Scrappy Log Cabins

The easiest way to get rid of unwanted scrap strips - because it doesn't matter how wide they are (or even if they are straight), you can just building up until you get the size square you want, and trim. If you are fussy, you can trim a bit as you go along to keep them from getting too wonky - or you can leave them fairly wonky.  My strips tend to be fairly straight to start with, so it's not a big issue. 

Flying Geese

Flying Geese are always an excellent way to use up scraps. There are a number of different ways of making them, including my favourite if I have larger piecs of fabric, the no-waste flying geese method.  However, if you have smaller rectangle that you want to get rid of, you can always make geese individually.  

Bordered Squares

This block is very simple - just a square, bordered by the same fabric all the way around. In this instance, I did half the blocks with the odd white-looking fabric as the centre and half with the coloured fabrics. Or that was the intention. As it happened, I counted wrong, and ended up with 16 and 14, which meant that arranging them took a little creativity. But I often use this square in a border block for scrap quilts - it's simple, yet effective.

Here's another use of essentially the same block, only in this instance, the centre of the square is much larger to start with, so it makes more of a feature of the centre.

Scrappy blocks

This is a variation on my standard go-to for scraps. I made some crumb blocks (stitching scraps together more or less randomly and then trimming square) and created four patches using the crumbs and a solid (i.e. only one fabric) square.  Then, I used some strips to border them until they got the size I wanted - in this case, 12", but you could use any size you wanted.   I like this sort of effect, because it's scrappy, but at the same time, having some larger pieces incorporated makes it easier on the eye. Also, you can use all sizes and shapes of scraps in a setting like this.

When I made these blocks, I blogged the process; you can see that here.

Irish Chain

Always a classic way of using small scraps - you can make the nine patches with any size square - in this instance, they were 2.5" squares, I think, leftover from using a layer cake of fabric for something else.  The chain shows particularly well when set in a very simple, even solid colour background, but can work with other fabrics, as long as they aren't too busy.

Granny Squares

This one is a classic, and has been making the rounds in blogland a bit this past year - the Granny Square. You can do this with any size square; I think mine were 2.5", but I could be wrong. A good way for using up scrap squares.  When I made these blocks, I pretty much winged it, but here's a tutorial for a "no-waste" version.

Scrappy Stars

Another great way to use up scrappy square. Again, you can use any size square you might happen to have on hand - you will just need to work out how big a smaller, neutral square to use, depending on what size larger square you have used. Each star block takes 8 squares of background fabric and 1 square of star fabric in the larger size and then 8 small squares of star fabric.