Red String Blocks for Rainbow Scrap Quilt Challenge 2026

The color for March for the Scrap Quilt Challenge is RED. I did have quite a few red scraps, so I made 12 string blocks. Since I have no idea how many total blocks I need, or what size quilt I will make, or the layout I will choose, I may need to make more blocks later in one or more colors. For now, I thought I would make whatever I feel like and figure it out later. Not sure how many colors we will have? Is it 12 colors (one for each month) or fewer colors? I guess I will just continue playing along and find out later; by then I will have more scraps in every color if I need to make some more blocks. I am having fun and using up scraps, which is always a good thing.

I love how the blocks look after they are all trimmed up.

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Scrappy Purple Quilt Top with Sunflower Appliqué

I made a scrappy quilt top using up my purple scraps and then added a sunflower appliqué in the corner. I donated this to Wrap the World With Quilts. They have volunteers who will quilt it and then it will be donated to someone. 

The quilt top measures 49" x 49". It feels good to use up so many scraps to create a quilt. It takes more time to sew scrappy like this, but also it's more rewarding to use scraps.

Sunflower in upper left in this photo. I wasn't sure if adding more sunflowers would be too much with all the scrappiness of this quilt already, so decided on just one. 

I used a fusible web and cut out the center of the fusible web so the sunflower wasn't too stiff once I fused it, but you can see the edges of the petals are darker as the fusible web shows through. Never had that happen before. Hopefully it will be quilted nicely and won't be as noticeable. The fusible web also wasn't adhering as well as it should. It could be the batik fabric it didn't adhere to well?

Lots of different shades of purples in these scraps.

The quilt can be placed with the sunflower in the lower left corner like this or the upper left as in the first photo, or turn it again so the sunflower is in the lower or upper right corner. 

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2 String Quilt Table Runners

I had started out making some blue string blocks and some red string blocks to make a red and blue scrappy string baby or lap quilt, depending on how many blocks I ended up with. Then I changed my mind and just wanted to do something with what I had already made and decided on making 2 table runners instead and be done with them. I do have a few red and blue blocks leftover, so they might become purse flaps for the purses I donate or some kind of appliqué? I'll see when I get to them later.

Glad I finished these. The blue one was done first and is for sale at the gift shop. If it sells, I will take the red one in or add it to my PayHip Shop soon.

There is something so satisfying about making string blocks and turning them into quilts of any size.

A simple serpentine stitch works great for quilting these runners.

Now that I am looking at this, I should have swapped one of those blocks with the checks on the right with one of the blocks with the red and tiny white dots on the left to balance it out more. Oh well, sometimes I just want to finish something so I can move on and I guess this was one of those times.🙄

I used the serpentine stitch to quilt this red runner too.

I like the red musical fabric for the backing. I forgot to take a photo of the backing for the blue. I used a tiny plaid print of blue with a touch of red for the blue runner backing.

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Kokopelli Table Runner #2

I made a second Kokopelli scrappy pieced table runner because I still had lots of the Kokopelli squares and batik scraps. The first one I made I took to the gift shop on Monday and it sold on Wednesday!!! That is the fastest anything has ever sold there, since they are closed on Monday for intake and closed on Tuesday too. Of course I think I will increase the price for the next one by a few dollars, as I sold it too cheap, but I wanted to see if it would sell at all. Now that it did sell, was it a fluke? Or would another one sell too? I guess I will find out after I make a third one. I need to have a few more of my things sell before I can bring in more stuff anyhow, so that give me time to make another one or two more.

I was planning on showing this table runner in a fiber art show at the beginning of next year in a group I belong to, but maybe I need to make a third runner? It is a great scrap buster, so I love that I am using up my batik scraps, well some of my scraps as the bag that holds my scraps doesn't look very empty, just a little less plump 😂!

I also took in a couple of the cross body purses that I make for Sew Powerful that I put a Kokopelli square in the middle and sewed scraps around it. If either of those 2 purses sell, I will donate the money received to Sew Powerful charity. I will share those purses soon here on the blog.

Measures 12" x 30".

Happy scrappy stitching!

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4 Scrappy Free Form Log Cabin Style Quilts for Project Linus Donation

Hello my crafty, sewing friends. Several months ago I got the idea to make a free from scrappy quilt using my turquoise scraps and a tiny orange center for each block that I made. Well, I didn't plan it out very well as I just kept sewing scraps and I had so many blocks started, but very few that were squared to the 8.5" square size I wanted, so I had to add blue scraps and green scraps as well as the turquoise I started with, 😜.  Then when sewing the blocks together, I didn't want huge quilts, so I made 3 square quilts at 40" x 40" and one that was a bit longer and a rectangle instead of square. I actually made 2 rectangle ones, but I will share that one another day, as I am going to see if I can sell that one first at a gift shop. If it doesn't sell, I will donate it too.

