Scrappy Charm Square Quilt Magic
Combine Charm Squares with Scrap Fabrics
Are you looking for some new scrappy charm square quilt ideas? Let me show you a fast and easy quilt you’ll love making with your charm squares! My quilt shown here begins with a colorful batik charm square pack in blues, greens, teals, and purples, emphasizing the beauty of the fabrics together.
Next lots of scrappy fabrics are added to the mix and you can see the magic happen! Adding leftover scrap fabrics brings in more colors while highlighting your primary focal colors. This is also a great way to colorize any charm pack into a personal color pallet that you love!
Follow along and learn how to create beautiful charm square quilts using fabric scraps! This tutorial demonstrates a scrappy method for arranging and sewing charm squares and leftover fabrics together. There’s no pattern needed, and the included video offers helpful quilting tips to guide you along the way to your new scrappy quilt.
How to Organize Fabric Scraps
What I Do with my Leftover Fabric Scraps
If you have a pile of fabric scraps, you know they come in all shapes and sizes! This can lead to some very creative quilting ideas. Yet, if that pile gets out of control it may become a nightmare.
My definition of fabric scraps is any fabric in any size that I have left over from another project. My fabric stash includes various leftover cut bits large and small. There are often unused pieces of precut bundles, especially fat quarters. I love fat quarters but don’t always use an entire bundle. That doesn’t mean they won’t get used in another quilt sometime soon!
Fat quarters may get cut into other precuts so I can use that piece of fabric in multiple quilts. If you’d like to learn how to cut your own precuts, check out this post Quilt Faster: How to Cut Fat Quarters for all the details.
Basic Quilting Tools
Recommended Quilting Supplies, Tools, & Accessories
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases though it will not affect your price though it helps me purchase quilting supplies.)
In addition to fabric, you will need the basic sewing and quilting tools. The list I’m recommending below includes the items I use for each quilt I make.
- OLFA 24″ x 36″ Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
- My Favorite Olfa Quick Change Rotary Cutter
- 4-Piece Precut Ruler Set by MSQC
- Rotary Mat Ruler
- Schmetz Non-Stick Quilting Large-eyed Needles #12
- Quilting Thread
How to Use Fabric Scraps
How I Use My Fabric Scraps
Scrappy quilts are great fun to make. They are bright and colorful, and they are also cost effective. When you are using leftover fabrics, you are using fabrics you didn’t have to buy for a new quilt. I used to think that I needed new fabrics every time I made a quilt! Absolutely not true. It’s better to use what you already have.
My favorite way to begin a quilt is with a pile of favorite fabrics. Some may be new, but there will always be some that have been tucked away. This is how I use my leftover fabric scraps to their full potential. I keep them handy to bring inspiration for my next quilt.
Then I look through my precuts that I cut myself plus those left over from bundles. The favorites are added to the pile while the rest will wait until next time. There may also be a few pieces of yardage that I’ll fit into the mix, but it will likely require some cutting to fit whatever I’m making.
Remember that you bought those fabrics because you loved them. So, keep using and loving them even more in new scrappy quilts! Get creative with your leftover fabric and enjoy the pleasure of using them over and over again! Then you can also keep smiling as you realize the cost savings for that ‘free’ quilt.
Scrappy Charm Square Blocks
Combining a batik charm pack with leftover strips and fabrics allows you to bring your favorite accent colors and to personalize the color scheme. So find ways to fit them together in a pleasing way.
In this quilt, each charm square will be bordered on two sides joined with a cornerstone. There is a strong contrast between the darker strips and the very light corner stone. This adds lots of visual interest without being too concerned with placement of each charm square.
Depending on the block layout within the quilt design, it will create multiple opportunities for several different quilt top designs. Play around with a few blocks and turn them in different directions and see what you like. Once you find your favorite, you’re ready to assemble your quilt.
Cutting Scrappy Border Strips
Since we are using precuts and scrap fabrics, the cutting will be a breeze! Start with a square. In this case it’s the charm square. Then see what’s in your fabric pile. If like me, you have lots of strips, start cutting them to size for the beginning of your block. I only added the strips to two sides, but you may want to try adding them to every side. This will add lots of color and bring a great scrappy look to your quilt.
In this quilt, each charm square will need two strips cut to 2.5-inches by 5-inches, plus one 2.5-inch square. These pieces are easily cut from leftover 2.5-inch strips or jelly rolls. Additional strips may be cut from other leftover fabrics to add more fabric variety for a scrappy look. Once you start cutting, you may be surprised how much fabric you have to choose from!
How to Assemble Scrappy Charm Square Blocks
How to Chainstitch Blocks
Chainstitching is a quilter’s best friend! A repetitive process, like sewing a single seam, can be finished much quicker if they are all sewn at the same time. Just line your seam up one after the other and sew them continuously. Don’t cut any threads between each block, just keep sewing until the last block. This not only saves you lots of time, but lots of thread, too! Plus, you are able to focus on completing each assembly step before moving on to the next.
Charm square block preassembly begins by chainstitching one 2.5-inch by 5-inch strip to one side of each charm square. Next, without cutting your thread, continue chainstitching the second 2.5-inch by 5-inch strip to one 2.5-inch square. Do this to complete all your pieces. Once finished, cut the pieces apart and press.
How to Press Scrappy Charm Square Strips
These pressing suggestions will ensure your seams will nest when you assemble the block. Nesting your seams ensure your corners match and when pressed they will lay flat.
To begin, press the strip that is joined to the charm square towards the strip. Then press the strip joined to the small square towards the strip. This will allow your seams to nest when joining your blocks together.
Joining Scrappy Quilt Blocks
With all your pieces sewn and pressed, it’s time to finish each block. Randomly join a charm square with a strip unit being sure to nest your seams. This will create a nice, finished look for your blocks. It’s not necessary to press these blocks yet.
Quilt Block Color Placement
There is no right or wrong way to layout this quilt top. You may select blocks randomly and sew them into rows. Then sew these rows together to finish your quilt. This is a great way to assemble a scrappy quilt. But in my quilt, there were lots of duplicating colors that I didn’t want to be too close together.
Instead, I wanted the two primary colorways spread out evenly across the quilt. I created two piles of blocks that were then joined side-by-side by chainstitching them all at one time into pairs. Once the pairs are sewn together, I cut them apart keeping them in order. This way the colors are the same throughout the pile which allows me to easily sew them together. Now you are ready to finish the quilt top.
Sewing Quilt Block Pairs Together
By joining my blocks into pairs, I created a repeating color sequence. That was important to me so I could keep those colors from falling next to each other when the quilt top is assembled. First, the pairs were chainstitched into individual rows.
Instead of continuing by chainstitching the rows together, I cut them apart and turned every other row in the opposite direction. This not only spaced out my colors but also reduced the matching seams, making this a quick finish!
I hope you now have some scrappy quilt ideas to begin your next quilt.
