I had to look up what a bucheye beauty was. It's great! I saw so many variations here : http://quilting.about.com/od/blockof...ye_block_4.htm Keep us posted!

There is a red plastic (acrylic?) tool to help check values. It is like a rectangle or square piece of red plastic. I'm not sure if it is called a value finder or what. I had seen it on a quilt show one time (maybe Georgia Bonesteel's Lap quilting, or Fons & Porter's show). You might check at a LQS or maybe an art supply store.

I am working on a quilt that has over 2500 pieces and I broke it down into batches. I cut the fabric for 12 blocks at a time, made the blocks, then did the next 12, etc. for the 48 blocks.

Facing cutting out that many pieces is a daunting task! I'd break it down into parts or sections.

I just looked at the Buckeye Beauty link and realized that I was looking at one in the Connecting Threads catalog tonight. I would do strip piecing with that, like a strip of white sewn to a strip of blue, then cut them into sections to make the blue/white squares and sew two sections together for the 4-patch block. Of course, if you're doing all different fabrics/scraps then that wouldn't work.

I like what you're doing now - cutting from scraps, and cutting as many squares from each scrap as you can. Don't stress it and don't try to "control" your scraps; just use what you have, and don't worry if you have more of one fabric than another. My absolute favorite quilts are those made from a mish-mash of fabrics, which is what it sounds like you're doing. I can't wait to see the finished product! :D

When I did my avatar quilt, I cut out approx enough for four squares - 128 2" squares of each colour (light & medium) and the 96 of the medium & dark squares.There was a total of 30 squares, so there was alot of cutting. I would sew these together, and by then I was willing to tackle the cutting again. I will admit, there is no easy way, just alot of patience.