fabric.
In fact, three-eighths of wasted fabric.
There's this ruler that you can buy for cutting your strips into HSTs without that little tip on it,
but mine doesn't go to five inches.
It does come in a larger size, but I need another ruler like I need a hole in the head.
I have made a template by grabbing another ruler, and placing it a half an inch along the line.
Line the HST ruler up along the bottom. Draw a line, and cut along the line.
I use this piece to make my template,
and now we can quickly just go down this strip and cut out half-square triangles.
Now you ask me, why do we fuss with this method when we have a simpler method at hand?
When we use the regular method, these finish at four inches.
When we use the other method, they finish at 4.25.
Why do we need these, you ask.
Take any of the nine-patches, the spot in the middle, or the cross,
then sew an HST to the top and the bottom of the block. Press, then sew an HST to the other sides.
Trim the block up, and voila. We have blocks number eight, nine and 10.
I call the first one The Chiclet.
Then we have The Hug,
and then we have The Kiss.
Now, remember, if you're fussy cutting the centre of The Chicklet, you need to turn it on point,
and The Hugs and Kiss block can be combined together to make a beautiful quilt.
Oh, my God, we're at 10 already. I have so many more to show you,
so I'm going to have to make another video.
Remember, don't wait until your scrap pile is overwhelming.
Choose two to five patterns. Make an appointment with yourself on your calendar,
and let your blocks grow organically over time.
Let me know in the comments below if you're going to try any of them.
When you do, post a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #scrapbusterblock.
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Take care, and I'll see you next time.