The Rest of the Scrappy Grab&Piece Blocks

Gotta say, these grab&piece blocks aren't for the faint of heart. The crazy mix of shapes, sizes and colors from the scrap basket take some patience to press and then puzzle together. But I've made good progress!

Block #4, 19" x 22".

Block #5, 20" x 23".

At the end of each block, before I reached into the scrap basket again, I re-sorted the scraps I had left from the previous block. I liked to keep the smallest pieces next to my machine, as I always start a new block by piecing those together.

So then I add the new pull, all pressed and ready to sew before starting to compose the next block. Here's #6, 15" x 22".

Six blocks in, I took a photo and meant to share here, but got busy with other things. So I just kept making blocks. 

Block 7, 11" x 20".

Block 8, 20" x 24".

AND finally Block 9, 12" x 20". For this one, I tossed all the scraps left from Block 8 back in the scrap basket, mixed them up, than pulled a couple handfuls out for this final block.

And THEN, on Sunday, I managed to get them all sewn into a quilt top, 53" x 60". I very briefly considered rearranging the blocks for better distribution of color, but then I thought why? As random as the scrap pulls and blocks have been, why not just let the quilt be what it was? And so I left them alone.

Grab&Piece

So as I recently posted, I'm working on a scrap quilt in the 'grab & piece' method, and so far, so good. I'm using as much of each pull as I can in each block, before moving on to another. With the first block, which measured 15" x 21", I ended up with just a small pile of neutral strips, which I'll fold into the next pull, rather than return them to the basket.

The second block turned out much larger - 19" x 27" - and reminded me that I didn't have to take TOO big of a handful to make a reasonably sized block.

Block 3 was slightly smaller at 19" x 21". I've been surprised how much white was in my scrap basket!

As I've begun making these blocks, I've also made a few rules for myself:

1. Try to use up each scrap pull into a block, but if the block feels done before all the scraps are used, blend them in with the next scrap pull.
2. No purple, as I'd already been gathering that for a separate project.
3. Just use quilter's cotton; other substrates will be used elsewhere.

Here are my first three blocks up on the design wall. 

TBD what filler I might want or need later on. For now, I'm just making blocks. But let me know in the comments.... do you think a quilt like this is enhanced by added big swaths of color; or do you prefer just the chaotic scrappy blocks?