What's the smallest size scrap you save?
 

I have a bunch of them from the backing of the t-shirt quilt, which was made from blue oxford dress shirts and 2 Hawaiian print shirts. Frinstance, 1.25" X 3.5"- save or toss? How small is savable and where do you draw the line and toss it? I'm officially a quilter now, I have scraps to deal with, lol. Before I was just a general sewist with a lot of small yardage. :D

I don't save scraps that little but I think it's a very personal thing. I generally don't save anything smaller than a 5 inch square. I don't like piles of stuff.
A lot of people do amazing things with little pieces though. It's really up to you. You'll find out what works for you.

I generally don't save anything smaller than 2 1/2 inches square, but I save the smaller pieces for a friend - her limit is 1 inch square is the smallest she wants.
Anything smaller than that goes into a bag for someone who uses them to stuff dog beds.

The answer unfortunately is you should save the smallest size you will use, and only you know that. We save anything at least 1.5" x 2.5", but we have a plan for that size scrap (pineapple quilt). You may think that is a useless size and would toss it. Others may go even smaller (the traditional size for postage stamp quilts is 1" - which is .5" finished). It really is personal.

I use to save every scrap but ended up with too many to store and I never used them. Now I toss leftovers in a laundry bin and give them away when it gets full or toss out, whatever my mood is when I start a clean up.

I like to make scrap quilts, so I usually save anything 2" or larger.

1 1/2” strings or 2” square are my minimums.

For me, scraps are between 1/6th yard (about the size of a standard sheet of copy paper) and 2 1/2 inches. Anything smaller than that but over 3/4 of an inch, roughly the width of my thumb, is a bit. They go into crumb quilts for charity. Anything smaller than that gets tossed.

I've seen several quilters here say they save tiny scraps for people who make pet beds for shelters. How would I go about finding someone in the Baltimore/Annapolis area who does that? I know there is someone, since I overheard her in Hancock's before it closed. But I was in line and couldn't catch her before she left. :(

I like to sew all my strips together down to 1 inch wide and 2 1/2" long, and make fabric out of them. Cut into strips for borders, or within the block, one can get very creative with them.

1" strips are the smallest I save. I have made a lot of scrappy quilts. I have containers to store them in.

O.K. Now you are all going to get a good laugh. I actually ran out of fabric on one of my first quilts so I sat and sewed up some of my scraps. They are trimmed to 2 1/2" squares and most of them have 8 pieces in them and one or two have 10 pieces. (All green). I don't actually know what I will do with them - it will have to be a wall hanging as I don't think they would take much washing. I do like small and am playing with a few ideas for after I have completed several quilts. One wall hanging I saw pictures of (it might even have been on this site) was of fall trees and the foliage was like fabric confetti in graduating golden hues. So I am not sure where my minimum is yet either but I have saved anything over 3/4" by 3/4". Give yourself some time before you give them away.

Could you explain how you make fabric? I'm curious.

2" is the smallest I will save. I sometimes regret it, because I have tiny pieces waiting for a rainy day that hasn't happened, so I might bring my saving size criteria up the 2.5" or 3".

The size scraps you save should be based on the kind of quilts you make. If you like applique really small can come in handy ( I never know when I’m going to need an eye, or a berry) if you like string quilts long, skinny strips are saveable. If you ever make kennel quilts ( or pillows, padded items those slivers, tiny pieces can be used as stuffing. )
anything You think you will never use you can pass on. I never send my scraps to a landfill, there is always someone willing to pay postage for what I have no use for.

I do have a modest size bin labeled crumbs and I only throw colorful pieces in that I might use later on.

You can make crumbs........just a bunch if scraps sewn together haphazardly, then cut into whatever size square you decide on - like "making fabric". A good no-brainier if you just wants to sew with nothing really in mind, and soon you will have a good stack of blocks to play with, and a few less scraps!

I have a 1 small bin that has pieces about 1"- 2" square, I love to do applique on my embroidery machine and I am always using very tiny pieces for that. I keep pieces from 5" square to fat quarters together in another bin and everything bigger is yardage.
Smaller than an inch goes in the garbage and I keep my tiny scraps limited to that one bin.

Now, themadpatter, this only applies to me. I don't save anything smaller than a 2.5 X 2.5 Over time I have learned that is the smallest I ever use. So, what keep the little stuff that will not be put to good use. I do have a quilting guild friend who makes 1" postage stamp quilts so I donate scraps to her but many I just toss the little ones out. I won't use them and it is the special few who use smaller scraps. Three cheers to those who use the itty-bitty scraps. Love my 2.5 X 2.5 and use LOTS of them! WE all have our passions, right?!

Always an interesting question. When I sew I let my scraps fall into a basket beside my cutting table. When it gets full to overflowing (like it is today) I sort it out into piles by color. I trim the pieces of odd slivers that came about as I cut elements of the previous projects. Then I put them in plastic bags by color and store them in drawers. This gives me maximum opportunity to choose what I need. For a long time I cut them into strips and squares-only to find that I needed something 'bigger' and had to cut into my regular stash storage. I encourage my quilting friends to come and see what they can find and use. I might add that when it comes to batting I keep each type and brand and type separate. I cut all scraps into the largest square or rectangular shape and sew them together with zig-zag stitches and make large pieces which I use in other projects. I do not mix them at random because each type behaves differently after being washed and I don't want that sort of look.

