Whew! My scrap-cutting is finished - for now at least!
 

Last weekend, I undertook a marathon of scrap-cutting! My scraps were in three different plastic containers, all thrown in there haphazardly. A while back I had cut a bunch of strips and squares, loosely based on the methods in the book "Cut the Scraps" by Joan Ford. So I was determined to cut up ALL of my randomly-sized and -shaped scraps into a more organized posse!

What I do is take each scrap and cut the largest possible square, and then work my way down. I start with 10" squares, then if I don't have quite enough for a 10", I'll cut a 9.5", and so on. All the way down to the smallest scraps, out of which I cut 2" squares. Like those Moda Candy squares I love to use, only scrappy!

My AccuQuilt Go was a huge help in doing all this. I had to hand-cut the larger sizes using my Stripology Ruler from Creative Grids, but anything 6.5" or below was cut with the AccuQuilt.

Now I have everything organized in my Sterilite plastic containers by size, all ready to be used for something awesome. Here's a picture of some of the collection before I put it away. :) You can't tell from the photo but some of these stacks are pretty high!! This was a huge project that I'm glad to have finished but it sure is fun to look at all of these neat bits and pieces.

I've been doing this, too. Plan to cut a bunch more the next few days--such a good feeling when they are organized.

Great job!

Good job ~ all ready to be sewn into great quilts and other projects!

What a brilliant way to store all the scrappy bits. Will be adopting this to tidy up the scrap box. Thanks.

Great work. The hardest part is now done......you are ready to go with whatever takes your fancy.

Don't forget to show us how they end up.

Good job! I spent about a week just cutting up my scraps from one box. Have used them to make two lap size, two baby, and blocks for two more lap quilt tops so far and still have tons of squares and strips left. Plus I have two big tubs of scraps I haven't touched yet.

Good for you. a great quilt awaits. I have done this a few times and always like the precuts I get. I like lots of 2.5" squares because they are in so many patterns. Vestibule is a pattern I have used several times, sometimes as an eye spy (squares of 2.5" and 5.5" and strips of 2.5x 5.5) Don't forget Dresden/fan blades for the narrow bits.

Me too! Whilst the Bernina was in having a service and a board replaced (poor Bernice!), I decided to tidy up all my scraps and bits cutting them all up into strips and squares ready for something.....inspiration......Bernice coming home.....sigh!

I had started this at the beginning of the year with one box, but I kept the little scraps, and sewed anything bigger than 3/4 inch wide onto strips of calculator paper. I think I enjoyed that more than making a quilt top, cause there was no rhyme or reason, just random sewing. But, it's still waiting to be sandwiched, oh well, one day.

Three cheers for you !!! I'm sure you feel great to have your scraps under control and ready to make into something wonderful. I, too, am using my Go to get the older , cut-into pieces in my stash cut into managable pieces , rather than letting them languish in the cabinet. Good for you!

Congrats! A while back I got thru about 1/3 of my scraps doing a similar purge. It is such a lovely feeling and I love looking at those clear plastic containers full of squares and strips. Sure would have liked to have a Go tho. I am sure it made the job much easier.

This is great! You have inspired me to do likewise!

I started doing this last week and am still not done. I have decided to do this every time after making a quilt so the job is not so much of a chore.

I did that too. Love having my scraps all neat and ready to go.

Looks like you are well onto being organized. I just can't seem to cut up my scraps so I put them in a drawer.

Kudos on your success! :)

Oh I would love to allow myself to do this, but I make miniatures from my scraps and often times find just the right fabric to use as borders or bindings in my scrap boxes..kudos to you for getting this done...

I did another batch of scraps last week. I had all my scraps cut into squares- (4.5 thru 2.5). But I had all the wongy scraps left to do. So I cut them into strips from 2.5 inch to 9 inch. Found containers to hold all of the strips in their sizes. Plus all the squares too. A job I save for unproductive quilting days...

