First I would like to say thanks for all of the invaluble tips that I get from this site. It has made me a better and smarter quilter in soooo many ways! I don't post much but MUST read every day to make my life complete. LOL. I need to know if I am crazy or just plain stingy for thinking this way so please help! OK here goes. I made a queen size quilt from the Brasstown Star blocks. The pattern had me cut 4.5" squares from fabric 1, and from fabric 2 & 3, 2.5" squares. Take a 4.5" square, place a 2.5" square on opposing corners and sew across the diagonal of the small square. cut off the corner 1/4 away from the seam, flip and press, repeat on the remaining 2 corners. what you end up with is a 4.5" square with a 2" square in the center of fabric 1. Now as I was working on these blocks and my scrap pile was growing I got more annoyed that I was wasting so much fabric! With all that being said this is my question.... would you have altered the pattern and cut the pieces to the correct finished size and done it that way or would you have followed the pattern? With the prices of fabric these days that added up to a lot. I figured that I wasted appoximatly half of the fabric used to make these!!! I did finish the quilt but it costed me almost twice as much? After my very long winded explaination my question is what would you have done?
Thanks in advance for your advice.

I would have sewed those little matching triangles together and made a mini! Could have put it on the wall in the same room as the quilt and it would have matched perfectly.

I keep my scraps and use them for paper piecing or other small projects, so I don't feel like it's a waste. I actually prefer to do my corners that way. I think I get better results because the stretch on the bias is reduced that way.

If you have enough space, you can sew another seam about 3/8 from the first one, towards the outside corner and cut in between them. You'd end up with a bunch of small 1/2 square triangle blocks in addition to your other blocks. I got this idea from the pineapple quilt on Quiltville - http://quiltville.com/pineappleblossom.shtml

I did sew the little corners together and ended up with about a thousand little 1" squares because I couldn't bring myself to throw them away! Maybe I could use them after all. thanks!

I had a quilt like that, although my flying geese turned out nice I think if I ever made that pattern again I would use a different method with less waste. You might want to read the pattern and the cutting instructions next time you make a quilt from a pattern and make sure theres no waste. Fons and Porter patterns are easy to follow but have a lot of waste. The last quilt I made had you cut 2 12 7/8" strips wof for 4 squares and 2 12 1/2 " strips wof for 4 squares and 1 6 1/2 strip for for 4 squares. I changed it so I cut the 2 13" strips and cut out 5 13" squares then cut my 6 1/2 from one of the 13" squares then one 12 1/2 squares from the remaining 13" strip that saved me from cutting a 6 1/2 strip and the second 12 1/2 strip. total fabric save on that color was 19".

mimom, that is using your head in the right way.
Beewild, I have never using squares to sew in the corners instead of triangles. It not only waste fabric, it wastes time, and is more work...or that's how I see it.

I like the double sew and cut that Katier825 mentioned. Will try that the next time I have directions like that.

always learn something here!!

This pattern?
http://www.strictlypetsupplies.com/_...k-Party-Series

(and for the life of me I have NO idea why the Google search resulted in a link to a pet supply site.) :roll:

You're talking about the Snowball blocks, right?

The other way to make them is to cut the center square (Fab#1), cut 2 other squares (Fab #2 & #3) and cut them in half on the diagonal, and then sew those triangles to the four sides of the center square, to make a Square-in-a-Square block.

Personally, I prefer the Snowball route (a pretty standard technique)...I don't EVER have to deal with triangles and a bias edge (not even if it's inside).

And, btw, I only trim the underside of the smaller squares --- I always leave the center square corners intact. And I toss those little cut pieces. Others sew them together or use them as leaders.

The added layer in that part of the block causes no problems or issues (maybe it would if you were hand quilting), and actually causes less distortion in the block by keeping it square.

So, to answer your original question, in this case, I would have done it exactly as the pattern instructed. :lol:

Pitch 'em. Unless you do scrappy. I don't worry about "wasting" fabric. If there are two different ways to piece a block, and one is easier than the other, I could care less how much fabric it "wastes". I don't consider it a waste. If it bothers you so much either save them and use them for something else, change techniques, or give them to someone who really will use those bitty pieces. Mine go in the trash. I've decided not to keep anything smaller than a fat quarter, and even then, I know I'm probably NEVER going to use them.

I would make a mini quilt too!

Next time you make a quilt, Pitch 'em into a box.....I'll pay postage. I make lots and lots of scrappy quilts!

The way I see it, my time and the finished quality of my work is worth more than a yard of fabric. 'nuff said.

AMEN Sistah!!!!

Save them. Make small blocks, sash or border for a charity quilt.
Pattern makers try to do the fast way sometimes regardless of waste. I often think those who "design" quilts for the magazines have an unlimited amount of fabric to use.

I am in the process of picking fabrics to make this block ( all from stash & scrappy ). I save my small pieces for a friend that weaves throw rugs. She has made me 4 small ones for all the scraps I have given her. They are very well made and hold up good, we have dogs.

I also do as craft phanatic does.

i checked out the pet supplies they handle thread patterns quilting notions etc besides pet stuff.

I am certainly for saving them or sharing with someone who likes to make scrappy ones. I cannot bear to throw fabric away.

Go to quiltville.com for a whole lot of ideas. Bonnie Hunter is into being frugal with fabric and she has wonderful ideas.