I save everything. I use tiny crumbs for fabric collage and larger crumbs (wider than 1/2” ) get used to make fabric which I then cut into blocks for crumb quilts. Strings that are at least 3/8” x 3” get used in making a variety of craft items, currently I’m using them to make clothesline trivets, but I also use them to make funky scarves which are great fun to sew. I store my quilts by wrapping them around pool noodles and then covering with muslin to prevent fading—-I stand these on end and use my longer, stronger strings to tie the the muslin above and below the quilt rolls to keep them from sliding down. I also make string quilts and use HSTs in some of my art quilts, so I save triangles and thicker strings separately from the other large Crumbs and thin strings. If it’s between 5” and 2” I cut it into the largest size I am likely to use-these are my “precuts.”

Right now my scrap storage system consists of- 5 shoeboxes that I sort the really thin strings, small crumbs, larger crumbs, triangles and larger strings for string quilting. 2 drawers in my small arrow Suzi unit that are devoted to “precuts”. And 3 drawers in one of those cheap plastic units sold by target or wallyworld for all other scraps which get wrapped around comic boards and stored by size- smaller than a fat quarter, fat quarter, and smaller than 1 yard. 1 yard and up gets stored with yardage.

My rule is when a shoebox is full I have to do something with it before I can do something that will create new crumbs, strings or triangles LOL. I like scrappy quilts, so my “precuts” and larger scraps get used in my regular quilt making and don’t have the same tendency to take over the world that the smaller scraps would.

Rob

I admit I don't save scraps - when I did I never used them and they just took up space. I decided the space was more valuable to me than the scraps. Only exception is wool for applique.

I save all scraps and sew them in all sorts of ways. My scraps made 18 tops for a local group that makes them for battered women. I also use scraps for applique and Dresden plates. Remember that fabric is now over $12 a yard!

My scraps are quite large, as I do not do crumb quilts, and not a big fan of scrappy quilts. I send them to a woman I know who makes doll clothes and sells those to raise funds for Diabetes. Although I have not sent her anything in a-while.
Mike

1 inch is as small as I go. Got too many scraps as it is now.

I have a "snip it" box that I put small pieces in and I use them when I do crazy quilting.

2-1/2" is where I draw the line.... I really don't feel like dealing with anything much smaller for a scrap quilt

I, too, save most everything. Smaller than 1" goes into a bin for pillow fillers. I have one of those carpenter cases for probably separating screws and etc.) that I sort them in. Just cleaned it out a couple weeks ago and keep them sorted by strip width or squares and not by color. Hoping some day to make a log cabin quilt, but there are lots of possibilities with scrap 'stash'. I put my triangle cuts (HST trims) in Schwan's ice cream tins. I'll try to attach a photo of my case.

I save anything that's more than 1" x 2.5" to sew to adding machine tape. Some day I will make a lot of colorful sashing.

I save most anything. Am collecting 1" squares for my Ohmigosh quilt, and I use other tiny/small pieces to make crumb blocks. Also make mini quilts, and 18" doll stuff. I have bins for strips, small pieces, and a basket for crumb pieces. :)

I save anything I can get the seams in for a crumb block. A couple of my 4" square blocks have 52-53 different fabrics in them, so I'd say whatever floats my boat on that particular day. I also make doggie beds mostly with odd sized pieces I really can't use and leftover batting scraps that are too small to seam. I keep my crumbs in a storage tote, and I keep strings in a separate tote. Crumb blocks are my favorite block to make.

I give all of my scraps to a friend. She only makes scrap quilts.

I generally follow Bonnie Hunters scrap user syste: 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3.5, 5 inch strips or squares. I've tried crumb and string piecing and found that they are not for me. I rarely use 1.5, mostly 2 inch pieces and 3.5 inch pieces.

For the most part I don't use them. I've found I don't do scrappy, or crumb or postage stamp. I don't like fiddling with little pieces. I should add while I don't use them...I haven't tossed them in awhile.

I only save batik scraps in tiny sizes, because I like to make mini log cabin blocks. I do cut my thirties into 2 1/2 squares for a future grandmother's flower garden and into wedges for a double wedding ring. Any prints that I have leftover, I give to the free table at the quilt guild.

I save everything. The pieces smaller than 1" x 2" I donate to a lady who makes pet beds for the dog shelter. I love scrappy quilts and hate fabrics at $12 a yard going to the land fill when they can be used.

I appliqué more and more so I save tiny pieces in ziplocks by color or "type" of pattern like "Hawaiian" or "Patriotic" etc. I'll toss some out if I have a bolt of the same fabric. I have a several bolts I use for backing on charity quilts or whatever.

For making quilts, I generally don't save anything smaller than a 2.5" square or 1.5" wide strip. However, scraps that are an inch up to those sizes go into bins that I use for sew-off+sew-ons that I use at the beginning and end of my strip piecing to keep the machine from eating my blocks.

I love confetti quilts. And lately I've been doing improv in which small pieces are sewn together. And, I've also been making coasters with very tiny scraps. So I've started saving everything. Those screw holders sound like a good possibility for saving them.

Please do not throw away any scraps, make a pillowcase, any size, small to large, from your What was I thinking fabric, or denim pieces, or especially good-the old knit polyester fabric. Fill it with all the scraps you will never use, including batting scraps, sew the end shut & donate it to your local animal shelter for a pet bed.

I keep a dollar store laundry hamper by my cutting table, all unusable scraps go into it. To make it even easier line the hamper with the pillowcase so when it is full just lift it out & sew the end shut. Our local shelters love those beds, when they get too dirty they can then throw them away but in the meantime they have given a homeless animal comfort. I recently found out our shelter has other volunteers who make washable covers for the beds so they can use them longer.