I'm with LavenderBlue...nothing smaller than an inch...even then I think before I throw due to my thriftiness! I go through them once in a while and make bags of scraps for my yearly garage sale, or for trade.

We recently started cutting all of our smallish scraps into 1.5" strips to use in pineapples (we bought the "Trash to Treasure" ruler by Gyleen Fitzgerald). Anything smaller than 1.5 by 2.5 got thrown out.

Darren

it truly depends on what kind of quilt s you make---if you never make anything with peices smaller than 5" squares---then anything smaller would be ...just storing...if you are an appliquer & use itty bitty pieces for all kinds of things---then itty bitty peices should be saved...if you like making water color quilts with 2" squares---then 2" would be the ones to save...
so, decide what you will use===then pass on the rest- there is always someone working on a postage stamp quilt (sometimes 1/2" squares) or something and willing to take your scraps you have no use for off your hands- keep the ones you will use- there's not alot of reason to hold onto ones you will never use- that will just take up space-
many people appreciate your leftovers you would never use.

I have some scraps that are less than an inch, that I use in my string quilts.. When I try to throw anything away I get shakey and begin to feel ill!!

I LOVE this idea!! I am going to steal this idea and start doing this too. Anything I can do to keep stuff out of the landfill... :)

We use scraps down to 5/8" square for DH's tiny piece quilts. Narrow strings, I use to make my string quilt miniatures. Or if they are long, I crochet with them.

I put anything less than 3/4" into a plastic bag. When it gets full, I will offer it to anyone who wants to use the pieces to make art quilts. When I see tuts of people using their rotary cutters to make shreds, I think maybe my shreds would be valuable to someone.
For me, I save 1" to 2 1/2" to make string quilts and squares from 2" to 7". I am still somewhat of a beginner, though and, so far I am not overrun with scraps. I have mostly 6" and 6 1/2" squares right now because I like to make I Spy quilts.

Me too!! I love scrap quilts!!

For me, nothing smaller that a 2 1/2" block or a 2" strip. I do save 1 1/2" blocks for a QB member who making postage stamp quilts for her sons. I have a bag for her now.

Cotton fabric strips are great to toss outside. The birds love it. I like to see my scraps woven in the nests. It's like quilts for the baby birds!