kay carlson

I have two systems going, but have plenty of space to store the stash.

1. Shoe boxes of pieces < fat qtr that I hesitate to cut up. Blue, green, yellow and brown, red and pink, etc.
2. Handmade precuts from my stash 2.5 inch strips, 5 inch squares, 2.5 inch squares pretty much cover the sizes I will use.
++ Fat quarters are folded and stored by color group or specific category (i.e. Civil War repro or batiks). This tray fits into a clear plastic tote holding larger yardages.

I tend to plan on selecting fabrics for certain types of quilts over the long term. It seemed forever before I had acquired a nice selection of conversation fabrics for kids! I'm in the stage of finishing UFO's and only purchasing backings -- and -- cutting from my own stash for new projects.

garysgal

I cut up the very small pieces but leave the bigger ones alone. I'm like you- I know I will regret cutting them up so I don't.

cathylynn

this way has always worked for me.

AUQuilter

I cut scraps and "unwanted fabric" into sizes I use on a regular basis. 2.5" strips, 5" squares, 3.5" strips are the ones I cut the most of. The strips can always be cut in squares or rectangles. And then as I go, I cut the leader/ender project size I am using. Still working on Bonnie Hunter's Tumbler LE from 2015 and have another ongoing LE that is still not large enough. I also use shorter scraps to cut for piano borders (scrappy is great) and also use "one of a kind" strips in making ahead scrappy binding bundles. I call this my mindless sewing times.

oksewglad

The key question is what type of quilts do you make? Then decide how you want to cut your scraps...I'm much like zozee. My reason is I make miniature quilt blocks and often use setting squares or triangles to unify my scrappy blocks...a coordinating 2 1/2" strip may be what I need for an outer border or binding...it does me no good to have it cut up into squares..so the clear shoebox of one color is the place for me to store the odds and ends.

mac

I am with you, the pieces have to be pretty small for me to cut them to a specific size. However, a lot of my smaller pieces I keep to do paper piecing for hexagons or for yo-yos.

Right now I am just keeping my scraps as is so I can make either a mosaic quilt or a mile-a-minute/crumb quilt.

jmoore

Same here...In addition to my FQ drawer, I have a crumb bin, a strip bin, and a bin with larger scraps.

toverly

I only cut into yardage for scraps if it is a fabric I really don't like. I'm a batik girl and if I get a muddy color, I'll cut it down. Usually my scraps are cut from strips or triangles that are trimmed off blocks. Though I have been known to cut into fq or precut size when my scraps run out of brights. If the scrappy quilt needs reds or yellows I go into my color bins and pull the smallest piece in there to cut from.

Claire123

Agreed. For now I am leaving my scraps as is until I use them. While I haven't made a scrappy quilt, I really do use them a lot here and there to add to current projects. I never know what size I'll need and can't bring myself to cut things up just to have organized scraps.

themachinelady

I try to cut the biggest square I can out of the scrappy material and then work on down in size, 6 1/2, 6, 5 1/2, 5, etc down to 1 1/2 which is the smallest I will go. I have plastic shoe boxes to store the cut pieces by size in. Needless to say I need to get busy have three large tote bins full to cut. I also cut strips 1 1/2 and up to 3 1/2 wide any length I can get out of the material, storing the strips by size also in plastic boxes. I think whatever works for the individual is the say to go, some like one thing others another, so whatever works for you. I find it nice to go to a box of cut scraps the size I need and see what I can find.