During my baby bunting quilt class at Gather Here a fellow classmate was chatting up our instructor about her “scrappy trip along” quilt blocks. I had never heard of such a thing and asked what it was. They both informed me that was a quilting method published online by Quiltville using small squares/scraps that recently exploded in popularity. Apparently it’s huge on Instagram with almost 5,000 pictures under the hashtag #scrappytripalong! If you want to check out other Scrappy Trips, just Google it – there are so many!
Totally intrigued, I had to try making one myself. Two snowy weekends in a row had me itching for a good craft project so I got to work! Over the weekend I organized my entire fabric collection so I knew I had a lot of options to choose from. You need six different kinds of fabric for the Scrappy Trip Along (STA) block and I chose these:
To start I cut six 2.5″ x 16″ strips of fabric with my rotary cutter.
After cutting, I ironed each strip so they would be straight and wrinkle free. Just a tip – ironing constantly during this project is a must (you’ll see as we go on).
Next I sewed all of the strips together with a 1/4″ seam allowance.
I then pressed the seams according to the STA instructions. This step confused me at first but through some Googling I found this picture that was helpful. Basically you press the seams on every other strip completely open. It’s a really important step because it dictates how the seams will sit on top of each other when the block is finished. Doing this correctly will prevent any crazy overlapping or bulky seams from happening.
Sewed and pressed, front view:
Using my rotary cutter, I evened off the edges. This is not in the STA instructions but I noticed I had some pretty erratic excess so I wanted to trim it off.
The next step is the most critical step of the STA process – sew the top fabric piece to the bottom fabric piece creating a “tube.”
Using my rotary cutter again, I cut the “tube” into 6 equal pieces (six 2.5″ sections).
On to the fun part! Using a seam ripper, rip one seam open on each tube strip. Alternate between which blocks you rip each seam so you are left with a row of blocks that vary in appearance. I hope that makes sense but if not, the pictures will help.
See? Each strip will begin and end with a different block, creating a diagonal line like effect. Next sew all of these strips together with a 1/4″ seam allowance.
You will then have a pretty block of scrappy squares! Flip it over and iron the seams down again.
I trimmed the excess off the edges again too.
And here it is – my very first Scrappy Trip Along square!
Even though it didn’t come out perfect, I really love it and can’t wait to make more!
If you are interested in making your own, definitely check out the original post on Quiltville. One other great resource is the Scrappy Trip Along Flickr Group – they have pictures, discussion boards, Q&As, etc. Super helpful!
