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What gorgeous quilts!!!!!!!!! You've all made beauties!! I don't keep scraps but I should :)

I too am working on using scraps because they do multiply at night. Working on a string quilt as we speak

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewbizgirl (Post 8061715)

Scraps come from your stash, too. As you use stash fabric to make quilts, you make new scraps. And if you get the reputation as the stash quilter in your guild, the ladies will bring you bags of scraps! Ask me how I know... :hunf:

Oh, I know how that works, very guild meeting someone passes a plastic bag to me with orphans than need good home. Want to finish one this summer to prove to the gals that I do use their donations. But.... why me? :)

Oh I know what you mean....to the gals who have donated a lot of really nice fabric I make little quilts as a thank you. These are good friends of mine and they are happy to receive the little something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mslbd (Post 8061437)

Hello,

I went on a binge of cutting up my scraps into usable pieces and think I have really injured my upper arms. I've been in pain for over a month. The pain sometimes goes away but doesn't stay for long.

The only thing I can think is that my rotary blade wasn't sharp enough and I was putting too much pressure on my arms. What are your thoughts?

Oh, ouch! I know what you mean. I'm in that same binge now and my shoulder blades are aching. I changed my rotary blade and it really helps somewhat. Also, I go to an exercise class for little old ladies. They taught some stretching exercises that help. I take short breaks also.... cut for an hour at most and then take a 15 minute break, ... maybe sew some bindings on those UFOs.

mslbd and SillySusan: I agree that your pain may be from too much cutting. I get a sore shoulder from ironing too many scraps in a day and I have an Oliso iron so I don't even need to tip it back and forth to set it down. Raising my ironing board to a more comfortable level has also helped with shoulder pain. My cutting tables are on risers so they are more comfortable to work on also. I have a die cutter that cranks and decided to replace it with an electric one after I had shoulder and neck pain and it makes so much difference to have the electric die cutter. Repetitive motions can be hard on our bodies. :)

Like several of you, I get scraps from groups. I volunteer with my church quilting group and a baby charity and, for quite a while, I was getting a bag or two every time I volunteered. Thankfully, that has slowed down for now but I am still overrun with scraps that had been thrown into tubs at my house. I had been sorting my blue scraps by size over the winter but then life got busy. However, it has been nice to go into the sorted scraps and grab a blue that is the right size. I ironed them before I measured the width and put them in their respective bags.

WMUTeach: We just have a hard time saying no, don't we? :)

Macybaby....WOW, you are productive. They are great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewbizgirl (Post 8061719)

Those scraps will take up so much less room if you periodically cut them into useable sizes: 10", 5", 2.5" and 2.5" strips. I use those plastic stacking drawers to store mine in. Scraps are great to have. Don't be in any rush to get rid of them.

I love all the beautiful scrap quilts that have been posted here!

I'm quilting a scrappy string quilt with piano key border today. I'm loving it a lot! And all the scraps were given to me by a fellow group (guild) member. :D

http://www3.telus.net/smile/images/drop.gif Never. Never, never, never! They stay as big as possible until I have a need for them. A friend of mine did that with the "scraps" from her WIP, and then found out that she needed to cut more pieces. She would have had plenty if she'd left it as yardage, but couldn't get what she needed from the cut bits.

I think we learn what kind of scrappers we are...Like you Ice Leopard I rarely cut my scraps down, but leave as big a piece as possible as I often use those chunks in narrow borders on mini quilts, etc. Some folks get along with a box of random squares all one size and make beauties!

How did I miss this thread? Love scrappy quilts and have loads of scraps. I found that it is easier to sort them by color instead of keeping one jumbled mess. Still debating if I want to precut them into strips and sort by strip width. That sounds a very usable method but it takes organization to even get to that point.