Quilting Books
Best Scrap Quilting Quilting Books
Scrap quilting books turn a fabric stash into finished quilts, with systems for organizing, cutting, and combining leftover fabric by value and color.
All scrap quilting books
Adventures with Leaders & Enders
Bonnie K. Hunter
Bonnie Hunter's system for turning scrap piecing into leftover "leaders and enders" sewn between other projects, building a finished scrap quilt almost by accident.
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Scrap Quilting with Alex Anderson
Alex Anderson
A scrap-quilting guide from a longtime quilting TV host and author, covering ways to organize and put fabric scraps to use in pieced projects. Includes patterns built specifically to work through a scrap stash. Aimed at quilters wanting a repeatable system rather than a single one-off project.
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More Adventures with Leaders and Enders
Bonnie K. Hunter
The follow-up to Hunter's original Leaders & Enders, continuing the technique of piecing small scrap units at the start and end of other sewing sessions so a second quilt accumulates in the background. Adds new block designs built from those accumulated units. Written for quilters who already use the method and want fresh patterns for it.
See detailsScraps & Shirttails II: Continuing the Art of Quilting Green
Bonnie K. Hunter
A sequel to Hunter's original Scraps & Shirttails, continuing her focus on stretching fabric use and minimizing waste — the "quilting green" approach. Extends her method of turning even small remnants into pieced units and patterns. For quilters committed to using up as much of their stash as possible. (Kindle edition.)
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String Fling
Bonnie K. Hunter
A collection built around string piecing — sewing narrow fabric strips onto a foundation to use up long, thin leftovers. Includes patterns applying the technique across multiple projects. Suited to quilters looking to put strip-shaped scraps to use rather than discard them.
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Addicted to Scraps: 12 Vibrant Quilt Projects
Bonnie K. Hunter
Twelve scrap quilt patterns built around bold, high-contrast color combinations pulled from a mixed stash. Part of Hunter's broader catalog of scrap-quilting titles, this one is organized around finished projects rather than a single piecing technique. Suited to quilters who want ready-to-follow patterns for varied scraps.
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Bonnie Hunter's Scrap-Savvy Quilting
Bonnie K. Hunter
A general overview of Hunter's scrap-quilting approach, covering how she sorts, cuts, and works fabric scraps into pieced quilts. Draws together methods developed across her other scrap-focused titles rather than centering on one narrow technique. Suited to readers wanting a broad introduction to her system before picking up her more specialized books.
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The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt: Letters from 1920s Farm Wives and the 111 Blocks They Inspired
Laurie Aaron Hird
A 111-block sampler quilt project, with each block paired with excerpts from letters written by farm wives in the 1920s. Combines a large-scale, block-by-block project with historical, personal narrative. Suited to quilters drawn to long-term sampler projects with a documented backstory.
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Sunday Morning Quilts: 16 Modern Scrap Projects
Cheryl Arkison & Amanda Jean Nyberg
Sixteen scrap quilt patterns with a modern design sensibility, co-authored by a quilt designer and a fabric designer. Focuses on turning scraps into deliberate, composed layouts rather than purely utilitarian piecing. Aimed at quilters interested in a modern-quilting aesthetic applied to stash fabric.
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Scrap-Basket Knockouts
Kim Brackett
Brackett's patterns are built to work with whatever's actually in a scrap bin — mismatched values and prints, not a coordinated stash pulled to match — using simple block shapes that hide inconsistency rather than demand careful color-matching first. Suited to quilters who want to start piecing scraps today without sorting or shopping to fill gaps first.
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Moda All-Stars – Scraps Made Simple: 15 Sensationally Scrappy Quilts from Precuts
Moda All-Stars
Fifteen scrap quilt patterns from a rotating group of Moda-affiliated designers, built around precut fabric bundles combined with scraps. Part of the ongoing Moda All-Stars series of multi-designer pattern collections. Aimed at quilters who already work from precuts and want to fold stash scraps into those projects.
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Simple Whatnots: A Batch of Satisfyingly Scrappy Little Quilts
Kim Diehl
Diehl pairs her signature reproduction-fabric, appliqué-and-piecing scrap style with a bonus small "whatnot" project alongside each larger pattern, so a single batch of scraps yields two finished pieces rather than one. The look favors soft, aged-print fabrics and traditional block shapes over bold modern scrappy contrast. A strong entry point for scrap quilters drawn to a gentler, 1930s-reproduction palette rather than high-contrast improv scrap work.
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Patches of Stars: 17 Quilt Patterns and a Gallery of Inspiring Antique Quilts
Edyta Sitar
Sitar, the designer behind Laundry Basket Quilts, pairs 17 original star-based patterns with a gallery of the antique quilts that inspired them, so a reader sees the specific historical block or color choice behind each new design rather than a pattern presented in isolation. The look favors muted, aged reproduction fabrics. Suited to quilters who want the historical lineage behind a modern reproduction pattern made visible, not just the pattern itself.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best scrap quilting quilting book?+
Look for the book marked "Teresa's Pick" at the top of this page — that's NiftyFifty founder Teresa Drummond's personal recommendation for scrap quilting. Below it you'll find 13 more books covering the same category from different authors and angles.
Do I need more than one scrap quilting book?+
Not usually. Most quilters do fine with one solid reference for a given technique — pick the one whose author's teaching style clicks with you, work through it, and only add a second if you outgrow the first or want a different perspective.