The beginning in a long line of scrap quilts

I have been very slow to blog with any regularity, but I'm trying to get better at using this blog to chronicle my quilting and crafting.

I am on a current mission to tame my scrap drawers.  As any quilter will tell you there are scraps created from each and every project.  It seems impossible to use them all up.  I end up with tiny scraps, medium sized scraps, large scraps and even yardage sometimes.  I have been separating them into drawers by color.  My drawers are too full to open and close easily, so I'm on a mission to make quilts and things using my scraps - so I'll feel free to make more, of course.

I have at least a dozen patterns that I want to try, so I'm going to use my scraps to make these.  I'm sure I'll need a few more patterns, but I don't think that will be a problem.  The quilts will become gifts to friends, family and charities.

Back on February 6, 2011, in my post "Finally Finished It!" with the tag of "heart quilt", I posted a picture of a quilt I made for my daughter.  She just loves it.  I still have that collection of scraps all together for something, someday....

I recently tapped into that collection to make a signature quilt for someone special in my daughter's life.
I used the Quilt In A Day Block called "Crackerbox".  I was trying to stay within a certain size, so I laid out the quilt in an alternative setting.

The Crackerbox block is a great block for a signature quilt.  It is easy to put together the 3 rectangles of fabric (color, muslin, color).   Then follow the instructions for adding the triangles around it.  I did need to square up the block, but that always helps the quilt come together easier.

To get the signatures, I cut freezer paper to the size of the muslin center strip and ironed it to the wrong side of that portion of the block.  This helps to stabilize the fabric during the signing, and it easily pulls away when you are done.

We used the new Stained by Sharpie markers for fabric.  In my testing they seemed to work easy and wash well.  It was easy for the people signing the block to use them and they write like regular markers.  I also like the marker tip for it, because the signature portion of the block is 2"x6" and we were just writing first names.  It would also be a great space with a pigma marker if you wanted to include messages with the signatures.

Here is the lap-sized quilt that I made:

With this layout, the quilt ended up about 43" square and includes 24 places for signatures.
Because of the scrappy layout, I really can't estimate fabric yardage.

I would recommend this block/quilt for either signature or scrappy quilts.