So I'm a newbie quilter with a couple finished quilts under my belt. I love love love scrappy quilts and have like a mental list of 10 different ones I want to do. So I went out and bought several hundred dollars worth of fabric (don't want to add it up - ignorance is bliss, right?) to develop a stash. I'm still working on prewashing/ironing everything but I am overwhelmed by how much fabric I have. Most of it is at least 1/2 yard long, some fat quarters and some a yard or two long.

So, my question, I've been reading www.quiltville.com and Bonnie recommends cutting up your scraps into usable pieces like strips, square, and rectangles. But I'm starting a scrap stash from scratch. So what should I do? I'm thinking of cutting my 1/2 yards into fat quarters then cutting 1 of the fat quarters up into strips like 5", 3", 2.5", 2" and 1.5" then saving the other fat quarter. you can always make squares, and rectangles out of strips, right? I just don't want to waste my fabric since I spent so much money on it but its overwhelming to have it folded up into piles. What do ya'll do? Thanks in advance.

I leave my fabric in the large pieces that I bought it . And cut it up as I find the need for it . Not all quilts are made from small strips and pieces. Some lovely quilts are made up from 10" or 12" pieces too. I would hate to chop it all up and then find a pattern that I want to make using larger pieces.

I wouldn't recommend cutting up useable yardage into scraps. Believe me, do a few projects and you will be overwhelmed with scraps before you know it. Those suckers multiply like rabbits.

I LOVE bONNIE'S ideas for fabric storage.....I too LOVE to do all kinds of scrappy quilts, happy quilting

Wow, you have been busy! I have some of mine cut into strips and different sized squares. If I spent my time just washing, ironing and cutting I would never complete a quilt. Most of what I do have cut up is for future quilts that will be made, everything else is folded neatly and put away. If I'm not using it right away then no reason to worry about it.

DON'T cut in advance! You can't change your mind!
I organize FQ's in shoeboxes, by color and/or theme, folded edge up. One box holds about 30 FQ's. Half yards, 3/4 yd., 1 yd. can all be folded to the same size and stacked neatly, or make a stack of each size.

I agree--do NOT cut it up!
i organize by color---solid reds, then prints; solid green, then prints, etc. from dark to light.....I do not stack them quite evenly--easier to see what I have wider at the bottom of the stack, then narrower towards the top....

I don't prewash or cut my fabrics until I'm sure what quilt pattern I will be using them for. I then will wash, starch, and iron the material before cutting. I also don't like to have a very large stash since I don't have a large place to store the fabrics.

This is my thoughts as well. I have two large totes FULL of scraps...I've only made four quilts, a hand full of purses, some oven mitts and place mats. Once I finish my Christmas projects (which will just generate MORE scraps) I'm going to sort through them and THEN cut them into usable bits.

When I purchase my fabric, I wash, iron, fold and store by color. I have 3 stacks for each color (light, med, and dark). I cut what I need for a particular project, return anything larger than a FQ to the shelf, and as I make my blocks the bits left over are tossed into a box under my cutting table. From time to time (it is now time) I go through the box and cut strips and squares for my scrap quilts.