Organizing the New Year – Scrap Busting Quilt Ideas

Easy Scrap Busting Quilt ideas to organize the New Year and clean out your fabric scrap stash.

Getting organized to start your new year off fresh is an important step in making the most out of your quilting. A clear work space promotes not only creativity, but motivation to finish that UFO that’s been sitting in the corner since last New Year’s! After your room is tidy and all your fabrics are neatly labeled, what can be done with the stash of scraps that you’ve been stockpiling?

Here are some great quilt ideas to utilize that growing pile of scraps:

String Quilt

The String Quilt from Missouri Star Quilt Co. Watch the free quilt tutorial today!

Piece together all those extra scraps to make a String Quilt. In the Missouri Star LIVE Tutorial, Jenny and Misty demonstrate how to make this incredibly simple, yet aesthetically pleasing quilt using no more than what you’ve squirreled away from your previous projects and some 10″ Paper Piecing Squares!

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Get the Supplies >

Tiny Wonky Stars Quilt

The Tiny Wonky Stars Quilt from Missouri Star Quilt Co. Watch the free quilt tutorial today!

Use some extra solid yardage and scraps to create a fun and simple pattern that has no color limitations! Each star can be unique, or for a bigger challenge, try making a star to represent each of your past projects!

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Mini Rhombus Table Runner

The Mini Rhombus Table Runner Quilt from Missouri Star Quilt Co. Watch the free quilt tutorial today and purchase quilting notions and supplies!

Maybe your stash isn’t quite ready for a full size quilt, but you still want to cash in on that stockpile opportunity. Take the extra squares from Charm Packs to make this funky Mini Rhombus Table Runner to add some color and creativity to your dining room table!

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Stash Busting with Style with Monique Jacobs Class

The Missouri Star Academy from the Missouri Star Quilt Co offers online education classes for beginner quilters. Sign up for the Stash Busting with Style course for easy quilt tutorials from MSQC.

Craving more ideas? No worries! Missouri Star Academy offers an educational course with our fabulous instructor, Monique Jacobs! Answering real questions from real quilters, Monique gives you great tips and ideas to help you become the expert in what you like and why you like it—inspiring and empowering you to make beautiful quilts with your newfound stash savvy. As a fabric and pattern designer with an expert eye for color and prints, she invites you to dig into your stash, pull out those favorite fabrics you have tucked away for just the right quilt, and settle in for a class that will help you put your stash to use, finally!

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There’s no need to feel limited by your scraps! With a little creativity you can take all the leftovers from your past works to something new.

What’s your favorite Scrap Busting Project?

Meet Missouri Star Academy Instructor, Monique Jacobs

Monique Jacobs of Open Gate Quilts, is also the instructor of one of our Missouri Star Academy Online Classes! She teaches how to color coordinate and piece together beautiful quilts from just picking through the loose ends of your already-made stash. Learn more about Monique and then join her in Stash Busting with Style!

Meet Missouri Star Academy Instructor, Monique Jacobs

Have you always had an eye for color combinations or was it something you had to teach yourself to do/look for?

I’ll be honest. I had to learn. According to my mom, she had doubts about my sense of color when I was young. I used to change clothes at least 3-4 times a day and things didn’t always match. I loved trying different combinations and it was when I started quilting that I learned how to match colors. A lot of it was trial and error. As I was working with fabric, I would play around with it until I liked what I saw. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some quilts that weren’t great but I learned from those mistakes and the more I did the more I felt confident in my choices.

Meet Missouri Star Academy Instructor, Monique Jacobs

Tell us a little about your background – when/how did you first get into sewing and quilting?

I’ve always loved fabric. When I took Home Ec in high school, sewing was my favorite class. Both my grandmas sewed and made crafts. My dad’s mom made quilts and although I didn’t appreciate them when I was young, I sure do now! She used old dresses, curtains, whatever was available and hand stitched all the seams using a feather stitch. They are all crazy quilts and having to repair one, I know how much work goes into them!

I got into quilting because my sister-in-law mentioned that she liked quilts.  I looked at them and thought, me too! So, I took a class and that was the beginning!

Meet Missouri Star Academy Instructor, Monique Jacobs

Where do you find inspiration for trying new fabric and pattern designs – especially for using fabrics from your stash?

My inspiration comes in different ways. One, I will see a fabric that I like, whether in my stash or in the store and think, what can I make out of this? Or I see a pattern and adapt the pattern to my fabric. Sometimes, I will look at my stash and pull some out and think…what quilt can I come up with to go with this fabric? Truthfully, that’s how I started designing patterns, I saw all this beautiful fabric and couldn’t find a pattern to use it with. So, I started making my own. Same thing with designing fabric, I would see a pattern and think, what fabric could I use for this. Again, nothing would work for what I wanted to do, so I started designing fabric.

Meet Missouri Star Academy Instructor, Monique Jacobs

Do you have a favorite color combination to use in your quilt patterns and fabrics?

I love them all! If I’m doing a more traditional quilt, I tend to add red in and if I’m doing batiks or modern, I love purple. But, there isn’t much that I don’t like! 

Meet Missouri Star Academy Instructor, Monique Jacobs

Do you find yourself looking at color, scale and print in other aspects of life? (i.e. home decor, clothing, etc)

Funny that you ask that because I didn’t think about that until you mentioned it. Yes, I do. For sure, color is a huge factor in decorating. I like to have a warm, welcoming home but that doesn’t necessarily mean warm colors. I know what I like, just like my quilts and go a lot by what I’ve learned on how to put quilts together.

Take the class, learn something new, explore new color combinations and most of all, have FUN! Come back and show us what you’ve made out of your stash!

Start Stash Busting with Style