I am doing the very same thing :thumbup:

I don't throw much away, but I do give a lot to church craft group, charity or other.

any scraps under an 1 1/2 wide/square I throw out. everything else has gone in a box which I just started cutting up for a jacob's ladder. orphan blocks I keep as I want to put them all in a quilt one day. Not sure how, but I do

I have a friend who belongs to a group that makes tons of stuff for charity. They find a use for everything - so they get it all. I can't stand clutter and detest things hanging around that could be put to use elsewhere.

I am trying to down size my stash because we might build a new house and i will not have the storage I have now. I started going thru stash and first of all if I could rip the fabric parallel to the selvage without much effort I am throwing them away because I figure it is starting to dry rot. It is hard to get rid of stuff but I have what my DH calls my own fabric shop.

what I throw away is too little to use.When I get tired of my usable scraps I do a PIF.I can not keep all leftovers-it feels good to purge sometimes.

NOT...I just can't...I just sort them, and store them...OR send them away to others...just sent off crumbs, strips and selvages..YEAH for me...and for them...

I have 2 or 3 specific scrap quilts that I make. If the pieces are too small for that, I donate them to the school I work at. They have a quilting club and kids also use scraps for projects in class.

Im very choosy with my fabrics so I don't throw away unless the pieces are weeny teeny tiny. Even then its hard. I use the pieces I cant sew with on birthday cards. call me crazy! Therese

I have supreme difficulty throwing away--but do pretty well giving away.

It is usually hard for me to throw things away. I think everything is useful!

I'm great at throwing away, but I have to make sure to empty my sewing room trash before my mom comes in and starts taking it back out again. LOL

I can not stand clutter around me. Drives me batty! LOL!!! And DH and DD still at home, are both pack rats. Ugh! I save some scraps but very few. I used to feel guilty about throwing them away, but my sanity is more important.

I am not good at all at throwing stuff out... I do try! One incentive I use is to watch "Hoarders" then I tend to jump up, and in a frenzy, get moving for about an hour. Works for household stuff but not in the sewing room!

I recently joined a quilting group and one of the women casually mentioned that she would take any scraps, selvages, etc so now I have found a home for my pieces. I makes me feel good that I can give them to someone and not have to throw them out.

I must admit, I even keep teeny tinys :(. BUT!! , when grandchildren come (14 & I sorta' hope we're done!!!) I get scraps, glue & paper, the kids had great fun making pictures.Maybe donate to a child care center or kindergarden class. That way you'll still feel they were used and NOT thrown away!!!

Once a year we have a Quilter's Garage Sale. My sewing room is packed, but I still go to BUY. Sad case.

I throw my tiny scraps, snippets of threads, and small pieces of batting and fleece pieces into an incomplete pillow (sewn together with a small opeining in the top to be sewn up upon completion). Sew it up and dontate it to the animal shelter. Happy animals!!

I'm not good at throwing anything away, and I 'm a messy. There's a book about people like me. Oh well.

Totally agree, the kids (and teachers) love them!

I just away a bag of scraps last night to a kids group. along with some ufo crafts.

I was throwing all my scraps in a big plastic bin - last month I started cutting them into usable pieces - 6.5, 2.5 & 1.5 and squares - also 2.5x6.5 strips. If I can't cut it to those sizes it get pitched. I figure I might get done in about 3 years! The good thing is I can see a scrap quilt or two evolving.

Scraps expanding in the light sounds like something from quantum physics! That must be it why my scrap basket never empties.

I toss lots of scraps!

I never throw anything away. I love making crumb and string blocks. I stack them up till I have lots of them then I make quilts for QFK.

A year ago after my hubby finished a new sewing/quilting studio for me I decided to get rid of stuff that I wouldn't have room to store....(all the little bags of scraps from the dozens of quilts I have made for the last 20 years or more, etc., that I thought I would sometime make something from.) .. I found a local sewing center here in our city ( Edmonton) that gratefully takes donations of anything you have left and they have volunteers who make stuff for charities....basically, no piece of fabric is too small they said!.. so there is no need to worry about throwing anything away, I found.

