I was inspired by the scrap quilts I see on the board, and by the Multitasking post (and by the fact that my scraps no longer fit in the storage bin that they live in :shock: ), so I'm going through now and sorting/cutting everything into categories:

5" square
3.5" square
2.5" strips
1.5" squares
Donate

And in theory, when I cut fabric for a new quilt, I'm going to immediate cut it into usable scrap pieces and keep the bin mostly empty.

I've spent the last hour ironing (and made a very slight dent in the scraps), and I wanted to take a break and share with y'all! :mrgreen:

Sounds like a great plan :mrgreen: When you are done , will you come organize my scraps ????

good idea :wink:
I just checked on my scraps and they are out of control :lol: :lol: :lol:

LOL, mine, too! :D I'm still trying to figure out a method that works for me. I've got all my 1930s Repro fabrics together in a large flat plastic storage bin, which seems to work good for those. But all the others, geez, it's a mess!

OK I have been working on my scraps as well and thought I would share....

I am cutting mine into:
5 inch squares
2.5 inch squares

2.5 inch strips..only if I need to even them out because I already have so many and then all the rest are being cut into random size strips if they are already not a strip.

all of the random strips are being sorted according to length and then being sewn into panels....these panels will be used in my scrap quilts borders ( like piano keys only random sized) I also drew up some sketches of what I will do with the some of the others also did a random courthouse step block quilt last week ...I also drew up some sketches of how I am going to use a couple of the panels so they will all be used.

I figured for the 5 inch squares I would use charmpack patterns or nickel quilt patterns to use up those ....then with the 2.5 inch strips I can use those for bindings on my scrap quilts....also thought that if I had to much I could also use jelly roll patterns and I also drew up some sketches to use those.

The 2.5 inch squares I am not sure yet--will probably try to just make a charm quilt with as many as I have and be done with all of my scraps so that all future projects I can use my scraps either as I go--or cut them into the above categories as I go so I don't have a huge tub of scraps....so this has been very time consuming...I have to say I felt I was never going to get through them..but now I am in the home stretch and have about 20 panels of strips...so I can start to press and sew them! wooohoo finally the fun part!

Yeah sure. See you in 2 months!

Now that's organization!!! :D :D :D

I'm trying to go through my stash and actually use it (I know, it sounds crazy) and so scraps seemed like a logical place to look through. Probably the biggest motivator was someone's suggestion on here to attach scraps to other scraps instead of using a frog when you finish a row. Then ta-da, you have a quilt finished without really working on it :mrgreen:

I don't precut my scraps because I don't know what I will want them for. If I cut them into 2.5 pieces I may need them as 3 in pieces. I just put them in bins by color and cut them when I need them into the size I will be using.

Sybil

i don't organize at all. once my drawer is full, i give them away.

every time i look at my stash of yardage and fat quarters, i already feel enough [self-imposed] guilt and pressure to use it [instead of buying more ... which i do anyway ... :roll: :lol: ].

i don't need scraps forming a cloud over my head, too! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hey, check out this web site, I started this a couple of weeks ago and I am having a ball.....scraps are getting down to a manageable level...

scrap-therapy.com

That was my worry too. I have lettuce fabric from a BOM from 2.5 years ago that I've been saving "just in case"... but I haven't even thought of it until I'm actually looking at it. In 4 years (just calculated... been 4 years since I've been collecting), I have used the scrap bin once, and that was once it started to overflow, so I don't think I'm really a scrap person. So I'm not overly concerned about cutting them smaller then I need... I have fat quarters in case of scrap emergencies :!:

I cut up all my scraps into whatever size they fit into. I even have some at 1 1/2 inch.
Mostly I tried to get 5 inch squares and 2 1/2 strips, these are the most useable. Then I put them into small plastic baskets from the dollar store, sorted by color. I keep all my charms and fat quarters in these baskets and they fit on a small bookcase that I added shelves to.
It is easy to find what I need this way. The baskets are at Dollar Tree.

I'd love to play but there's not one in my area :( :(

I have a great system: when I finish cutting a quilt, all the small peces go into a drawer then if I need something later.....I DIG! haha! Works every time!Yours sounds nice but only if you come over & do it! Too much like work & I've been retired for 10 years!!! :lol: haha!

:shock: [b]
I'm impressed!! That's some of the best advice I've read. Thanks for the great ideas.
Janelle in Arkansas

Have a mountain of scraps to sort! There is no better time than the present!

We must be thinking on the same wave. I started doing that last week, and then Mnday made tqo log cabin scrap table toppers. Really turned out cute. Whan I get a camera I will post.

Great organization!

I have a 4 drawer cart with the see through plastic drawers. I have mine separated by:

1 1/2 square triangles
2. squares and rectangles
3. strips
4. large pieces.

