I'm starting to despise leftovers
 

I'm notorious for buying fabric without a pattern in mind. Fabric comes first for me. But the leftovers are driving me crazy! I have small pieces; and yardage that is too much to cut into scraps. By the time I'm done with a quilt I don't want to think about trying to make something with the remainders. I just can't seem to come up with a good solution. Ideas?

Free table at the Quilt Guild! That's where my scraps go. It's such a release to not try to make something else in the same design. My thought's are I made what I wanted to make with it, pass it on. But I do keep my batik scraps.

I am somewhat new to sewing but I've read the horror stories here about the overflowing scrap bins. (Well horror stories to some, other people love them!) I've tried hard to use my scraps. I make table runners a lot, just piecing bits of the same color theme. Recently I went through my 4 plastic shoe boxes of scraps and pulled out things that I simply did not like much. I gave them to another sewist. From now on, I'm only keeping the very best scraps. Everything else goes right into a bag to give to the other sewist. She tells me what she does not want she will pass on to a friend who teaches art to children. As long as they are out of my hair and not thrown out, I'm fine. I find that the scraps distract me from using my larger pieces.

Oh, I also try to use all the leftover quilt bits on the back so those scraps don't exist anymore, they are part of the quilt.

Give your scraps away. There should be a church or senior citizen center who will enjoy getting your scraps.

Scraps never go away and seem to multiply. Last year I went on a "fabric diet", only bought backings. I made 3 large scrappy quilts. Did the pile of scraps decrease? No!!! I still seem to have as many as I started out with. I'm now passing on a large bag to a local charity quilting group. I know when I go back in the sewing room there will be just as many as before--they're like bunnies in there multiplying in the dark.

I make my scrap quilts from my stash. I have more fabric then I'll ever use so I don't need to keep scraps. I don't want to spend the time sorting, cutting, and storing them. When the basket under my cutting table gets full, I give them away.

Quilting is supposed to be fun! Not everyone likes scrap quilts. If scraps are driving you crazy, then give them to someone who loves them. Check with your local guild or church. Or list them on the sale section of this board and just have the recipient pay for postage.
Personally, I love them. I save a lot of my scraps. Anything smaller than a 10" square gets cut down, using a modified Bonnie Hunter method. She has lots of free patterns, and a chart that tells you what pattern is made with what size scrap so when you get a bunch of a particular size, you know what to do with them.
http://quiltville.com/pdf/FreePatternsbyStripSize.pdf

Crazy quilts don't have to be embellished. You can use any template as a center point and go out from there. With batting and an old sheet for backing you can make a spare quilt for when you have guests or for animal shelters.

I end up donating my scraps (some are large though) to the recycling center. Including batting or stabilizer scraps. They have a program where they allow teachers and home schoolers (any non profit) to come in and pick out supplies. It works for me. I can't keep all those leftovers, although I must admit, there are some pieces I can't let go. Usually batiks, they are so pretty.

I've been lucky in finding ways to use up my scraps. For one quilt I used up the blues and neutral strips I used for another quilt. Was searching thru my scraps a couple months ago and found some I'd forgotten about that I made a baby quilt with. Decided to use what I had leftover plus a few orphan blocks from the same quilt to make the little guy a pillow and a bag as he likes to fill it with small objects and tote it around the house. I'd used some of the scraps during the quilt making period to make him a stuffed elephant. Now he's getting some new twin brothers due in July and mother wants the same quilt pattern but in different colors so I'll make some elephants to go with the quilts to use up the scraps.

Otherwise from time to time I'll have a friend come over and jump into my scrap piles to pull from them to make herself a quilt. She's in the process of learning so doesn't have much in the way of fabrics. This helps both of us.

I offer them up on this board to anyone who will pay for shipping. Some people are as thrilled to get them as I am to get rid of them, which is win-win in my book.

All my scraps go to one of the ladies in my quilt group. She collects all sizes and makes great quilts. Makes her happy and keeps my sewing room tidy. (sort of).

What about sewing the leftovers into a long panel of strips and putting it on the back of the quilt. Less backing required and fewer scraps... another win-win.

I also like to when I am finished with making my quilt I get rid of the leftovers donating them to charity I really like scrappy look quilts but I have quite a large selection I want to use up before I quilt sewing.

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*** Give them away on the Board.
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stop buying without pattern , choose a pattern and make your own kit. I do this every time I find a fabric I like so I do not end up with tons of fabric that is either not enough or too much. That way you can just grab a kit and go no need to go look for coordinating fabric

Even when you "make your own kit", many patterns call for as much as twice the fabric you really need. The best solution there is to put leftovers into the quilt back.

