If your fabric scrap bin has started breeding in the corner of your sewing room, Scrap Quilts From Crumbs, Strips And Strings by Emily Bailey might be exactly the gentle nudge you need. This practical quilting book turns leftover crumbs, strips, and strings into useful, beautiful quilted projects.
There are quilting books that make you want to buy more fabric, and then there are quilting books that gently point at your overflowing scrap basket and say, “You already have everything you need.”
Scrap Quilts From Crumbs, Strips And Strings by Emily Bailey is very much the second kind — and honestly, I love that. Most quilters have a drawer, tub, bag, box, or slightly shameful mountain of leftover fabric pieces we keep because “that bit might be useful one day.” This book is for that exact pile.
Published by David & Charles, this paperback quilting book includes 15 scrap quilt patterns and focuses on using crumbs, strips, strings, and small fabric leftovers to create patchworked fabric that can then be turned into finished quilted projects. The book covers everything from larger quilts through to smaller makes, which is especially handy if you want the satisfaction of using scraps without committing to a full bed-size project straight away.
What makes this book especially useful is that it does not treat scraps as second-best fabric. The whole idea is to turn those tiny leftovers into intentional, colourful, modern patchwork. Emily Bailey also brings in modern cutting methods, including the use of an AccuQuilt cutter, to make scrap quilting quicker and easier — which is a nice practical touch if you love the idea of scrappy quilts but not the endless trimming and measuring that can sometimes come with them.
The projects are designed around the sort of scraps real quilters actually have: uneven strips, little crumb pieces, leftover strings, and odd bits from past projects. Instead of waiting for the perfect coordinating bundle, this book encourages you to start with what is already in your stash. That makes it a lovely fit for quilters who enjoy zero-waste quilting, scrap fabric sewing ideas, and stash-busting quilt projects.
I also like that the book has a very approachable feel. According to Emily Bailey’s own notes about the book, the projects include a range of makes such as bags, table runners, throws, and bed quilts, and she includes simple tips for colour, fabric combining, crumb fabric, and piecing success. That is exactly the sort of hand-holding many quilters appreciate when working with scraps, because scrappy can go from charming to chaotic very quickly if you are not careful.
If you are already using an AccuQuilt system, this book has obvious appeal. It gives you another reason to pull out those dies and start processing your scraps into something usable instead of leaving them to lurk in the “too small to fold, too pretty to throw away” pile. AccuQuilt lists the book at $24.99, and it is currently shown as available through their site.
For newer quilters, this book would pair nicely with basic quilting tools such as a rotary cutter, self-healing cutting mat, quilting ruler, and a good neutral thread. If you are building your quilting stash, AccuQuilt is a natural place to look for cutting systems and dies, while Fat Quarter Shop and Connecting Threads are helpful sources for quilting cotton, thread, precuts, and backing fabric.
This is the kind of book I would recommend to quilters who already have a decent stash and want to make something useful from the leftovers. It is also a good choice if you love scrappy quilts but need a bit of structure so the finished project still feels polished rather than “I emptied a basket onto the sewing table and hoped for the best.”
Best for: scrap quilters, stash-busting quilters, AccuQuilt users, modern patchwork lovers, and anyone drowning in fabric offcuts.
Not ideal for: someone who only wants perfectly matching quilt kits or very traditional, highly controlled quilt designs.
Scrap Quilts From Crumbs, Strips And Strings is a cheerful, practical reminder that even the tiniest pieces of fabric can earn their place in a beautiful quilt. And really, any book that helps us feel less guilty about keeping every last scrap deserves a spot on the sewing-room shelf.
