>>>>

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Scrappy Trips!!

Scrappy Trips!


*Note* The first uploading of this quilt tutorial was in 1999. I was the charity quilt person for my local guild, and the directions were uploaded to my website for the guild to use in donation quilts. It was moved here to the blog in June of 2005 for easier access.



Click HERE for Printer-Friendly PDF.

When made using planned chains of color that form radiating diamonds around each center square,
this pattern is called "many trips around the world". But let's take the organized rounds of colors away,and free ourselves while letting "anything go". We are just scrappy tripping!



You can still see the diagonals that make diamonds, it just adds a lot more interest and fun to have it riotously scrappy.




Here is one made by Janice K set in "Barn Raising"! Made for a neighbor friend in 2005, it measures 100"X100"!

I love her narrow sashing!
 
To make one 12" scrappy trip block you will need:


(6) 2.5" X 16" rectangles of varying contrasting colors including lights and darks. Don't worry about matching or color coordinating, EVERYTHING GOES in this quilt!

*Note* If you are cutting from FQ's...just cut from the 18" side of the FQ and leave them 18" long. It doesn't make sense to take the time to trim 2" off the end! You can use the leftovers in a scrappy pieced border if so desired!
 



I like to lay my 6 strips out side by side to figure where I want the colors to fall. while you are doing this, realize that you don't want to start the panel and end the panel with the same color. In this instance, I am going to end up with the red on the far left touching the yellow on the far right so I want those to contrast.
 
Place the strips right sides together and stitch all 6 strips into a panel WITHOUT PRESSING. It is easier to press after all the strips are sewn together.
 


This picture shows how to press the seams towards EVERY OTHER strip. You need to press this way so that when you go to stitch your chains together, the seams automatically oppose and butt up against each other..this eliminates alot of bulk and pinning.

When your seams are pressed as above, you will be folding the panel in half as shown with right sides
 together:

 

Sew this seam the length of the strips turning your panel into a "tube".

Now take your panel tube to your cutting mat!



Square off one end of the panel tube, and then cut the tube into (6) 2.5" sub sections.



When you pick these up, you will see that you have 6 loops of squares. Now the fun begins! Grab your seam ripper, you are going to need it!

 

Hint: seam rippers go dull just like rotary blades do. If you are having to fight with yours to cut thread, chances are it is time for a new one!

When picking open these seams, you don't have to pick EVERY stitch. I pick about every 4th stitch and very carefully open the seam. You might have to pick closer if you use a very small stitch size. I like to do my patchwork with my machine set to about 2.5 stitch length.

Begin by removing one seam as above...and opening the loop into a strip of squares:

 

Then you are simply going to open up the next loop so that the square that WAS at the top of the first strip, is now at the bottom of the second strip. Each square is going to stair step UP. The third strip I opened, was between the blue and the purple print so the purple became the new top, and the blue was now at the bottom, and so forth:

 

Open all 6 loops and lay them out in their proper position to the side of your sewing machine. If you dont have alot of table top space where you sew, I find a TV tray to be very handy!
 


Stitch the strips of squares together in order with a 1/4" seam. Your block should resemble this!

*Notes on Pressing*

I press the seams that joined the rows in the block all one direction. It is impossible to know which way all the seams will need to go to nest with the next block before making this quilt because the blocks change position depending on layout. Blocks can be rotated 4 different directions.

This means after I finally decide on lay out I have to do some repressing.

Some choose to press everything open and pin to match every seam.

Some "spin" all of the seams so they will nest when joining blocks.

Just do the best you can. There is no way to nest everything all the time, especially with so many options in laying these blocks out.

Here are 6 blocks laid on the floor...I like to twist and turn them and lay them out as I go:

 

You can see the patterns start to show as the diagonals are twisted around. Play with it and have some fun!

Here is another scrappy trip quilt made with 10" blocks (5 strips per block instead of 6)
 


I personally like the 12" blocks better because the diagonal chains are longer through the center of the block. It gives more optical illusion!
 
Have fun taking a scrappy trip through your scraps!

 

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is very pretty...BRIGHT!!! I have trouble putting colors together. this would use up quite a bit of a stash that is getting out of control too ;-)

Tracey in CT said...

I just finally got this top together the other day, and I love it! Can't wait to quilt it and get it on the couch!

Terrie Quilts 2021 said...

I just finished one, too. I have some customer quilts to quilt before I can quilt mine, but can't wait to get it quilted. I made mine with 8 blocks across and 8 blocks down. I used strips I cut from all my fat quarters (I do have some repeats). I did not put any borders on it. It turned out really good. Wish I could share a photo, but don't know how...or if it is possible. Oh, I guess I can post one on my blog! Will try to do that later tonight.

Susan said...

This looks like a lot more work than it is - I may even try it with my leftover holiday fabrics!

Sharyn Mallow Woerz said...

New seam ripper?
I've only had my one and only since 1968-ish.
Fortunately I never have to frog stitch.


Well, maybe once or twice.
Thanks for a great Easy Street Mystery Bonnie!

Jean MaDan said...

Great idea, and nice tutorial! Thank you, Bonnie!

Terri C said...

I want to do this so bad but I need to finish up a few things first. Thanks!

Stella Nemeth said...

So this is where all those scrappy blocks are coming from. I truly do not need another project right now, but oh am I tempted. This looks like so much fun.

salamanda said...

If I want to make it 7 blocks would the strips need to be 19 or 20 inch long? Great tutorial that has really gone viral in quilting world.

annemariesquilt said...

Thank you so much for sharing..
May I try this pattern too :-) ?

Em said...

Thank you so much for this tutorial!!!!!! LeeAnn sent me your way and now I could be playing loopdy loo soon. So much inspiration.

