Seeing the vibrant quilt on the cover, I couldn't resist looking into Sensational Quilts for Scrap Lovers. The author and designer Judy Gauthier writes, "Playing with my fabric scraps is my all-time favorite sport," and she can't stay away from devising new ways to use them.
Gauthier shares tips for creating and storing your scraps, including odd shapes and scraps with bias edges. She offers advice on storing scraps by color. A brief course on color theory helps you decide on scrap selection for your project, including how to transition colors.
Along with her basic go-to Keystone block, Gauthier includes instructions on piecing curves.
I was pleased to learn that Gauthier stores her scraps in 3 1/2", 4 1/2" and 5 1/2" squares. I have been doing that for years! I store mine by size in baggies in a shoe storage tower similar to the one pictured below. (I have a second one filled with fat quarters!)
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- Frontal Boundaries, which uses 4" blocks to make a 68 1/2" x 97" quilt. Gauthier transitions color to flow across the quilt. Detailed instructions ensure you can recreate your own version.
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| Frontal Boundaries |
- True North's color transition starts in the center and extends outward. The two blocks offer an impression of a compass. The 8" blocks finish to make a 91" x 91" quilt.
- Argyle Sweater uses 8" blocks to make a 74" by 85 1/2" quilt. It was made with scraps left from True North. The overlapping on-point squares against a solid background recall the classic sweater design.
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| Argyle Sweater |
- Split Screens' 16" blocks finish to a 48 1/2" x 64 1/2" quilt. It uses her Keystone block with a dark neutral allowing the colors to pop.
- Precious Metals, 60 1/2" x 70 1/2", is made of 5" x 10" blocks. The bias edges must be handled with care, but it's worth it for the affect. Gauthier's quilt of gold colored blocks interspersed with colored bars is stunning.
- Sleepy Tiny Tepee Town, 62 1/2" x 78", is made of blocks that look like camping tents or teepees. The bias edges need to be handled carefully, but the construction is quite easy.
- The Knit Stitch is composed of 10" x 5" blocks, 60 blocks creating a 50 1/2" x 60 1/2" quilt. Gauthier says the pattern leaves little waste. It could make a lovely gift for a knitter friend!
- Fractured Four-Patch is made of a four-patch triangle and finishes to 78 1/2" x 93". It is one of my favorites in the book, very scrappy, with value contrasts creating lots of movement.
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| Fractured Four-Patch |
- Circle gets the Square is made with 21" square blocks, nine making a 63 1/2" square quilt. Pieced low-contrast backgrounds made of squares are set with centered circle blocks. The piecing technique is for advanced sewers...but frankly, I would applique the circle!
- Aerial View finishes to 58" x 70 1/2", using 100 5 3/4" x 7" blocks. It is the color and value placement that recreates a feeling of fields from an airplane. It is a very Modern quilt.
- Sunrise, Sunset is the cover quilt and finishes to 77" x 80 1/2". It is constructed of half-hexagons set together with an appliqued central circle.
Learn more about Judy Gauthier at her websites
Gauthier is a nurse and offers a tutorial for the mask pattern sold at her shop
I was given a free ebook by the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Sensational Quilts for Scrap Lovers: 11 Easily Pieced Projects; Color & Cutting Strategies
by Judy Gauthier
C&T Publishing
Book $27.95; eBook $22.99
ISBN 9781617458682
eISBN 9781617458699
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