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Scrap Organization: Afraid I will cut and then regret!

Scrap Organization: Afraid I will cut and then regret!

Old 08-09-2016, 08:56 AM
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Default Scrap Organization: Afraid I will cut and then regret!

I want to organize. I really do. And I don't even have my fingers crossed behind my back!

My fear is I will take a semi-decent size chunk of fabric, say 4-6" and cut it into either 2.5" triangles, or squares, or whatnot, and then find out later on I need a bigger piece.

Do any of you "regret" cutting your stash into usable shapes, only to find out you should have left it be?

Last edited by QuiltnNan; 10-04-2017 at 02:34 AM. Reason: remove shouting
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Old 08-09-2016, 09:02 AM
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I think that is what holds me back as well. I know Bonnie Hunter has an awesome scrap savers system and it seems to work well for a lot of people, but I think along the same lines as you do What if I needed a 3" square and I cut it all into 2.5"?

LOL... I guess I wasn't much help, but wanted to let you know that you are not alone, and I think the best solution for us is to organize by color, not by size.
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Old 08-09-2016, 09:21 AM
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I cut mine into the biggest size possible. So if the scrap is 4-6", cut a 5 or 6 inch square. You can always cut them down later if you need to. I have never regretted cutting stuff up. It saves so much time when you are ready to put together a project. If I had to stop and cut a bunch of small squares when I was ready to go on something, I would probably just find something else to do!
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Old 08-09-2016, 09:22 AM
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If you do a lot of scrappy quilts like Bonnie does, then her system works great. I just keep my irregular scraps in different drawers and a bin. I have my fat quarter drawer, my misc. bigger odd shaped pieces in the next drawer and finally a scrap cardboard box for all my smaller pieces.
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Old 08-09-2016, 11:09 AM
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That is why I don't precut any of my scraps. When I have a project, I pull them out, choose what fabrics I want to use and then start cutting.
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Old 08-09-2016, 11:46 AM
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my system looks like Tartans. It works well for me.
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Old 08-09-2016, 12:09 PM
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I have very limited storage space for my stash, so what I do is keep any scrap that is fat quarter size or larger ruler folded or folded on comic boards in my storage units that are for yardage. If it's smaller than a fat quarter, but there are multiple pieces, then I wrap them together around a comic board and they go in a drawer that's for scrap pieces I don't want to cut. Anything that is smaller than a 10" square gets cut into the largest size I can get out of it. I store these precuts in their own storage unit by size and value. So 10" squares are separated into 3 piles, light medium and dark. Same with 5" squares, 3.5" squares and 2" squares. I also store some 2.5" strips if I have a scrap that is longer than 10 inches. By cutting my scraps, I have been able to maximize what little storage space I have and I find that I am more likely to use them that way.

Everyone is different, what works for me might not be a good fit for your way of working.

Rob
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Old 08-09-2016, 12:17 PM
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I cut my scraps into the largest size I can use...such as, a 6" piece would be 6" square or rectangle/ strip. A 10" square stays a 10" square. Smaller pieces or odd shaped pieces are cut into the largest size I can get. I cut squares, rectangles and strips. I do not cut odd shales ( triangles etc) until I need them then I cut them out of what ever square is the right size to get them. It does matter what kind of quilts you make. If I made lots of trip around the world Tyler quilts I might cut everything into 3" or 2 1/2" squares. Or if I made many bars rail fence quilts I would cut everything into bricks or strips. I cut my scraps into sizes I know I will use, or be able to cut needed shapes out of.
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Old 08-09-2016, 02:06 PM
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Same here. You just may need that piece to be that size. I have a boxes of colors. The smaller pieces are on top then graduate to larger whether square or not. I have finally found a way to use my skinnier strip stash. I've started 'locker hooking" We'll see what happens but DH has been playing around with it also.
Originally Posted by ManiacQuilter2 View Post
That is why I don't precut any of my scraps. When I have a project, I pull them out, choose what fabrics I want to use and then start cutting.
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Old 08-10-2016, 03:21 AM
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I'm not a big fan of making Bonnie Hunter quilts and have decided to keep my small scraps just as they are. I do occasionally go through my junk scrap bin (it's different from my good fabric scrap bin) and use my GO cutter to cut either strips or whatever I have in GO dies, sometimes it's large triangles, sometimes it's 5" charm squares. I keep my good fabric together and have went back many times to my favorite pieces to cut smaller pieces. I would hate to cut it up, I just won't do it.
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