What size to cut scraps?
 

I have been trying to tame my boxes of scraps. Always trying not to waste any fabric, I have ended up cutting so many sizes and then the slimmest of strings are thrown into a bag for QAYG string blocks. What is the least number of sizes I can get away with though?

Looking for ideas, I searched some blogs. Some cut more sizes than others, explaining that 4.5" squares will play with 4 patches made from 2.5" squares, 5" squares will play with 9 patches made from 2" squares and so on. Not sure why someone saved 7" squares though.

What sizes do you all cut and why?

I cut 2.5 inch strips only. My smaller scraps I cut 7.5 inches long. If I have the end of a yard cut I leave the strip full length. Everything smaller goes in the garbage, I like to buy fabric to much to hang onto anything smaller and actually use it up in a scrap quilt. If I were to keep anything smaller with the intention to use it in a scrap quilt, I'd just end up with baskets of small scraps. I then make friendship braid strips and add sashing to make a quilt or some variation of a log cabin block with my 2.5" scraps. I find this is what works for me. I also do paper piecing so have odd shaped scraps and have made QAYG wonky blocks, but didn't really enjoy it, they looked good, but the technique didn't appeal to me, so now I pass those types of scraps on for someone else to use.

Bonnie Hunter, famous quilter, has this system. She cuts 1.5,2,2.5, and 3.5 strips. Then you can cut any small piece as needed. Then if you have lots, they can be sorted by color family such as light, medium, dark. Or Black,blue, green,red yellow, beige, white. Anything smaller can be used for strings or just tossed.

I only cut 2 1/2" and 5", either squares or strips depending on the scrap I'm dealing with. If I have a larger piece, I might just fold it up and store it with fat quarter-ish sized pieces.

I cut my scraps down into the largest squares first and the largest strips first, then down to the smaller and smaller sizes, according to the Leaders and Enders book. Then they are stored in stacks in drawers, ready to use. It's like having my own charm squares and jelly rolls, without the #$!! pinked edges and high prices.

Bonnie Hunters Scrap User's System is great and she explains what sizes she cuts and why those specific sizes.

There's also a video of her giving a lecture at a guild and at the 5:53 mark she shows the types of units and blocks you can get out of the different scrap sizes. Worth a look, it's only a few minutes long.

Bonnie's system is very popular but it's not the be-all end-all. Some people don't like her system or the sizes she uses but in my opinion it's still worth taking a look at those two links because she does give a lot of good information that you can cherry pick to suit your own needs.

I have an old quilt magazine with an article on scraps (I'll have to go look up who wrote the article, I don't remember off hand). If you have specific block patterns in mind, she says to start keeping a few shoe boxes on hand, each one for a different quilt. For example, one box for a scrappy thousand pyramids, one for a scrappy nine patch, one for a scrappy rail fence, one for a scrappy hexagon, etc. You get the idea. Cut your scraps accordingly. And every time you're working on a new project, cut a few patches of each new fabric you're working with to feed into those scrap boxes.

I don't cut my scraps until I decide what I'm going to do with them. I do put all strips into one of 3 bags--brights/ white, black,neutral/muted. I then have all my stash that is at least FQ or bigger folded and stored by color in a china cabinet where I can see it; and for those pieces that have had something "whacked" out of it (i.e. a circle) and not really very big in a plastic drawers again sorted by different color in each drawer. I do have 4 plastic shoe boxes that are smaller scraps that I dip into for applique or small piece.

I sort my scraps by color and keep them in plastic bags. I am ''afraid' to cut them without knowing what I am going to do with them for sure. I am not sure that is the best thing to do because, when I do decide to make something that could use them the task to do it becomes daunting. I really do want to do scrappy things but it just seems overwhelming.

This is my current project, when I can steal some time for it: to cut all my scraps according to the ScrapTherapy method; so that's 2", 3.5", and 5" squares. (I bought the book. :) ) My rule for myself is that no matter the size of the piece of leftover fabric (a lot from sewing garments), if it's been cut into at all, it's a scrap, and it gets cut into squares. Larger pieces that have not been cut into get stashed whole with the fat quarters I've not used yet.

I plan to use up these scraps on baby/donation/gift quilts.

Sometimes I second guess myself, whether I should be cutting strips per the Bonnie Hunter method, as they are often a lot easier to work with than separate squares. But when I see pictures of boxes full of strips all jumbled together, I just can't do it! It makes my organizing heart happy to see those tidy piles of squares in my shoe boxes, all sorted according to size and value. But that's just me - visual clutter stresses me out. :o