I try to donate, I hate to see things wasted...and scraps equal money wasted too.

I'm not very good at throwing out. But I have made some progress over the last couple of months (thanks to a water leak around the ac in the sewing room). I don't keep "crumbs" - about the smallest I save are 2" or 2.5" squares. I'll go through my scrap box and cut different size charms;sort them into labeled see-through plastic shoe boxes - I think 6.5" are the biggest. After the leak - I had to move everything in that corner of the room- and the repairs were done - had to move everything back. :cry: I decided to rearrange and sort thru things (in all corners of the room) and ended up with 7 brown paper grocery bags full of odds and ends to carry to the thrift store, and a few things to list and sell. I like it much better now and quite truthfully, I haven't missed anything I gave away.

I would love to take lessons from my daughter on decluttering. She can walk into any room in her house, say I want to clean it up, and she can get rid of things quicker than you can blink your eyes. My dh is like that too. It's just not in me. I have to think about almost every item. I have found it is easier to chunk a few things; do something else; chunk a few more;.... Not so much stress that way. :lol:

I don't throw things away unless they are useless and can't be used. Now I am even looking at those tiny skinny pieces to fill a floor pillow maybe. DH sews small pieces,
1 1/2x 3 1/2 together on adding machine paper by color groups. He calls it making fabric for me. lol If I would not use it and it looks usuable, I would offer it to others.

I'm not good at all.

I use orphan blocks to cover the advertising on tote bags. Fold down the top about 3 - 4 inches, remove stitching on sides of bag. Place block over advertisement and stitch around (I use the applique stitch) two sides & bottom of block. Stitch a straight line down the center of the block to make pockets. I get lots of compliments on these bags.

DD 14 uses my less then quilt quality cotton fabric to make rag quilts. I get at times donations of fabrics and they are often thinner craft type of holiday christmas fabrics. They make the cutest rugs and wear well. DH build her a gigantic wooden frame like pot holders are made on and she uses the same technique.

No, I don't throw away much at all. If a scrap of fabric is bigger than one inch, I have a real hard time tossing it. I do use my scraps several times a year making scrappy string quilts, but it seems the scrap bag never gets any emptier.

Great idea! Thanks for sharing.

I use orphan blocks to cover the advertising on tote bags. Fold down the top about 3 - 4 inches, remove stitching on sides of bag. Place block over advertisement and stitch around (I use the applique stitch) two sides & bottom of block. Stitch a straight line down the center of the block to make pockets. I get lots of compliments on these bags.[/quote]

My rule: If I can't cut a 3X3 square out of it, I toss it. 3X3 squares get sewn into baby blankets once my "photo sized" shoe box gets full. That box holds MANY 3X3 squares!

I wrap my coils with it to make the coiled baskets.

Here is what I did when decided to throw away strips that had been accumulating for several years. I could not believe what happened. I mentioned in an e-mail to several friends that I made the decision to thow out my strips with the exception of the cream colored ones. I had them all separated by color not by size. Would you believe two different friends came right back with an e-mail that they wanted them! So first came first took!

When my dear sweet mother passed she had so much that she had no use for. We gave tons to the salvation army. At that time I decided I would not put my children thru that and have since offerred whatever to someone else or given to salvation army. It is a sin to keep what you do use. Someone else may not have the monies to purchase fabrics, etc.

What do you mean THROW AWAY?????I didn't know that word was in a quilters vocabulary!!!!

Seems when I get rid of "odd" pieces, the need for them is almost immediate. However, a friend and I have a great swapping system (no bookkeeping involved) for immediate needs. Sometimes I fill a bag (big bag) and donate to a group which makes charity quilts, although I prefer to sew the charity quilts myself. piecefully, the old one