My mother in law used a bunch of her scraps last year to make fabric balls. Good for decoration, ornaments and gifts :)

if you know of any churches in your area where women sew or makequilts

donate also at out guild we have a free table just put on table and you can take it.

I give my scraps to a lady in church who cannot afford to get much fabric on her own.

There are so many things to do with scraps - I am not good at it myself. I am trying not to buy fabric unless I have a specific plan. I have sent scraps to my sister for her guild, I have sent boxes to a lot of people here. I watched a show once - believe it was Simply Quilts - where a quilter said she put her left-over fabric together and "made" more fabric. She just sewed it together, didn't try to make it match, and when it got to a good size, she then cut it up and made it into a quilt. It worked for her because it was done in sections.

I love scraps. I have used them to be able to make the blocks I am working on now doing paper piecing. I am on a fixed income so don't have the money to buy what I want. I do at time if I need a bit go to the fabric store and will buy even a 1/3 or 1/4 of a yard. It helps getting a little at a time for my blocks.

How about trading a bag of scraps with another quilting friend?

I try very hard to use as much of the fabric as possible in the quilt. If there are any good sized pieces left I incorporate them into the back of the same quilt. I get tired of the same scraps coming out of the scrap bag over and over and over :) Seriously, the left overs self-propagate!

I love scrappy quilts!! If anyone is close to me in Oregon I will be glad to take them off your hands. Just finishing a string quilt top for a wedding present, have 2 more tops i need to quilt.

Scrap quilts are not my thing. So i put my scraps in a waste basket next to my cutting station. When it is full, they go in a plastic shopping bag. Then they are donated to whoever wants them. It surprises me how many quilters do want them. I suspect that someday the families of those quilters will find floor to ceiling bags of scraps piled in a large closet or two.

When I started quilting, I thought I might use them, but then i realized that they are fertile, some are male and some are female or perhaps they are all asexual, and they are indeed, shall we say, active when i'm not looking. However, their children never, ever mature into yards, or even half yards. My theory is that their growth genes were cut when the parent yards were cut. But I'm no scientist. :D

By all means, give them to someone who will use with, without guilt.

I've finished these within the last few months out of 2" strips: I just had too many, and they never went down/away, so I devoted last fall to making tops and have been quilting them gradually over the winter.
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Justflying you can't possibly have any scraps left. Those quilts are fabulous. They should inspire me to get going with mine.

I often buy fabric without a pattern in mind, so I know what you mean. I use the bigger leftover pieces for backings and also bindings

I just dropped a large box of scraps off at the Linus group yesterday. Or I sometimes put a notice out on a "Freecycle" group I belong to.

I think scraps multiply, too. I think I need to separated my "girlie" fabrics from my "boyish" fabrics, because they seem to multiply at night. Naughty! LOL

Limalways suggest this when I see posts like yours, because I have to get busy and do the same thing. If there is a 4-H club in your area, find out if they have a quilting leader. They will gobble up anything you don't want, including books, patterns, etc. Fabric isn't cheap, and young families appreciate donations. It is exciting to see the beautiful quilts oir young people make; in fact, they inspired me to take up quilting when I retired. I was at the fair, saw their work, and drove right to the local quilt shop. The rest is history. I've been quilting ever since. I sewed for years, (learned in 4-H), but never quilted. So if you have fabric to donate, help our young quilters out!

I have given my scraps to a sweet lady who makes dog beds for the humane society

I have made 30-40 quilts using scraps from previous quilts. I am still working with tons more, adding yardage I already have for borders. Scraps are worth it as I already bought the yardage they came from.
I donate the scrap quilts for charity, they are as warm as any other quilt.

If you live near Atlanta, donate to Re:Loom at 3032 N. Decatur Road. They employ the disadvantaged to weave rugs, bags, placements, runners, etc. out of donated fabric. Be sure to tour the Weave House if you go - a wonderful organization!

I have made a king size 2" block quilt with scraps of mine and from my quilt guild. What a variation I ended up with. What was left (any size) can then be sued to stuff pet beds. Also you can used little scraps to stuff toys for pets too.

I know that Jo Kramer accepts scraps. You can contact her through her website: Jo's Country Junction. She makes charity quilts out of them.

When the scraps are too small for a quilt I make a pillow case type cover,various sizes, from no longer loved or donated fabric, stuff the scraps & small batting piece into it, sew it shut & then donate these "beds" to local animal shelter. That gives a little love & warmth to homeless pets.

[QUOTE=justflyingin;7522892]
I've finished these within the last few months out of 2" strips: I just had too many, and they never went down/away, so I devoted last fall to making tops and have been quilting them gradually over the winter.
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Those are beautiful!! Thanks for sharing!! I counted 10 quilts made out of your "scraps". It really has inspired me to take a closer look at my scraps.