That little piece of fabric is called a "frog". Don't ask me why, that is just what I was told. What I do is have 5" squares, that I use for scrap quilts, in a bag by my machine. I sew two of them together instead of useing the frog. It is amazing how quickly I have enough to put together a whole top. When I read this, they had figured out how many large spools of thread you could save each year. I don't remember the exact number, but it was more than 50 if you do a lot of sewing. With the cost of good thread, that quite a bit! When you figure it out, it's enough for a LOT more fabric!