I have a drawer full of extra blocks/blocks that I have made as samples or just to try them.

It will be a pretty crazy sampler quilt, one day!

Watson

I have a large box I keep for orphaned blocks. There is also a group of swap blocks that somehow got in there. When I have enough blocks in whatever size I make them into a sampler quilt. I made a king size quilt one time out of orphan blocks. It came out so ugly, in my opinion, that it was beautiful! People were falling in love with it while I was questioning my sanity! I'm just saying that all your extra blocks can become a beautiful quilt no matter if there is a theme or not. Hold onto them and make your swan.

If I like the way it turned out, I will make more of something to make a coordinated pillow sham for a standard pillow. If I don't like the way it turned out, I will put them on the free table at Guild.

We had leftovers for lunch today. We call them mus-go OR clean out the refrigerator. Great pot of beans.

, You mean fabric that didn't make it into the quilt:
The leftovers go into the back.
Large pieces go back on the shelf
Small pieces or fabrics I don't want to work with again go in the scrap bin. It goes to a friend who loves making scrap quilts.
Selvages go to the same friend
Strips and small pieces I really like are saved to make coasters or mug rugs.
If the project is just so frustrating I throw it in the mud, stomp on it (work off that frustration and anger, maybe wine will help) and throw it in the garbage at the curb!!!!! And have a victory dance.

This is so funny. Thanks for all the ideas on things to make. You have Given me some good ideas. However what I was looking for was actual organizing of the orphan units do you do it by color or shape or how? Thanks for all your ideas.

The first thing I'm asking myself these days is why do I wish to keep something. I've found a lovely person here who takes my cutting scraps as I have decided to no longer keep anything smaller than 6.5" square. You don't need to keep them at all, you can bundle them up and donate or otherwise pass them on and that's perfectly ok.

Mostly I used plastic bags with whatever seems best, keeping like with like. I use a sharpie to write the dimensions on the outside of the bag. So if you have subunits of the 4-patches completed, I'd keep them together. If they are 2-units or I call them dominoes, those would go in a bag. Likewise all the same sized strips go together by size, not color.

When you get a bunch of them you put them in a bigger bag/container or figure out what to do with them. You can decide to go full scrappy and put together whatever you have that finishes 3" or your desired size, whether that is a square, HST, or 9-patch.

I get baggies in different sizes at the dollar store, starting with sandwich bags, and then maybe I'll group a particular set of scraps in a gallon bag. The clear zippered bags that things like mattress pads come in are nice for larger groups.

Plastic bags slip around so you do need to keep them in a drawer or box. If you don't store them well or have easy access to them you are not likely to use them which defeats the purpose of keeping them in the first place.

I didn't keep small scraps. Recently, I began keeping strips. One gallon ziplock bag has 2.5 inch strips, for a future jellyroll, and one bag has other strips. My "scraps" are usually the extra backing trimmed after sandwiching my quilt, about a foot wide sometimes. I have them folded and sorted into two stacks: solid/not solids. I haven't made a scrappy quilt, yet, but am quite inspired by the onesI see here.

I have recently "upgraded" my way of how I handle scraps, I read a few ideas on this board that I really liked the sound of, so decided to give them a try and so far so good. For many years I only kept 2.5 inch strips or partial strips, everything else went into the trash. I am not a fan of scrap quilts, I have tried some different techniques of squares with scraps, but I just cannot get myself to enjoy it, you know, the guilt of throwing away those expensive fabric pieces........ So to get rid of my guilt: My preference is still a 2.5 inch strip, but I have now added 5" blocks. My thought behind that was charm packs, we pay for those, and yes they do generally coordinate when you purchase a packet. I bought one of those shoe box size plastic bins, and I can put two stacks in, and can generally match enough for a project. I read on here at sometime about the various sizes and how someone managed their scraps, and adding the 5" block made sense to me, and so far it has worked well. I enjoy PP, so have lots of odd scraps, and various odd scraps from other blocks, I used to throw those away, but again, read on here, .... I now have a flat rate box in my closet, I toss my decent size scraps in there, and will mail it someday to someone who enjoys crumbs for whatever their technique is to use them. Lots of various things to do with your scraps, and this is what works for me. I feel I waste very little now. Hope this helps spark some ideas for you.

And another idea, I don't do this, but I have read on here also, for those smaller scraps, toss them in a plastic bin or basket once you have enough, pile them on your cutting mat and cut randomly to very small pieces to use as filling in donation dog/cat beds. I myself thought that was brillant.

QuiltnNan - I like your idea of putting them over advertising on bags. Never would have thought of that.

Thank you :)