This is why I love making string quilts--just sewing without pressure to "make" something, but in the end, you CAN make something, if you want. :)

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also have a big plastic container full of "crumbs" - little weird strips and shapes that couldn't be cut into squares. I'd like to use those for a string quilt someday. It's on the list! :)

I love it ! Do you hire out? heee, bet there are lots of us that would love to have ours done, I would for sure! Good Job !

Good for you!!!

Congratulations ! I feel your pain. I have spent the last week: ironing, folding or cutting, and sorting by color and size. What a job! Still have a few more colors to do, but had to pick up the sewing room floor as we are dog sitting for a long weekend and two accompany me in there (a lab and English Mastiff) so not much floor room left for boxes or me. LOL The overflow went in the guest room which will come out one color at a time to iron etc. Sure am glad there are a lot of free charm and strip quilt patterns to make!!!!!!!!

you guys amaze me... I'm not sure I could be that organized even if I had the time. Great ideas on precutting scraps, maybe I will find time this winter. I bought a Shape Cut ruler for 2 1/2" strips for that very reason.

I did that for a while, then all my blocks and strips got the better of me so I've been making myself tackle them and make them into quilts. So far I have made 2 queen size, one king size and one twin from the existing blocks. I combined the smaller blocks into larger blocks then set them together. I still have a stack of 6 1/2 inch and some 5 inch blocks left for scappies. Hopefully my determination will not waver and I'll empty my block box. I still have the strip box that has gotten full again! Haha, do they still call it job security? Never ending ideas anyway. Good thing I love to sew.

That is a great idea.

First snow fall i am going to do this. I have put it off forever.

I took advantage of my car being down and started a complete shake down of my sewing room.The totes of scraps were hauled out to the living room-I worked on them in the evenings while watching TV. I now have 3med and 1lg empty totes. Once they were all ironed and cut I sorted them. I have a couple of those lg produce boxes from Aldi's that stack and they all fit -and the quilts to be are already together. So from now on at the end of each project I will take care of the scraps. I feel so much better knowing that come the weather change all I'll have to do is pull a box and get started. I did learn that neatness takes up less space in my sewing room..

Congratulations on your achievement! Having the right "tools" certainly makes the job easier.

I love having my own pre-cuts handy! I use the photo-storage boxes for strips. Label the box and no worries. Great way to use sort-of ugly fabric.

I had all my fabrics and scraps in large plastic totes and found that I was buying more fabric instead of digging through the totes to find what I needed. So anything 1yard or larger was folded onto cake boards. Pieces less than a yard were cut into FQ and Fat Eighths, various sizes of squares and strips, strings and crumbs. And a vow to not let the scraps get out of hand. That particular boat sailed and i have a box and a bag of stuff that needs to be cut up. I spent a really long time cutting up my store of denim and jeans into usable pieces. I just finished my tote of homespuns into strips. The next huge job is my fleece and I'm not looking forward to that. It's not quilting so not quite as much fun. There will be pet blankets and toys appearing from that mess!

Great idea. Like most quilters I have so many scraps and I never use them. Maybe if I follow your example some of them may get sewn into a quilt.

great job!!!

WOW, congratulations on getting so organized. I haven't done this with my scraps, but am thinking about it, so I've put it on my "Roundtoit List".

Great job at taming your stash.

I have decided to do this also since I have 3 bins chock full of strips and scraps. I will keep a few odd shapes for applique, but for the most part I am trying to cut 2.25 in squares or strips a min of 2.25 in. You are welcome to come help if you like. Getting ready to move is a bear, but my bins will be down to no more than 2 and organized by colors. I am so disciplined right now. Wonder how long it will last. lol

Looks like you are on your way to having the scrappy pile under control. I started doing the same thing this last winter have a ways to go but someday it will be organized.

Want to come to my house? 😊

Great job! I will get to that.......someday! LOL

I took a couple of weeks in June and cut up all of my scrap pieces. Since then I've been cutting them up right after finishing a project. Yesterday I found another grocery bag full! These things multiply like dust bunnies...Grrrrrr.