vickig626

I love to look at sewing rooms and almost always see a bed for the visiting pet buddy. :-)

I have to rethink my scraps too but do have a good handle on them at the moment (using that term loosely). But I've started (about a month ago) cutting down the scraps after a project is done. Example -- if I have a true scrap (can't do anything else with it), I'll cut the widest strip I can (2-1/2" is my max). If it's too short for a decent strip, then I'll cut into largest squares (largest is 5"). I have bins for 1-1/2", 2", 2-1/2" strips and a bin for 2" to 4" squares and a bin for 5" squares. I'm going to start one with 10" squares if a large-enough scrap happens.

I figure these bins will be perfect for grabbing to work on a project when it gets full enough.

Also, by cutting up the last of the scrap (typically less than a FQ), this fabric won't go back into the stash.

I also started folding my larger fabric onto the boards but decided to change that plan. I am now just doing this when I pull a fabric to use. If there's enough fabric left to use for a future project, then it gets folded onto a board and put back into the stash (I use shelves). I figure in time I'll see what fabric I no longer need in the stash since it hadn't been touched in such a long time.

cricket_iscute

I make a lot of quilts for homeless families (425 delivered since 1996 and counting). At least half and maybe two-thirds of the quilts I make are string quilts. I therefore cut my scraps into strings which could be as narrow as 1.5 inches or as wide as 3.5 and maybe 4.0. Lengths will vary. I do l like the look of the string quilt when some of the strings are pieced from crumbs, so I keep crumbs. I keep strips from one fabric together to scatter in the same quilt. I store these in a very large laundry basket under my machine's cabinet where I can easily reach them. The dark strings are on the left, the mediums in the middle, and the lights on the right. I do not sort by color as I've found that most everything goes together so long as I give the eye places to rest. The strings are all trimmed and pressed when they go into the basket, so if I am careful not to wrinkle them, I do not have to press each seam as I go except with a wooden presser. This saves a lot of time.

If I have scraps left and there is coordinating yardage, the scraps - and any fat quarters - are stored with the yardage. More than once, I needed just a bit more, and the scraps have saved the day.

annesthreads

I've always sorted mine by size, by width: I have drawers for 1in, 1.5in, 2in etc, up to 6in, beyond which I'd probably decide it was more than a scrap. I'll decide which width would make the best use of a piece, eg if it was 1in wide at one end and 2in at the other, it'd probably go in the 1.5in drawer. Triangles, I use the width of one of the shorter sides.
Recently though I've just left strips in the drawers and the rest are a glorious mix in a box, because I started making crumb blocks and wanted a random selection of colours and shapes!

mjhaess

I would organize by color if I were organized...LOL.....

sulyle

I've always sorted by color but I read an article recently that sorted into three bins, light, dark, and basically everything else would be medium value. Some of the mediums might eventually be used as lights or darks depending on the other fabrics you're using but it sounds like a workable plan. Certainly anything that reduces the number of bins I have would be a help. Does anyone else sort this way?

solstice3

sounds like a good idea

qltgrose

I think your organizing system has to be a relationship between the size of your stash and the way/type of quilts you make. I have a 30yrs old stash, which covers a 12 ft wall 6 shelves high. Anything less than a full FQ goes to the scrap bins. I am cutting them via Bongs method of strips and squares and storing those by size. When I need a quick block or small baby quilt, I grab those drawers first. As for the shelves? Batiks are with batiks and I have baskets of fabrics sorted by color and some of my smaller collections by type...Asian/blck/whites/gray prints/landscape fabrics/30s repros/holidays, etc. I am TERRIBLE at not putting things back as projects end and that is my greatest undoing of organization. I get so excited about the work and the creation and the tidying up gets lost in the whirlwind. But this year a move is on the horizon, so that will have to change and soon!

pollyjvan9

qltgrose, I am with you. I make so many applique and scrap quilts and sometimes I literally cannot see either of my work tables because of all the fabrics I have pulled and not put up. I am not a really messy person, but I do tend to get caught up in the moment and just cannot stop and put thing away. Here is a photo of the blocks I have made from the lengths of strips that I sewed together the other day.

puzzler

One day, while my granddaughter and a friend were visiting, I gave them a bin of scraps to play with. When they finished, I gave them 3 large paper grocery bags and asked them to figure out a sorting method. They chose: long, skinny strips; fat strips/rectangles; square-ish. It's worked well for quite a while. I split further into pieces large enough to cut more than one 5" square vs too small for that; triangles; really big chunks. Since I' m a batik person, I keep batiks and flannels separate from cottons.

Now, if making blocks and quilts from one bag really depleted the bag of scraps, I'd really be in "control".

qltgrose

Polly,
LOVE it...now how will you finish? I am glad to hear I am not the only one who doesnt put away. Its crazy not to do so, but heres an example, I just finished a 12in paper pieced butterfly block, used lots of blue/white fabrics, probably 20 (lots of teeny pieces)and when I was done, neatly folded the fabrics back in some sort of order, but then left them stacked on my side table! I have a stack of pinks in the drawer of same table from another project. Well, this morning, I am going to set my kitchen timer and give myself 30minutes to put things away ONLY..no distractions of getting involved in cutting even scraps into pieces...just fold/sort/put away. How about that?