One of my favorite things about the Scrap Quilt Challenge is getting to meet other quilt designers and take a peak into their thought process when it comes to making scrap quilts. If you haven’t heard of him yet – you’re going to be thrilled you’ve heard of him now. Today, I’m excited to feature Frank Palmer of Full Frontal Quilts on my blog today. You can find him on Instagram@fpalmer0526 and Facebook too! K: Why do enjoy using fabric scraps for quilting? F: In 2014 I started clearing out commercial fabrics from my stash, as I have been migrating to using my own hand dyes exclusively. It was harder than I thought, and in 2015 I joined the #sewmystash2015 movement on Instagram, which helped a lot, and hopefully, the #sewmystash2016 will finally kill off the rest. The precuts have been the hardest to move, oddly, because I don’t work that way, so my block for this month uses those. Scrap bins not only hold leftover pieces, but also stash fabrics that have gone from "I will use this someday" to "what the hell was I thinking?". ~ K: Do you have a secret or tip for storing your scraps? F: I used to sort by color and have a ton of plastic bins and they were all labeled with a PTouch, organized on shelves, and Martha Stewart was proud. But I found it crippling and I wasn’t using them. I was just ignoring them. It’s no secret, but now I cram them all into wire baskets, and when I begin working on a project, they get dumped on the floor in a big jumble, so I can see them all at once and grab them by color as I need them. Precuts are sorted by cut, and I use them as a group, with anything unused getting crammed into those wire baskets. In 2014, I had 24 wire baskets full of commercial fabrics. In 2016, I have three. ~ K: If someone where to have given you one tip for sewing/quilting when you first started – what do you wish they would have told you? F: I would have made it a point to turn out "you should only…" and only listen to "have you tried…". The things people tell new quilters when they start out, from rules to criticism, become their inner voice for a long time. If I hadn’t believed I needed to apply the "Moscow Rule of Shopping" to my quilts, I wouldn’t have been loaded down with fabric for 20 years. **Moscow Rule states that when you see it, and you like it, you must buy it, because you will never see it again.** ~ K: What’s your favorite color to use in your quilts? J: Yellow. Because someone I don’t like told me that quilts should never have yellow in them. I don’t really like yellow, but I put it in most quilts just because I hate being told what to do, and even more, being told what NOT to do. 
This is made of scrap flannel (a lot of it) back in 2001. The colors are not my general vibe, but it used up a lot of leftover bits from flannel quilts, flannel backings, and flannel shirts, and the weight of this quilt is wonderful in the winter. 
This came from a pile of the most hideous batik fabric I have ever seen in my life But, I had to buy it, because the fabric on top and on the bottom of the stack was really beautiful, and the insides were where they snuck in all the horrible gross weirdness. It lived in a stash pile from 2004 to 2013, and finally got chopped up and put into a top that I really like. It’s the project that showed me that there are no really ugly fabrics. Only fabric that hasn’t been chopped small enough yet. ~~~ Frank is also generous enough to share a FREE downloadable scrappy pattern on Full Frontal Quilts’ craftsy page called “No Leftovers”. 
Description: Use those layer cakes and charm squares that are gathering dust on your shelves. They aren’t books, and don’t like shelves, or dust. They need to fulfill their destiny. It’s up to you. Each block requires a MAXIMUM of two rotary cuts, and the rules are minimal. The only thing easier is to do nothing. Head over HERE to get your own free pattern! If you decide to make “No Leftovers” be sure to link up a picture to the linky below! Include #SQC6 in any instagram posts!
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