And it's better for you and your cat. Swifter fluid is toxic to animals, so it can't be good for humans.

Consumer Reports says that's not true. https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...myth/index.htm

I make a lot of mug rugs and table runners so use my off cuts that way. I also piece my batting sometimes. It sounds like you don't do either of these, so why not give yourself permission to throw them away?

I square up batting scraps, zig-zag them together and use them in smaller projects. I do not mix batting types becaue, after washing, they do not behave uniformly. I put the fabric cuttings into the scrap bags=by color to use later.

I recently made a cat bed using the clippings in the waste basket as the filler. My kitty loves it. She can snuggle right down in that. I used that idea of an old sweatshirt as the base with the clippings as the stuffing. I think you can find the idea online somewhere. Since she is long-haired and sheds a lot, I also sewed 2 pieces of flannel together as a small "quilt" to toss over it for easier cleaning of the bed. Too, it covers up the errors in the construction and she doesn't care!

As for your blocks or practice pieces. If those are of appropriate size, finish them off and donate to a NICU for use with their tiny people. Some may be appropriate to be comforting to parents of those babies are born way too soon and are so little that a small quilt is just the right size.

There are many places for this other than the trash. There are many people who would love to have them and make use of them - if you can find such people.

I have an empty "pillow" in my sewing room into which I put all scraps of batt that cannot be sewn together to make a larger batt. When the pillow is quite full, I sew the top shut and sell it at my garage sale. They have always sold.

I make lots of small projects like quilted bags and placemats. The bigger pieces get fused with the fine iron-on tape made for this purpose and used in quilts. It's a quick process and I can't even tell the tape is there. You have to lay the two pieces to overlap slightly and rotary cut neatly through both, pulling off the overlapped area so that the two pieces butt together perfectly before you fuse them with the tape. I have used at least a couple of different brands, Dritz and one from Connecting Threads, and both work great.

I’m with you. There are somethings that are just not worth saving and need to be tossed.

It does bother me to throw the stuff you describe away. I have been making pet beds and donating them to a local shelter. I know I won't use them and I have enough junk around here.

One year when my scrap bags were too full and my scrap batting bag was also full (and I had a number of bags for both) I took them to the local quilt show and donated them to sell. I couldn't believe how fast they sold. I felt good getting them out of my sewing room and glad that the quilt guild got the money and that someone was going to put them to good use.

I tend to keep things for my 'good intentions', but sometimes my good intentions tend to overflow and I just get overwhelmed. Then it is good to clean it out.