{WIP} Scrappy Bow Tie Quilt

To celebrate this month's Classic Quilt Block, I've raided the scrap bins and started sewing a traditional Scrappy Bow Tie Quilt - with one slight, simple twist!

At the end of every year, I do an assessment of my fabric stash, and my bins were a lot fuller than I'd let myself believe at the end of 2019. It was time to take action and plan some scrappy projects for the new year ahead and turn these fabrics into quilts we could enjoy.

As I was putting this month's Classic Quilt Blocks series together, I was inspired to make my own Scrappy Bow Tie Quilt.  These blocks make my heart happy and a traditional layout was the only way to go - with one slight, simple twist!

The first (overflowing) fabric bin to receive some attention was my collection of Sedef Imer fabrics. They have a wonderful summery feel, but I decided they needed one extra colour to create a gorgeous summer Bow Tie Quilt.

In my solid fabric collection, I found some soft yellow yardage, and it was exactly what I needed to bring my scrappy summer quilt to life. It gives the Bow Tie blocks a cheerful sunniness, and it adds something extra to the secondary pattern these blocks create.

In each Bow Tie block, I'm using one soft yellow square and one white square as the background. It's a simple little twist that creates a super fun pattern.

Tada! Scrappy goodness, a fun pattern and one stunning quilt. This layout is my favorite way to set Bow Tie blocks and it's probably the most popular, because it creates that secondary pattern.

Adding an extra colour to the background will inject new life into any scrap collection. It's a good way to incorporate a missing colour in a fabric range or to tie scrap fabrics together in a scrappy quilt. I think the soft yellow amplifies the summery feel of Sedef's fabrics - it adds a touch of sunshine!

Now to share my plans for this quilt, so you can sew your own Scrappy Bow Tie quilt too.

I'm sewing 120 x 6" (finished) Bow Tie blocks and you can find my free tutorial HERE.

I'm setting them into 30 x four patch squares which should measure 12 1/2" square (unfinished), using the orientation shown in the photo above.

I'm using a 5 x 6 layout (5 squares per row by 6 rows) to make a generous throw size quilt, which will be perfect for summer decorating.

You can use my free Cutting Chart to sew smaller or larger Bow Tie blocks, and you can alter the layout to make the quilt size you require.

I'm almost halfway to my target of 30 blocks, and while I've cut all of the soft yellow and white background squares, I'm cutting the print fabrics as I sew the blocks. I've mentioned this before, but I'm not great with random scrappy. I consider myself to be a deliberate scrappy quilter, and I'm constructing the four patches in order, so I can control the distribution of the colours and prints - it's not the traditional way, but it works for me!

My summery Scrappy Bow Tie Quilt is a colourful celebration of this month's Classic Quilt Block and I'm loving working on it every chance I get. Let me know if I've inspired you to create one too!

Happy quilting :)