I love piecing scraps to make these free form log cabin style quilts. No rules, no mistakes, just sewing fun! They can be sewn with any width scrap (from 1" to about 3") and sewn in the Log Cabin style (sewing around and around in a clockwise fashion) or the Courthouse Steps style (sewing strips across from each other) or both ways in the same block. I choose where I want to sew the scrap based on the length of the scrap piece. Sometimes I don't have a long enough strip to sew on a certain side, so if it fits on a different side then that's where it gets sewn.

I backed all of these quilts using soft flannel. In fact, I didn't add any batting at all. I just sewed the backing and the top right side together, left an opening and turned them. I press them, topstitched all around, which closed the opening, and quilted to hold the 2 layers together in a Serpentine Stitch on the diagonal. The pieced top with the flannel backing was heavy enough as is without any batting and the quilt has more drape too. 

I like to add an appliqué animal or a flower on my scrappy quilts that get donated, but these were so busy, that when I auditioned a large appliqué by placing it on top, it got lost, so no appliqué for these quilts. I will have to choose a different light color to piece next time in order to add some appliqué to the quilts.

5 blocks across x 5 blocks down (8" finished blocks) makes this quilt 40" x 40".

The flannel backing I used was Peace Signs. I love how soft the flannel makes a quilt more cuddly.

Closeup of a few blocks.

This is the rectangle shaped quilt as it has 5 blocks x 6 blocks, making it 40" x 48".

Close up look.

Royal blue flannel backing.

Another 40" x 40" quilt.

There are a lot of fun scraps in these quilts. Sort of an "I Spy" quilt, making it fun for the child to find all sorts of things, like the ballerina pig above.

Another close up.

This was also backed in royal blue flannel, but I needed to add a strip of the floral print flannel to make it big enough at the top.

40" x 40".

I spy a hot air balloon, butterflies & flowers.

This flannel backing is the floral print.

Happy Scrappy sewing!

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19 Scrappy Pieced Doll Quilts

Trying to use up the never-ending Pile O Scraps!!! Okay that is impossible to do! You end up with more scraps after cutting the backing fabric, and binding (if you use binding), and smaller scraps after using larger scraps, so the scraps keep on coming, lol! That's okay, because sometimes you need a mindless scrappy project to sew and sewing scrappy quilts, whether large or small is just satisfying. I do use up some scraps (even if it doesn't appear so) and making these doll quilts for a charitable cause is also something to feel good about as well. 

My quilt group makes doll quilts all year, anytime and we turn the doll quilts into the person who collects the doll quilts. Near Christmas time the doll quilts are given to a local woodworking group that we quilters partner with, who are busy all year making cute little wooden rocking doll beds. They give little girls a rocking doll bed with a fabric doll and a quilt. The woodworkers also make small wooden toys for the boys, but if they prefer a doll, they can have that instead and visa versa a girl could request a wooden toy instead. 

Periodically I make the doll quilts to use up all kinds of scraps I have. One year I made 75 doll quilts. I made 19 this time. I like to make the quilt 9" x 12", which is slightly larger than the suggested size of 8 1/2 x 11 (the size of a standard computer/typing paper). I have seen the quilts placed long way over the width of the doll bed, yet when sharing the doll quilts, most hold them up like a piece pf paper with the height being the long way, which to me never made any sense, so I make them like this and a bit larger, so the little girl can wrap her doll up in the quilt if she wants to.

I backed each one with flannel to make it soft and just sewed the quilt top and backing right-sides-together and left an opening to turn the quilt. I then topstitched all around and quilted it with a simple diagonal serpentine stitch from corner to corner. That is enough to hold it together. I did not add any batting as these have a bit more drape to them and batting would add a bit of stiffness (and cost). 

The pieced heart I had made awhile ago, so I appliquéd it on a piece of fabric and sewed more scraps around to make this doll quilt.

I used this backing for the quilt above and one other quilt.

Yellow flannel backing was used for a few of the quilts.

This flannel with stars was used as backing for a few quilts.

I used this flannel for a few backings.

This flannel I used for one backing.

This was not flannel, but used it as a backing. It was from a fat quarter I had won at my quilt group.

This flannel backing was used for one quilt. I quilted this one first and did straight line stitching and a bit more stitching, but then changed to the diagonal X serpentine stitching in the others as it was simpler and faster.

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