Debbie Caffrey wrote the book
Noodle Soupand other "strip" books. I took a teachers' class from her about 6 years ago, at Quilt Market in Kansas City. She is full of good ideas!
http://www.debbiescreativemoments.com/
So now I always cut my scraps into strips. I use 2" strips, however, because that is what I prefer for most quilt patterns and binding.
This website -
http://www.quiltville.com/ - has many free patterns for using strips.