which do you want first? the good news? or the bad news? or the good news?

Wow, Madquilter, that's a very nice scrap quilt. Great use of lights and darks!!!

I reently moved from Malibu, CA to Midrand, South Africa. I used all my fabric--even the small scraps, as packing material so I could bring all of it with me. Boy am I glad! Amazing how difficult it is to find fabric here. No JoAnn's here. I'm sure I will use all the scraps in some way. Now I just have to sort them and get it organized in bins.

i put all my scraps in zip lock bags based on color and then when i have a bunch of one color scheme i sew them all together to make a sheet of fabric.

then i take this sheet and cut it up to make applique of animals for children's quilts.

i use interfacing to do the needle turn applique and before i attach it to the background fabric i snip the interfacing and stuff the applique with some batting to make it puffy.

I like that idea of putting the scraps in plastic bags by colors. Thanks!

Oh thanks. :oops:

I just started to sew my left-over corners into half-square triangles and keep them in a small bin. I also got the small set of Perfect Circles and make small circles for a flower applique. They are contained separately too. All the other scraps and end-pieces from strip piecing get tossed in a tall bin.

Years ago, I started cutting leftover flannel from shirts etc into 3" and 4" squares. Eventually I MAY may a quilt. Other 'leftovers' go in plastic baggies - some graduate to boxes (blues - my fav color). I like Klue's idea of sewing them together to make a piece of fabric. That's an expecially good idea for blues (skies and water - would have been easier for my baby quilt than the fussy kaleidescopes!) and lights - which I never seem to have enough of. I think I'll try that.

MadQuilter, I just love your scrapy quilt. Did you have a pattern and would you share it with us. Thanks

Great idea Klue! Mine are in plastic bags but not sorted by color. Sounds like I have something to do when I get bored, ha! ha! Tons of scraps, may take me a while :shock:

Anything in odd shapes or smaller than a fat quarter gets cut into 2" strips. If it's too small for that, it gets cut into 1 1/2" strips.

I... uh... have two 18 gallon Rubbermaid totes full of 2" strips and one full of 1 1/2" strips. :oops: BUT... I use them. I have made at least 40 tablerunners and other small projects from those totes and even a few bed quilts. As others have mentioned, they multiply. Last year I made 7 tablerunners and two baby quilts from my 1 1/2" strip tote, and it didn't even make a noticeable dent in my stash.

Even just this week, I have made some potholders and coasters for myself, as well as two pieced pillows for my daughter-in-law (double-sided) AND my niece pulled out enough strips to make a log cabin quilt for her bed.

I will post pictures of the pillows in the Photo forum - they turned out just right for my DIL's very modern family room.