A Scrappy Ruth Quilt

I have been a bad blogger lately and have quite a backlog of projects to share with you - I am hoping to share at least one a week over the next little bit so prepare for lots of quilts!

There are two things that I am always interested in trying on a pattern - a rainbow version and a scrappy version. These don't work with every pattern, but they do work most of them time and they can really transform the look. 

Recently, I have been cutting down the majority of the fabrics in my scrap bin into uniform sizes so that (1) they take up less space and (2) so they aren't a jumbled mess. This was all around the same time that I was writing my Ruth Quilt pattern and it occurred to me that some of the squares I had been cutting were the same size as the squares in the pattern - I had to do it!

While I do love a scrappy quilt, I didn't want to create complete visual pandemonium so I decided that I would use a single print for the sashing - in my mind I envisioned a black polka dot print, but I didn't have one on hand so this block print filled in nicely.

The main thing I focused on was the value placement within the blocks - the Fabric A squares are the dark value, the Fabric B squares are the medium, and the Fabric C squares are the light value (these letters won't mean anything unless you have the pattern, but I wanted to give that info in case anyone wants to make their own version).

If you haven't worked with a quilt that uses value like this, it is a lot of fun and a good way to try something new! 

Sometimes when I make a scrap quilt, I am more concerned with layout and spend time planning the block placement before I sew the quilt together. And sometimes I don't. This was one of those times - I just sewed with no regard to block placement. It turns out that I did want a little bit of visual pandemonium.

The backing is an older Cotton + Steel print that I have had in my stash for ages - I am glad I saved it for this project. It was perfect. The binding is one of my favorite solids, FreeSpirit in Manatee. 

I like to make sure I get a few scrap quilts in each year - they keep the scrap bin from overflowing and are a nice palette cleanser from projects that are more planned. 

If you would like to make your own scrappy version of The Ruth Quilt, you can pick up a copy here.