"I have a quilting friend who drives me crazy throwing away fabric. " Me too! She buys new for every project and doesn't save anything.
Sorry I didn't see the question about the Mile-a-Minute quilt. I start with one long strip, leftover from binding or border, and start piecing smaller bits to it, all along the long strip, leaving a bit of room between each little piece. When done with the strip, I cut them apart, making the edges strait, then grab another long strip and add the smaller units to the long one in the same way, log cabin-ish, but not strait or even or even matching, just adding and adding until they are big enough for a quilt block. Does that make sense?
I'm sure there's a better explanation, with photos, out there somewhere.