I'm having a hard time deciding what scraps to keep and what to toss. I can't keep all of them. How big does a scrap have to be for you to keep it?

3/4"--the small ones are great for crumb blocks!

It's different for everybody, but for me, I need a piece big enough to cut a 2" square from, or if it is a strip, I will save it down to 1" wide - to use for string blocks.

I have a sister that does applique though, and she saves very very small pieces.

I'm not a scrappy kind of person. I will keep small strips, 2" x 6", but anything smaller gets trashed. I used to keep them all, but I never used the smaller pieces so decided I was wasting space.

A scrap to me IMHO is anything less than a FQ and larger than 2x2

a 2x2 i consider a postage stamp ....

and 1x1 is a crumb..

anything smaller is stuffing..

I have a hard time keeping any fabric small pieces. I usually end up giving them away :)

I have a plastic bag in my sewing room that I put all of my scraps and crumbs. I am saving them for another quilter that does applique work.

Mine have to be big enough to get at least a 2 x 2 square or if a strip, at least a foot long and 2" wide.

I have never kept any scraps. They have to be at least 6 inches square or wide before I'll keep them. People will shudder to think how much fabric I've thrown away. But I know I'll never use them and won't take the time to sort through them. Of course, now that fabric costs are skyrocketing, I may have to re-consider this policy. :-)

I save it all; I have two bins on my cutting table. One for the rally small stuff and ravelings and then another for anything else. I like to do applique and you'd be surprised at how small of pieces you can use. The really small stuff I'll end up using to stuff a toy or something for my grand kids to play with.

Any scraps smaller than 2-3" square go to my friend who makes doggie and cat beds from them for our local animal shelter. They are washable and greatly appreciated, especially in these hard financial times when our local government agencies are truly struggling to keep up their needed services.

Fat quarter and bigger in my stash, anything smaller goes in the scrap bins. I sort by color not size in my scraps and in my stash. If its bigger than one inch I save the rest is trashed, and that kills me, I use to put them out for the birds but I became tired of the mess in the yard. So they only get scrap strips in the spring.

A few years ago when I was dabbling with quilting I would just throw away anything left over. Fast forward to today and after joining this board I do things different. Being more serious about quilting I see the reason for keeping scraps. You really can do alot with them. With the price of fabric going up and no longer pulling a paycheck I just may need every scrap I can get my hands on if I want to continue learning to quilt. After joining this board I realized how many quilters are willing to take your scraps off your hands. They are more then willing to pay postage. If I don't use my scraps at least I know someone will and I won't have the guilt of just throwing them away. I have a 18 gallon tub full of 4,5 and 6" squares that I have no idea what I will do with all of them. Some good fabric and some not so much but I know when I'm ready to part with some, someone on this board will be more then happy to take them.

I guess what I'm trying to say is please don't throw your scraps away. Fill up a small box or envelope and offer them on this board for shipping only. There are folks on this board who love to create but just can't afford to buy a lot. At least they will be able to do what they love. :thumbup:

I keep them all.

To me, a scrap is about the size of my palm. Any smaller gets tossed before it can add to the mass/pile of just plain "stuff" that is sagging in the middle some shelves that have marvelous fabrics stored on them.

anything smaller then a FQ is a scrap and if its less then 1 inch i toss it.

I keep pretty much everything. BUT smaller stuff or stuff I didn't like as much as I thought I woud goes in a small bin next to the sewing machine. I pull out a piece and use it to test stitch before starting on piecing or whatever. Because my machine is super finicky about the bobbin winding, etc. that the tension can easily go out of whack. I swear I think if I blink at it too many times it messes up the tension. I do this anytime I start with a new spool of thread, new bobbin, change presser foot, etc.

Then it goes in the trash.

I cut scraps into either 2.5x6.5" strips, 1.5" squares or 2.5" squares. So anything that I can't get a 1.5" square from gets tossed.

Good idea. Thanks.

the smallest that I keep is 1/2 inch strips that I use to make those bowls with clothline rope. Have several boxes of strips already cut up. Have made 4 bowls so far. Check them out on my webshots below.

anything that I can make either a strip of at least 1" wide, or a 2" block is a keeper....smaller than that is tossed.

I save scraps that are 1 1/2 inches and what ever is left I save it in a bag and use it for cat beds or suffing pillows.

I toss anything under 1 1/2" square.

Those I can cut at least 1 1/2" squares and 1" strips

Anything over an inch square. BUT let me explain here, I have a friend who does mini piecing, so she will use things as small as 3/4" cut (finishing 1/4") so all my scraps (anything under about 5" square) goes into a bag and she gets them several times a year. Its really neat to see what she uses the small pieces to create.

Please go to quiltville.com. She is the Scrap Queen! Read her ideas for saving different size scraps.

anything bigger than lint.

I think I'm with ptquilts. I save everything. I recently made an applique quilt with kittens and puppies and hated buying a FQ to make the inner ears of 3-4 blocks. I needed maybe a 3 x 3 inch square of fabric. The rest is in my stash--a win win I guess.
Sue

It all depends on what the person wants to accomplish with them. I save everything that is big enough get applique from and larger for blocks and strips

I keep it all.

I'm a real "scrapper". I love scrap quilts, I love applique quilts. I save everything. Just started a spiderweb strip quilt. You can use pieces as small as 1" x 1 1/2" if you wish. (I don't usually save pieces 'that' small!

I save it all. I love crazy quilting, applique, patchwork, scrappy, dimentionational art so there isn't much I can't use.

I keep scraps about 4x 4... they make great I Spy quilts for the children in the hospital....especially if I can find children fabric....if anyone has extra children fabric send it my way....this could be a great resource...

I am fortunate enough to have a friend who does minitures. What I call a scrap, she calls yardage!

Same here for paper piecing.

What are crumb blocks?

your question implies a scrap heap..OR a heap o' scraps...
a "scrap" is a leftover & i NEVER need a decision to KEEP it or not!!!! they're ALL keepers!

BUT, if YOU "can't KEEP all of them", there are plenty of takers on the board who would be grateful to get them!

I like your answer, had not heard the crumb size used before but it's a great discription, I keep anything crumb size and above. log cabin quilts use up a lot of crumb sizes for center blocks, or what I call string quilt patterns do also.

I just started to use iron on applique, so if a scrap has left over applique paper on it, I keep it in my scrap bag. I started doing a mini quilt after many yrs. not quilting. Slowly I'am getting the hang of things again.