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Old 01-01-2012, 11:17 AM
  #6  
deemail
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Lived in San Diego now retired in Eagar, AZ.
Posts: 887
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begin by getting rid of those scraps...
when cutting, (no reason to put this off, the stuff's on your mat, cutter's in your hand) evaluate...
what's left? is it more than 1/4 yd? trim tiny points and pieces and put in middle of mat. fold the rest and put back in your stash, folded edge forward.
Is it less than 1/4 yd? cut into your personal strip preference...mine is 2.5"... i cut all I can, and then sort them into the right color pizza box to store.
Now the leftover weird pcs, either the tiny ones or the leftovers after the strips... pile and slice several times to make confetti. Sort into correct color baggie.
If you do this while you are cutting, it will take 2 minutes more and your shelves will be better. Your confetti will be ready to use or let the kids play with...(i let them cut iron on interfacing into animal or toy shapes, then supervise while they sprinkle with confetti colors in the right places and press to set...then i put them on t-shirts, baby blocks, nursery items...the kids love them and are busy.............or donate to people who like confetti quilts. The strips are color sorted and ready to use when you're in the mood to just make a strip block in the evening without any hassle or add to your next scrap project.
AND, big bonus...you know that every piece in your stash is a minimum of 1/4 yard.
I put in a bit of time when i first did this but it didn't take long to just do the piece i was cutting and 3 or 4 more at the same time...now if i'm in a big hurry, i just push it off to the side and do it with the next piece.
Do you use from your stash? I find a lot of my friends don't use FROM their stash, they just add to it. Try sorting it in a different way... just pick up the stack of greens and put them next to the browns on the other end of the shelf...put all the pinks, reds and whites together...next time put all the black whites and grays together... i do this easily by taking then entire stack of green off, get the ones i like for cutting, and then when i put the stack back, i put it somewhere else. you will SEE it more and notice different combos.... and just remember to SHOP the STASH first..... then take all of them or their corresponding color chips to the store for those extras you need...you will buy much less...
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