I took on the almost monumental task of sorting my scraps last weekend. I started with "Quilt" magazine`s Chip, Charm, Chunk, Strip, String, Stray method and almost lost my mind. TOO MANY decisions!

So I took a break. Called my sister and we chatted. She asked, "How do you look for a piece of fabric?" I thought for a bit and replied... By colour. Bingo! We had it!

I went back, threw all the fabrics in the big bin again and started sorting by colours. I guess if I EVER run out of projects and decide to do a scrap quilt I'll re- sort then but for now they stay as colour groups.

How do you sort your scraps!?

My scraps are all just sort of stuffed in a bag right now. Actually don't have a lot, but the collection is beginning to grow!

Same way you ended up doing yours..by color.
that Chip,charm chunk would of drove me crazy too!

my 1 1/2 inch strips are by light and dark, the rest are just put in drawers. I know I should do something like by color, we'll see :)

Mine are divided by size, then color. I have my larger scrap pieces in one drawer and the smaller truly scrappy pieces in another drawer, both by color.

If you go by color, what do you do with the prints that have more than one color? That is where I get confused. Thanks for helping.

JOY

Joy ~ good question, some prints are confusing. I usually do the 'squint' test, then it goes into the closest color-way.

My scraps are in a use-able mess.
I have a tub for smaller than a FQ,~ great for making one or two blocks
a small box for 3.5"+ wide partial strips ~ Quiltvilles Strip Twist
Then 2 drawers full
1)for smaller strips ~ string quilts
2) for assorted smallish pieces ~ applique or crumb quilts
Then one more bag for 1/2" strips, that is for making baskets.

I wish I had room to do the color and size sorting.... but my "studio" used to called a bedroom. ;)

SORT????? You mean we are suppose to sort them????

LOL you are to funny.
other than 1 1/2 strips, I don't sort either

my "larger" scraps are sorted by size 5", 6", 7" etc.

my "smaller" sizes are sorted by colors

I don't have bunches of scraps and a lot of them are from my mother, and hers are VERY organized. She even had a shoebox full of 1.5" squares, she used to make Cathedral Window quilts and used them for the centers...not sure what I'm ever going to use them for but just can't bear to part with them.

i cut leftovers into 2,2.5,3 inch strips, and into 2,3.5 and 5" squares, put them in clear shoe boxes, the rest is all tossed into a tub, when it gets to full, i give away, seldom use any of it

Don't ask me..mine are all stuffed into about 3-4 Wallyworld bags and stuffed between the wall and the bed :oops:

I don't have too many so they are stuffed in a picnic basket.

I toss all my scraps in a bakset next to my sewing machine. I use the small scraps for leaders and enders and the bigger scraps to foundation piece blocks. I end up with a pile of blocks instead of a pile of scraps. It's the only way I can keep my scraps controlled.

All my real teeny scraps go in one box. Bigger scraps not yet by colour but 3 separate boxes of prints, solids, and Christmas prints (I do alot of Christmas things for selling). But the boxes are getting harder to close so I guess next step is colour sorting.

Looks like we use the same sorting method.

:lol: :lol:

I put my prints in a category called prints!

i been thinking as i was going through some of my christmas ornaments some of the balls with scratches and thought i would donate them and then it hit me i am going to try to decopauge some of my scraps on them and see how they turn out i might just have a new christmas tree theme for next year we will see there i go with another project for me to do but it might be fun

Mine are all in one big tote. Maybe someday I'll sort them.

Originally I did by color but then some how they are just stuffed into containers with no direction. Someday.......

I sort by color also. As for prints, I put them with the color that is the most predominant color on the print.

Well...right now I have been lazy and my scraps have grown again..but when I sort them ...I sort them this way
2.5 inch strips...actually as I do a project all of those scraps go in the same basket..so those are always sorted.

Then when I go thru my bin I cut 5 inch squares out of the bigger peices.

I also have a bin for 2.5 inch squares

then every other sized strips gets sorted according to length and I sew those into panels...from those panels I can make several different scrap quilts and it uses them quickly..I also use these panels to make piano keys on my scrap quilts for borders. ( although not traditional keys because they are differnt width strips.)

I somehow always use 5 inch squares for things and also 2.5 inch strips and squares..so it makes sense to me to sort these out.

That is what I do also.

Scraps I cut up to useable sizes, like 5 in sqs and 2 1/2 in strips. Then I put them in plastic baskets from the Dollar Tree store. These are also good for fat quarters. So easy to pull off the shelf and see what I have. They are 8 by 11 inchs so they fit on a bookshelf perfect.