I am new at Quilting and my house shows it.
I am so glad to have found this site.
I'm going back to reading.

Thanks for letting me join. Charlye

I start with the large scraps in one tub, when that gets full I put the smaller scraps in another tub, when that gets full I start cutting. I cut 6 1/2 blocks. Strips I cut in to what ever is close to 2". I sort the strips in to two drawers, light and dark. I love to do string quilts so I always have some ready.The 6 1/2 blocks go in a different drawer.

Where do you get enough bins to put them in?

That's my scrap system too. It works for me........for now anyway.

I like your style. (I'm not a "scrapper" but would love to be). I think I might try this, except I may do strips instead of squares for the 3 1/2 and the 2 1/2, since I'm a "stripper." :lol:

P>S> When is a piece qualitied to be a scrap? :roll:

I have started organizing my scraps by cutting 10" squares, then 5" squares or 2 1/2" strips. I can always resize them into smaller pieces later depending on the quilt I want to do. I have been quilting almost a year and I love it.

When I first began quilting, I had very limited space (one bookcase) so a scrap was anything I was done with. As I'm going through my bin, I found 2 full pieces that are almost half of a yard each. At the time, I had nowhere else for them and no other intended use, so they went into the scrap bin.

Now, I have a big ol' closet which is filled with lots of pieces of fabric, so I would've put those fabrics on the shelves. And now scraps are the bits left over. Usually under 1/4 yard... or once I start taking pieces out of it, I put it in the scrap bin. I don't want to pick it off the shelf and find out that I'm short on fabric since I'm missing hunks.

I'm also getting better at buying the right amount of fabric for a project so that cuts down the 1/2 yard leftovers, since that's a bit much :D

Oh, also ugly fabric, that usually goes into the scrap bin faster, regardless of size in some cases :-D

I do almost the same thing but take it one step further and use clear shoe boxs for sorting by color-when they get full i have enough for a scrappy quilt...I got this idea from my scrap booking sisters and thought why not? i save paper scraps why not fabric scraps.

i cut mines into usable strips. then i roll them up into lite, medium, and dark jelly rolls. i use the selvages to tie them off and staple a piece of paper noting the strips size. now my scraps look eatable.

tea

Usually at Wal-Mart, though if you watch places like Joann's Fabric or one of the other stores (Ben Franklin's or Hancock's) for when they are on sale you can sometimes get a great deal on them.

I have bags and bags of scraps. I am known around my guild as the Scrap Lady and over the past few years I've managed to convince a wonderful group of ladies to donate their scaps to me. <drool> It's funny, I was drawn to the Robbing Peter to Pay Paul block and loved two-toned quilts, but I couldn't afford to buy so much fabric at once. When I first started quilting I would buy a fat-eighth here or a fat-quarter there and I was sort of forced into being a scrap quilter. Now...now I find two-toned quilts to be a bit boring. (No offense to anyone!) My motto seems to be 'The More Fabric the Better!' When I get a bag of scraps, I set aside any substantially large pieces. I'm often amazed at what some people conside scraps! :shock: Then I cut down the smaller pieces. I don't chop them all up but leave them in the largest pieces possible. I have a postage stamp quilt (a quilt made of 1-inch squares) planned in my future and I collect scraps that are an inch or larger, so I have no shortage of small sized scraps. I keep them separated by size, but currently I don't have enough bins to store them in. I have them in shoe boxes, labeled on the outside. Many shoe stores will be more then happy to unload their empty shoe boxes on whomever would like them - for free. They make great storage bins for smaller projects as well as various sized pieces.

I'm looking forward to seeing the quilts that you ladies (and gentlemen) make from your scraps. :thumbup:

http://quiltville.com/

If you go to this website, you will find that your scrap system is manageable, is doable, and someone has done it!
This Bonnie Hunter gal is all right!
I forget how many patterns she has at her site for using scraps, but she will be a good encouragment to you in your endeavor to get organized/in control of something that should never be allowed near the air <g>

Ugly fabrics? Not a problem ... forget cutting them into strips ... cut them right down into two inch squares ... it is absolutely amazing how you can disguise the original purpose ... of course, you will always know that it was those tantalizing bathing beauties in paradise, but someone else will just see a light or dark area.
As far as 2.5" blocks, or 2" blocks, think double/triple Irish chain - - or Thelma's Dumpster Diving Quilt ...
One of the easiest ways to organize scraps is to actually complete a quilt project and take JUST the scraps and pieces of blocks or extra blocks and start your next quilt ... you will obviously be pulling things out of your scraps to make sure that each of your blocks going in to your next quilt are the same size, or whatever. I posted a picture of a scrap quilt I was working on, based on the leftovers from a Round Robin that I am participating in. While working on those pieces, I created almost thirty stack and slash quilt blocks ... and took all those scraps to add to my little scrap blocks ... and today! I ACTUALLY! drug out a box of scraps from a drawer that I have not looked at for a couple of months ... but those were a drawer I had created a couple of months ago ...
I just went on an obsessive cutting rampage and started doing what you are doing.
All of this activity is supposed to keep me out of trouble ... but ... <g> better luck TOMORROW! <wave> 8)

The link doesn't work. Either that or the site is down for some reason. Can anyone else reach it?

