Like you, I'm not a fan of chopping up my scraps for the very same reason. That being said, I do save all my scraps 1.5" square & larger. They have come in very handy at times to mend things & extend pieces not quite large enough. Thankfully I make mostly scrappy quilts, so it works for me. I am just trying to come up with a better way to store them all in as small a unit as possible. I even save all my scraps of batting & sew them together for quilts.