I really dont have enough scraps to "sort" I only have one bin and they are all shoved in there right now. :)

Mine currently are in 3 bins. Small, med and large. Large is about 1/2 the size of a FQ. I will never be more organized than this :roll: :lol::lol:

Are you supposed to sort scraps??? OMG !
I have tried several times to make sense of my scraps. I have huge basket full, and a laundry-type bag full and it's on my "to do" to sort them, but there's always something that comes up, like house chores, that it gets put further down on the priority list. Lately I have been trying to do is when I am working on a project and have the scraps-- getting them sort of organized at the time. I have on my "project list" a scrappy quilt using 2 & 1/2" squares, so I've been cutting those up right away and they are in a plastic shoe box. After I was done with Christmas fabric this year I cut the scraps into various sizes--4" squares, 8", 10" 2 & 1/2" and strips etc etc and stored those for projects next year.

When I'm really in the mood to sort, I dump them out on the floor and while I'm watching TV I sort!

As I cut and sew, any remaining fabric gets cut into strips or squares. Then I have a zip lock bag for each size of strip - 1",1.5",2" = up to 4". I just sort as I go and when a bag is full I toss into a big tote and start another bag. The squares go into a clear shoe box. Seems a lot of my quilts are "scrap quilts" so this method comes in handy for me.

I sort mine by color...have a big plastic bin and use smaller boxes to stack inside. I do alot of block exchanges so then I can just pick a color and do a block

I use a separate bin for "multi-colors".

Hi, I used to sort my scraps by color and then saw a program on scrappy quilting and how to sort and was told to sort by cutting strips in 1", 2" 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" along with squares in these sizes. Then put all the same size strips into one box. Wow, when I did that and saw all the colors together, I got such inspiration and could really see what colors looked great together, even colors I would never had put together before. So, now when I finish a project, I cut the scraps from that project immediately and put them in their appropriate boxes. No more mess and less boxes to take away from my space for large material!

mine are all stuffed into bags too. I just pull them out and start looking for what I want. Sort ? what's sort?

I have mine sorted by color, but what is the Chip, Charm, Chunk, Strip, String, Stray method? I am just curious.

My husband and I will probably move to an assisted living facility soon due to his health problems. Moving my fabric will be a real chore, but I refuse to give it up!!!!!

if it's too small to get a 2.5 strip from or a 4. square from, i let someone else sort it at their house. i try to make something small immediately out of scraps, like a pouch or a tote or shoe bags so that i never have to sort. i give these to family members. sort is a four letter word. :hunf:

I help with making baby quilts for my church to give out to charitable organizations. Fabric is donated, so we aren't always able to plan any particular pattern. Fabric is cut into 6" or 8" squares, and put into piles. I sort through the squares and separate according to color and intensity, and lay out each one on large poster boards so each color or pattern overlaps the other, leaving an inch to be able to overview the whole layout. Very easy to pick out squares that way. Poster boards can be carefully layed on top of each other and slid under a dresser, or other piece of furniture to store if needed.

That's what I was thinking!!!! Mine are all tossed (shoved?) in a huge bag. My daughters and granddaughters love to dig through them periodically, so what's the point of sorting?

Anything less than fat quarter goes into huge see-thru plastic bin for random access. Who's got time to sort? Everytime I try, I get off on some random project and end up pulling them all out again. Sometimes I sort using the "dump" method -- dump them all on the floor, spread them out, and dig for what I'm looking for. I've tried to sort by color but ended up with crossovers (blue/green vs green/blue), so my color divisions are pretty loose.

I first sort by catagory home dec, fashion, quilting. Then it is by weight and color. Those are broke down by size and then color. All that being said, I store all the fabric together that are for a certain quilt. Either stacked on a shelf, or in a clear bag. This saves me searching and wondering where is that dang fabric!
The tiny scraps are in a bin all together right now. I am not going to sort them until I use them in a crazy quilt.

All of these answers and comments are so interesting and I find my self chuckling, because it hit home. I find my tiny pieces go by color in ziplocks and stand it in a drawer. I went on www.freecycle.com and registered in my zipcode with a request for all your left overs and scraps. That was when I first started. I got tons of things that I think were ancient but wonderful. I took pieces of them with me to work and my 92 year old I was caring for, helped me make my first quilt. She is gone now but I have this as a keepsake. it is a bit crude but I am so proud of it and it didn't cost me a dime, but the thread. Color is my best FIRST step in sorting. But Wally World bags and totes are all around my house now. It's comforting! Living alone has it's assets. I use scraps for everything, just about.

I sort by color basically right now. But if you are really making scrap quilts from your scraps, they should be sorted by "light/medium/dark only. Stratetical placing of value pieces is what makes your scrappy quilts awesome. My plan is to do exactly that.