Scrap Quilting Workshop
Scrap Quilting Workshop
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2026
Time: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Instructor: Maggie MacCormick
Improvised quilting is an intuitive and playful approach to quilt making that embraces experimentation, resourcefulness, and the unexpected. Across cultures and throughout history, quilts have been made from available materials, often in times of scarcity, transforming scraps and discarded textiles into objects of beauty and utility.
In this four-hour workshop, we will explore the practice of improvised quilting, beginning with a brief introduction to its history and traditions. Participants will be guided through an intuitive approach to composition, working with fabric scraps to create a quilt top without relying on patterns or precise measurements.
We will explore machine piecing, hand and machine quilting, and binding techniques, with the goal of beginning, and possibly completing, a small quilt approximately 36 × 36 inches. This workshop is open to sewists of all levels. Some basic sewing experience is helpful, ideally participants should be comfortable threading a sewing machine and sewing a simple seam. The emphasis will be on experimentation, creative decision-making, and finding new possibilities in materials we already have.
Materials to Bring
• Fabric scraps: Lightweight woven cotton fabrics such as quilting cotton, cotton sheets, or repurposed clothing (button-down shirts are great). Scraps should be at least 3 inches wide, though larger pieces around 10 × 10 inches or more are ideal. Fabrics of similar weights are easiest to work with.
• Backing fabric: Approximately 1.5 metres of cotton fabric.
• Sewing supplies: Pins, safety pins, fabric clips, hand-sewing needles, thread, and embroidery floss. (I will bring extras of these)
• Sewing machine: A working sewing machine, if participants are required to bring their own.
Finished project: A small quilt, approximately 36 × 36 inches. Participants will leave with a completed quilt or the skills and instructions needed to finish their work at home.