I am new to scrappiness - I hoarded my scraps for years with no particular plan. I have recently started using a "system" in which I cut the bigger bits into 2.5" squares, and sets of rectangles 1.5" wide by 2.5" long and 4.5" long (two of each length). Then you border a square with a contrasting set of rectangles, and set aside in a pile. When you have enough square-in-a-squares you make something out of it. I can't do it totally randomly, just not my nature, so I recently made sets of placemats, with each mat showing a color gradient (eg the purple set had squares that went from dark purple borders to white borders, with the inner square being some other color). They ended up looking quite striking. I made six sets, and sold three right away at a craft fair! I still have tons of square-in-a-squares left (did I mention I have been hoarding scraps?), and feel confident that I will be able to use this basic shape to make many interesting things. The original idea for the square-in-a-square came from the book
Loose Change.
Whatever bits are leftover from that process get made into string blocks, which I also color coordinate.
I am enjoying having a plan for my scraps, so that I prep as I go along and it doesn't become a horrendously overwhelming task.
Alison