My new scrap drawer system in my Dutch sewing room is a little smaller than what I had in the States. That’s as it should be, as everything is smaller here. I’m getting used to it! But do you know what I found when I was putting scraps away? My blue/green string scraps are way too abundant to fit in their designated drawer. Uh oh, time for a project!

With all the batting scraps floating around that we’d used as packing materials, I figured some quilt-as-you-go was in order. If you’re not familiar, quilt-as-you-go is a technique that combines patchwork piecing with quilting. It uses small pieces of batting, making it ideal for using up batting scraps. Check out my Quilt-as-you-go Log Cabin tutorial for the full overview.

Brandon’s dining chair really needs a new cover, so I decided to make a string block cushion cover, just like this one that still graces my chair. These petite 3.5” finished blocks allow me to use my tiny crumb scraps as well. I dumped out my blue/green crumb basket and separated out true blues and a smattering of teals and neutrals for my palette.

I love the process of sewing quilt-as-you-go string blocks! It’s such an efficient way to use scraps! Each of my blocks starts with a rich blue 1” strip placed at center. Then I add string strips to either side, sewing through the batting at the same time as I join the patchwork. After the entire batting square is covered, I trim to return it to a tidy 4” square.

When I was trimming, I accidentally sliced off the corner of one of the blocks. No matter! It’s placed at the corner of the finished patchwork, where its funny shape won’t cause any trouble.

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To attach the patchwork, we simply remove the cushion, wrap the patchwork around the cushion and staple it to the underside. Then, replace the cushion and voila! Such a fun way to freshen up the dining room.

You can see that our dining room/living room came with one turquoise blue wall. At first we thought we’d paint it, but now we’ve gotten used to the color. That’s why I added some teal and turquoise to the cushion.

This is Brandon’s chair, so I was going for masculine blue and gray tones. I’m not 100% in love with how it turned out. I think the blue center strips stand out a little too much and that more gray would have been nice. Oh well! When this one gets stained and faded, I’ll make another one. Meanwhile, it’s certainly loads better than what it was before!

I had a few scraps left of the Cotton + Steel forks and knives fabric, one of my favorites. It makes an appearance here and there and that certainly makes me smile!