Thread: What do you do with your scraps?

I think I am a fabric hoarder. (no, I know that I am) I keep all my scraps. Well, I ended up with 2 boxes of them so I cut what I could into 5" charms, then cut the smaller pieces into hex's and kept the strips that were at least an inch. Everything else has gone into a bag to make cat beds. The strips will be sewn together to make more fabric for a scrap quilt. With prices for fabric I hate to throw anything that can be usable somehow away. Am I the only one who does this?

They all go in a tubby and when I need applique or just something small, I can usually find it in there. I make scrap quilts too. My DD loves the one I made her for Christmas. Fabric is too expensive to waste.

I have a hard time parting with any of my scraps. I was just sorting through them this morning. I have a tub of fabric leftover from projects that I have made that could be used again (maybe 6" or so or bigger) Then I have a tub and a box that I keep pieces smaller than that. These I figure could be used for something sometime...like maryb119 said many times you just need a little something. someday I may get the courage to make a scrappy quilt (I am afraid of all of the different colors and how they will work together that is why I hesitate)

Once my pieces get to be less than 1" I do pitch them...I don't think I have the patience to make a crumb quilt. But frances yuhas has a point... maybe I can think about pet beds. I don't have a dog but cats need beds too

Originally Posted by meyert

someday I may get the courage to make a scrappy quilt (I am afraid of all of the different colors and how they will work together that is why I hesitate)

Nooo! Don't be afraid! They're just scraps, after all!

Try this: when you look into the scrap bin...do you like what you see? Take out anything that looks wrong (or just cut it up smaller!) Once it looks good in the bin...it'll look good in a quilt. Sew fearlessly and with abandon! Worst case scenario? You made a charity quilt out of some scraps that SOMEONE will think is amazing. Ta-daa!

(And I do mean amazing - I love scrappy quilts and you can just absolutely not do anything wrong with them, in my eyes. Chaos is really beautiful to some of us, your quilt WILL be amazing...just maybe not to you!)

I send all my scraps that are at least 4" long and/or 1-1/2" wide to my sister, who makes the most beautiful potholders. Then, I get potholders, which I give away as gifts (after picking out the ones I like best).

For everything else, I take a yard of muslin, sew it into a bag, then put it into a trash can (like a liner). Anything smaller than what I send to my sister, including trimmings, dog ears, threads, etc., goes into the bag. When it is filled up, I sew up the end, then make a pillowcase cover with snap closures. I give these to friends who have pets, since I don't have any.

jenny Doan has a video about pet beds and scraps. You make a pillow case and turn it inside out like when you put a bag into waste basket. you just add your scraps (small itty bitties) until you get the basket case full. Takes a while but then again you have a filled pet bed automatically then just close it up. And it's washable.