I have been sorting my scraps baskets for awhile now ... I find that cutting them into usable squares (6,5,4.5,4,3.5,3,2.5 and 2) and strips/strings (2.5,2,1.5 and 1) while I am sorting and pressing it makes it easier to have enough fabrics for my scrappy quilts. I use the three drawer bins by Sterlite and sort each drawer by square size and string/strip size. It is a work in progress but I love scrappy quilts and use even the littlest of pieces for my crumb blocks.
Bonnie's site is amazing if you haven't been there check it out. She is full of great ideas. I am going to have to check out the other link someone posted.
thanks for the thread .. it is a great way to encourage others doing the same thing you are.

Speaking of bins, I just got a Joann's coupon book in and I see they are having a sale on their bins. Perfect timing! :D

Did you get to the quiltville link? Or was there another link you were trying to get to?

Now, I will have to go check out the site because if it was down for some reason, there may be a NEW quilt on there! Cool!
If you get to Quiltville.com, do not be put off by the front page introducing Bonnie Hunter ... She is, after all, a business woman ... all the sorting things and quilt patterns are just her way of encouraging all of us.
Even if you think you know the pattern that she is titling ... check it out...Miss Bonnie does a pictoral tutorial with each pattern. She is a good writer and an easy read.

Instead of clicking on the link I just typed in the address & it took me right to her site. Now I'm going to have to go check it out. Thanks for the link! I'll have to add it to my bookmarks, which are getting horrendously long. :?

I don't have many pictures, and the ones I have are scattered throughout the forum, but in a new thread, asking about scraps, it was suggested that we have a place to post pictures regarding "What are you doing with scraps?"
So, to encourage newbies and any others who are considering a new hobby of stitching scrap anything ...
I start this thread, and post a couple of pictures ...

Tip!
I am finding that I much prefer to make six inch blocks for quilts than great big ones ... maybe because I think that the more fabric in a quilt, the more entertaining it will be.
When I made my first Victory quilt a year or so ago, I made the 12" squares, but many blocks actually are enhanced by having more than one displayed, so I have moved to the smaller blocks so that when I put four together so that others can enjoy the secondary patterns, I end up with a 12" block, and I am more satisfied in the process. Making one block and moving on, without being able to practice it more, doesn't work well with my obsessive personality, I guess. :D

We seem to have a lot in common, at least about quilting. :wink: I dislike working with large blocks, unless I need a quilt in a hurry. I prefer 4-6 inch blocks, though I do make some larger blocks, especially with some of the challenges and round robins I am in. When I'm designing a quilt I find that my units and blocks tend to be on the small side.

I keep a lot of bookmarks, even though many are not my style, because I tend to need them for my local guild. Right now I'm taking a break but usually I am holding some kind of office in my local guild & I use the internet for a lot of research and whatnot with them. It's amazing what can be found on the internet! And I'm always willing to try something once, though I've reached a point where I know there are some techniques and quilts I simply don't enjoy and thus I do not waste my time with them. This Jan. is my 18th year at quilting and the one thing I've learned is that my taste are always changing and evolving as I age, so something I may not care for now could be something that in the future I think is pretty nifty. (Geez, not to date myself by using the word nifty, lol.)

I love your scrappy quilt. It reminds me of a crazy quilt in a way. That's one quilt I haven't done yet. I plan to, but it's more because I need to explore all the wonderful little embroidery designs on my sewing machine than anything else. It looks like a great way to try out the designs, though I haven't had the time needed to indulge in anything like that lately. I'll be glad when Christmas is over and I can goof off on a few projects that are "Just for Me." :D Is that quilt something you are making for yourself or do you have a lucky recipient in mind?

I love Bonnie's website! She literally has posted things from straight out of my head. The one thing she doesn't do that I do is collect scraps of fabric from friends. Heck, I'll even go dumpster diving at classes. You won't believe the amazing amounts of fabric some people will throw away! :shock: I am making my sister a queen sized quilt for her wedding and it is completely done in scraps, most of which came from my amazing friends.

I wonder if we could create a thread in the 'Pictures' section specifically for everyone to share their scrappy quilts that are made or in the process of being made. I always learn so much from studying other people's work, and it usually inspires me to rush down to my quilt room and quit playing on the computer. :lol: