Big Tower Tiny Square 2 Tutorial

[Gabby Dreher]

Heres an example where I used a bunch of my red scraps to make a wonky log cabin quilt! It's such a fun, mindless project. I'm ready to make another in a different color - I should probably just tackle which ever scrap drawer is the fullest!

Another classic and personal favorite for strips are traditional log cabin quilts. It's easy to trim down your scraps to the right sizes for these blocks. You can see the start of this vintage inspired version - and learn about how to make a log cabin quilt here.

Here's another variation on a traditional log cabin block (this one is a Courthouse Steps variation) that is part of the wonderful Scraps Inc pattern book. That book is full of other gorgeous scrap quilt inspiration.

One of my very favorite quilts for using leftover strips is my Scrap Happy Rainbow Connection quit pattern. It's also a great quilt for cleaning out those scraps-sorted-by-colors bins!

I'm not quite as well organized, but I have started saving two sizes of "precuts" when I'm cutting fabric or have left over jelly-roll strips, etc. I save 2 '' squares and 2 '' strips. Both are useful in lots of patterns, and they've come in handy. I still keep them sorted by color so they look pretty are I'm more inspired to use them.

I store my scraps the way you do! I used to sort by size between 2.5"-5" squares and strips by half inch increments. I wS inspired to change to by color by doing APQ's Scrappy Celebration QAL that is by color. It has made a huge positive difference in my efficiency in using scraps.

I used to save scraps but it got out of hand! If I adore them, I save them in a little bundle or make a baby quilt out of them. Otherwise I donate them to my quilt guild, as we have a garage sale as part of our biannual quilt show and sell bags of scraps as well as other quilty items. Thanks for blogging so much too-- lots of my other favorites aren't blogging as much and I look forward to

Good suggestions! In addition to sorting by color, I have a separate container (actually a big clear bag) with pastels just for making baby quilts that I donate. Hospitals prefer pastels to bright colors. I use all the other colors for baby quilts for friends and relatives.

A year ago I sorted and trimmed all of my scraps into usable squares and strips. Iit made such a big difference for me! I frequently take out my 2.5in squares and just play around with them, or sew them up into zipper pouches for quick gifts. I've also made a bunch of pillows from scraps because I have them at the ready. I haven't touched the tiny scraps I threw in ziplock bags, but maybe

Thank you, my to-do list has just doubled in size! ? So many ideas, so little time. I am especially inspired by your cute EPP bag! I think I need to pull out those little hexagon templates and my precious little scraps to make myself a little something...

Thanks Amy - this was great. Where I live (Qld, Australia) there is so much light that anything left out, fades. I would love to use the clear plastic bins as they would indeed be inspiring. My stash is folded into a chest of drawers - it's wonderful to open the drawers and see the rainbow of colours. I'll try your suggestion of the size sorting and saving. Cheers Amy.

Scrappy is best in my book! I have two papercrafting storage towers that hold scraps sorted by color in one, and by size in the other. Actually it's size and color. I keep lights or neutrals in their own bin. You are so right about purging--we all have our storage issues and need to be realistic about what we will actually USE !! Love your mini quilt. Strings are something I don't save

We have a local store that takes donations of used craft supplies. I have taken many bags of scraps that just need to go there. Each month I'm trying to make 1 scrap project to help use up what I have just sitting around. Thanks for the sorting ideas.

I have scraps but haven't used them for anything. I have started cutting some using my die cutter to make small 1" and 2" squares plus if I can cut my scraps into strips I have them wound up on a wooden spool to make a scrappy string quilt one day. But the rest are in tubs all mixed together.

Love the ideas for sorting and saving fabric scraps, there are such a variety of beautiful ways to use scraps. We did a post on a cute way of using up some old scraps if you want to check it out! www,quiltingfocus.com/2015/03/scrappy-handmade-hot-pad-tutorial. Happy Quilting!

I sort and store my scraps by color and size and then put them in 14x14 inch plastic bins. I like to do BOM's so each project I am working on is also stored in it's own bin so I can grab and go or work on it and put it out of the way until I am ready to work on it again. I keep cut pieces in ziplock bags as well so they are easily accessible. My biggest challenge is where to put all those bins! ?

I'm already a sorted scrap fiend. Over 5 years ago now, a friend in Sweden and I decided we'd do a monthly show and tell of what we'd made that month from our scraps. Over the years, others have joined us until it's now a Thing, and ScrapHappy Day is a regular monthly event for creations not only of fabric, but also yarn, woodwork, silversmithing scrap and home electronics, to name but a few! This most recent ScrapHappy post gives links to the regular members, if anyone's interested ( -3TF)

I been sorting for years. It how to use as you go. Time, sleep, work, health and were do you store or keep all the small projects become a mess. You do have neat ideas and glad you share your ideas. I dreamed of scrapes 50 years ago and now even making charity quilts the scrapes have taken over.

Hi Amy!

I am new quilter from Zagreb, Croatia, Europe. I was looking for some "scrappy info" and I found that beautiful pictures from Peek-a-boo and Escalante. I have been there in 2019 an that part of Utah was absolutely gorgeous and the most exciting part of our 1 month trip through 10 National Parks in Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California. Thank you for reminding me on those beautiful days.

If you are interested in what I am doing take a look at or Instagram: @quiltana.

Have a nice day, Ana-Marija Pavić

I sort my scraps by size. 2x2, 2.5x2.5, 2.5 inch strips. I have the 2.5 inch strips sorted by color. I try to cut and sort after each project. I do a lot of charity quilts, large and small, so I have a lot of scraps. Unfortunately scraps have a tendency to overwhelm me. When I get to the overwhelmed state I send them to an organization that will use them. My intention is to use them but it doesn't happen. I feel freed and get my sewing mojo back when I pass them along.

A few notes about my experience:

I decided to brick my dollhouse before the gable roofs were glued down, that's why some photos will have the roof missing. I found it easier to add on the bricks to the peaks and cut off the edges. There are pros and cons to this. I had to go back and reapply some areas around the side of the smaller gable roof after it was glued.

I also did the bricking with my windows taped temporarily. At the time I hadn't had a chance to paint the windows so I wanted to be able to pull them out. This method still worked fine and I simply added some white wood filler to fill in any tiny gaps at the end. It also made painting the bricks much easier.

I began on the largest gable going up row by row. The window trim is missing because it was broken, so I left an overlap.

I used a square to see that my bricks were staying relatively straight.

You can see the shutters in place here. I used these 1/24 miniature louvred shutters and cut them in half so that I had one full section.

When it came to painting the brick I went with an all-white facade. I first tried Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore but it was too stark. So I also looked at Oxford (BM), Alabaster (SW), and Shoji White (SW). In the end, I went with Alabaster in a matte finish. The matte finish really made all the difference to make the brick look real. I bought all the paint at Home Depot in the small tester pots. The brick does absorb the paint easily so I needed to do two coats.

Because I added brick to the exterior it changed the depth of the walls. In some places, I added extra 1/4" x 1/8" strip wood to make the floors or roof extend past the brick like it was originally meant to. Below is an example of the stair floors. I smoothed out all these extensions with spackle, sanded and painted.

Please leave a comment! Due to an increase in spam I now moderate comments before they appear. I do my best to post and reply to your comments here but if you have a question and need an answer asap it's best to message me on social media or by email. I appreciate all your feedback and support! Thanks!

Please note that if your panel with the border is too small, add another narrow border and then trim it to the correct measurements. Conversely, if your panel with the border is too big, simply trim it to the correct size.

Once I figured out the math for sure, then I cut my borders. I thought it was kind of funny to cut off the grey plaid on the panel only to replace it with a grey plaid border. Silly me, but now the math works out just right.

I sewed my side borders on first and then I sewed my top and bottom borders to the panel after that. And PRESTO! My framed panel was exactly the right measurement because I took the time to figure it out before I cut and sewed. Yay me!

I like to chain piece all my HSTs before I head to my iron to press them. If you are able, press half of each print/background combination seams towards the background and the other half towards the print. This way your HSTs will nestle together, snug as a bug.

Okay, now on to Block 2 (or 1 in my case). Repeat the steps we did for Block 1 (or 2 for me). For Block 2, I pressed my seams towards the Flying Geese units, hoping that by doing so will make my seams nestle nicely together when I sew the blocks together. Make 6 Block 2s.

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