Hey, slow down. As fabric becomes more expensive don't throw it away. That is money....saying you will never use it is like asking for trouble. The word...Never... always makes a fool of you. I just cut for a drunkard path and had so much waste that I took time to cut the pieces in to lovely squares and stored them neatly stacked in plastic snack bags ready for use, all washed, ironed and the same size. Such pretty colors could go into a border, in to a mug rug, into a doll quilt, a framed print, or matching pillow. Even if you send them on to someone else, do them the favor of keeping them neatly useable without having to iron out small pieces...that is treating a friend (and fabric) with dignity.

Yes, I did that for a long time, too, but then found that because the corners are on the bias, that they get wonky, so to keep it sqare, I only cut out the middle layer of fabric. That way, the 4.5 inch square keeps it true to size. Jan Krueger recommends this also.

If you have enough space, you can sew another seam about 3/8 from the first one, towards the outside corner and cut in between them. You'd end up with a bunch of small 1/2 square triangle blocks in addition to your other blocks. I got this idea from the pineapple quilt on Quiltville - http://quiltville.com/pineappleblossom.shtml[/quote]

What a neat idea.

Beewild, I used that technique for a Celtic Illusions quilt and was thankful that I did not have to deal with bias edges. I am now hand piecing the triangles together from the scraps as a filler project when I am in between big projects. I figure when I have enough of those blocks I will alternate them with solids and put everything together on a diagonal. I figure this way I got a quilt that I would not have ordinarily planned for!

You could save these leftover pieces for a scrap quilt.

I check out patterns, try it the way the instructions say to do it. If I don't like that way or think I can do it easier with less waste I'll try it again.

I personally don't like triangles so will continue to do snowball blocks with the little squares in the corners. My small snippets, scraps and shreds go into a bag to be given to a lady who makes pet beds for the animal shelters in our area. If I have larger triangles I save them for another lady who loves scrappy triangles.

I sew all my strip and square scraps together as I accumulate them becauese it drives me crazy to have a bunch of scraps hanging around. I can handle a stacks of blocks.

What gems lurk in these fine pages! This pineapple blossom technique and the quilt itself are keepers for sure. Her technique on the second seam at the corners is so simple, but I'd never have thought of it on my own. This quilt is definitely on my list of gotta-do's. Thanks!

Get rid of the guilt of the waste..donate to a church quilting group

I also sew the extra seam whenever possible--I do this when I make mitered corners on quilt bindings, too. I always manage to find a way to use the half square triangle blocks which are "ready to use".

I often seam the triangle cutaways to make squares and then use them as a border. I square them up, join them into strips while doing the piecing for the blocks.

If I need to adjust the length of the pieced border strip, I fudge fit the pieced hst border by restitching next to the seams to make it fit. Hope this makes sense.

what do you mean use as leaders????

Fortunately, I belong to three quilt guilds, and each of them has a miniature bee, an art quilt bee and a scrapbuster bee. The few times I do choose a project with the "waste" you describe," I do the project knowing that these leftovers have good homes to go to - these ladies PRODUCE!!!!

I always use up those little triangles making a mini or I use them for borders. I even solicit these cut off pieces from fellow quilters. I love to get them and see what I can make of them. I hang my mini's on the wall in my sewing room as decorations.

Me too. I like the whole block for keeping the it square.

If you are doing flying geese you might want to look at Kayw Wood's video

http://www.kayewoodtv.com/ktv/index....ink=true&chn=1

She has a good technique for making the geese with no fabric waste.

Carmen

This is one of my favorite piecing techniques. I use it for flying geese, Square in a square and any time I want that angle seam. I save the cut off triangles and sew them into HST. I used to save them all, even ones that made only a 1" HST. However, I am finding that I toss any trimmings now that make anything less then 1 1/2" HST (after squaring up). My time and sanity are worth something too and I think more then those little scraps of fabric.

I also go to Quiltville.com a lot and hate to waste fabric. Here's my version of the Pineapple blossom quilt with all those extra triangles I got used for my border.

When I make anything using that method, I generally sew another line across the left-over triangel BEFORE I trim. THis creates a small HST which is great for Minis - and if you don't like to work in Minis, Rhonda appreciates the leftovers coz she does.

Thanks so much for posting this link to Quiltville. Don't think I have ever visited there, but I sure will now! Love scrappy & she has wonderful ideas as well as instructions. Can't wait to do several of these with my scraps.

What I do is sew 5/8ths of an inch from the seam for the pattern out toward the corner then cut off the triangles and throw them in a zip lock. Once the quilt is done I decide if I want to use them right away, put them away for later, or stick them in a box of scraps. The box of scraps, when full, is sealed and I post on this board under Free Offers and Donations.
To find this page, go to home at the top of any posting; select the "All Sections" at the bottom of the list, change the notation on those you want to see to Subscribe and then you can post that you have a box of scraps for free. If you want to have the recipient pay for postage, just make sure you say that in your post.
The hardest part for me is deciding who to send the box to as I usually get several immediate responses. I feel better about not wasting fabric (because I used to toss the scraps in the garbage) and I get to share with someone on this board who loves to use little scraps. With the price of fabric continuing to rise, I like to feel like I’m using all of it for something good.
:lol:

Someone in my guild was collecting everybody's small scraps and using them to fill pillows for dog beds!!!