all of the above---well sort of---i make plenty of scrappy quilts-sometimes they are quite controlled- sometimes they are not- sometimes i use a pattern- either one i have or one i see somewhere- sometimes i just start sewing scraps together & see where it takes me. if my (scrap) is fq sized or larger it gets folded & put back onto the shelves with all the fabric- if it's smaller/odd shaped/a real scrap- it gets tossed into a tote...when i decide to work on something scrappy i start with the tote- sorting-pulling out what i think will work for what i have in mind- then i may add pull more fabrics from the shelves. there are lots of scrap lover books- patterns- or you can just look at any pattern out there & (choose) to make it out of your scraps- one block at a time- i also applique alot- so my scrap tote comes in handy for all sorts of applique pieces.- i participated in '50 stars in 50 weeks program' here on the board this past year & used mostly scraps for my 50 stars- with a common background--some participants used all scraps- even their backgrounds. as soon as i finish my wool project i'm trying to get done i plan to start a new (lone-star) project that uses 256 different 1 1/2" strips of fabric- 128 lights, 128 darks- i'm going to try to do it with scraps.