Becky J. said...

I love this method! so quick and fun.

Kinga Izabella said...

I found this tutorial today, and i had to make a block, and more and more... you know :) It makes so much fun! So easy and really quick! Thank you for sharing!

N. Maria said...

Getting ready to start mine~!!!!!!!

Think Outside the Box said...

I'm having a lot of trouble getting my blocks to come out to 12.5 inches, I've been sewing a very very scant quarter inch seam but still the best I can do is 12 and a quarter inches unfinished. Will this put everything out of kilter when I sew all the blocks together?

Lucy Daniel said...

I can't wait to make this quilt!!! Thank you for sharing :)!

bookworm said...

I've seen a lot of scrappy trip along on Instagram. Now I see where it all got started. Thanks, Bonnie! I'm starting my scrappy trip now!

Jeneta said...

Hey - I spied a fabric you used in this tutorial (the floral on burgundy/brown background that ended up in between the red and the blue prints) that I have had in my stash for YEARS!!! I might have to hunt it down and use it for one of these! Great tutorial - clear and simple. Can't wait to make some of these blocks!

fibercontent said...

Very fun to make--I am starting my second one for a friend who is having twins. Easy as can be and lovely. Thanks for the great tutorial and idea!

Unknown said...

Some of us "quilting ladies" are going to start making this quilt. I can't wait to see how each one turns out.

Unknown said...

Mentioned you and linked you on my blog post regarding your great block tute! Love it and thank you! http://booilley.blogspot.ca/2013/02/im-scrap-busting-winner-for-reals.html

Sherri said...

Just bought a magazine with this quilt on the cover thinking it would be your tutorial, and it wasn't. Yours seems much easier and time effective.

Sherri said...

Just bought a magazine with this quilt on the front of it thinking your tutorial would be in it, and it wasn't. Yours looks much easier and more efficient. Looks like someone was trying to think of another way to get the same result. (FYI - it was in plastic so I could not peak at the pattern.). So disappointed, but glad you have it on your blog. Thanks for inspiring us all. This is my next quilt project!

Emma said...

I have tried to convert the inch to cm as i don't have a ruler with inches. So perhaps I will make one soon if it works for me :)

Cheryl said...

Wouldn't it work in any size as long as your strips and the size you cut the strip sets were all the same width?

Unknown said...

I so have to make one of these! Thanks for the awesome tutorial!

Unknown said...

I love this quilt! I have to make one. Thanks for the awesome tutorial!

SIMPLESEW said...

I gotta get it on ..

Unknown said...

I could see this being awesome with a planned center row & all the rest scrappy.
Plus it would make a great FQ project for a group. Everyone bring 3-5 FQs, then cut & share strips, in addition to all the cool scraps everyone has to round it out. Then there would be coordination among the group's quilts.

Carla said...

This is cool. I have got to try this.

Cindy said...

Great tutorial! I made one and you can see it here if you want. Thanks for the great blog. http://sunsetcoasting.blogspot.com/2013/04/more-quilt-class-creations.html
Cindy

Linda said...

I am having a hard time choosing fabrics to put next to each other in order for the pattern to really show. Any suggestions on how to do this? I can't decide if my problem is light - dark contrast or if it is pattern - solid contrast. Neither seems to work like I want it to, LOL.

Julie Hirt - 627handworks said...

Hi! I wanted to let you know we've started a Bee (Flickr) around this block. So many people love this and we'd like to truly make it "around the world". Hope you don't mind, the links for the tutorial direct back here and we'd love for you to join us! http://www.flickr.com/groups/2190169@N20/

Julie Hirt - 627handworks said...

Wanted to let you know we've started a Bee (Flickr) around this block. So many people love it and we'd like to truly make it "around the world". Hope you don't mind, the links for the tutorial direct back here and we'd love for you to join us! http://www.flickr.com/groups/2190169@N20/

Donna said...

Thank you for the easy to understand pattern. I am gathering from my stash to make it. Your blog, your web site and free patterns and tutorials have enhanced my life! Thank you!!!

Threse said...

I love this quilt pattern. I made one years ago and my dog chewed parts of it. I still love it. I will make another one but this time it will be scrappy.

Nancy Christensen said...

So pretty

The Goff Family said...

I just made my first block tonight, loved it! Have a few strips left over from a jelly roll project here and there and this is the perfect way to use them up. Thanks!

cottonreel said...

A project for me this weekend

jbthenurse said...

New to quilting . Love this shortcut for a spectaculer result. Many thanks.

Jac Kilgo said...

I have made a lot of quilts where I had to rip the seams for the design. The smallest Olfa yellow rotary cutter makes the best (and fastest) seam ripper for me. You hold it like pencil and rip away. Ripping for this project is a lot of fun!

Anonymous said...

Great way to do this quilt!
nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com

Unknown said...

Looks like FUN! Thanks Bonnie - one day I'll actually finish all the quilts I start.
WIll try this very soon - maybe now.....
Happy sewing
LynnAnn from CT

Unknown said...

Welp, I'm making one of those. It seems too quick a project to last long as a leader-ender, but I'm making one anyway because apparently I already have that pattern! I love it. And I think I have enough solid cream for the background and strips of plaid and shirtings to do a manly version for my hubs. I think he'd really love this one. Thank you so much!

Wendy said...

hi, just finished my quilt, made it wheelchair size,(40”x40”) it was fun and frustrating ��

Post a Comment

If you are commenting as "anonymous" please leave your name at the end of your comment.

Did you know that ad space on this blog provides for all of the free patterns and free mysteries and challenges at no cost to you? Without ads, this blog would not be possible.

Thank you for understanding the many hours that go into this blog 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. :)