LogCabin82

I can't decide if I want to sort them all by color, or keep them in their little groups. I sorted by color the last two times, but I'm not sure about this time! What do you ladies do?

ibex94

Happy Birthday, Log Cabin! I am away at conference and had today (18) as your birthday and so didn't pop in to see that I was wrong. Happy Belated Birthday!!

I sort by color overall for the generic candies. If there are fussy cut novelty fabrics, those are separated into my Novelty box. Batiks are pulled and put into a Batik box. Christmas is the only other separate box. But I don't have the billions of candies that others have so these are the categories that work for me best at this point.

Janice McC

LC, I sort very much like Ibex94. Definitely into color groups, then novelties and batiks are all separated according to their category. I also separate out black/white and red/white.

Hope that helps a bit.

JENNR8R

After I open the envelopes, I make sure they are square and actually 2.5 inches. Candies with jagged edges always need a bit of trimming. I square up the ones that need it and throw any away that are less than 2.5 inches. This process is why I open my cards one per day. It would be work if I had to do all that for all of them at once.

Then they all go into a shoebox without any sorting whatsoever. I use mine randomly by value. I lay out the block I am working on making sure there is a contrast with the candies around it.

sewbizgirl

I sort by color, after first sorting out the batiks, Christmas, children's, and anything else special, like 1930s reproductions.

WMUTeach

Ditto to SBG. I sort by color then specialty squares that I know I use differently. I personally find it very difficult to be truly scrappy aka mixing all of the colors even when sorted by value. By nature I start sorting and organizing which takes too much time. I prefer to sort by color and then blend what I wish. For instance RWB, orange, brown, yellow and deep red, or purple, blue turquoise. I do keep my white/cream separate too because I often use a color and white.

LC, sorting by the way you use the blocks is my best suggestion. That seems to be just what we are all doing.

travelinggramma

I concur about sorting. I like making I Spy quilts so they get sorted out. Also solid colors in another pile, batik in another. Then all else is color sorted.
Takes a few years to get enough of the special candies, but when you have a stack it is so great making a quilt with them!

WMUTeach

I just sent the May birthday information. Sorry that it is so late in the day. A baby quilt and I have been working on just has not been pleasing me. None the less, the info you need should be in your mailbox. The quilt and I are going to call it a night and I will start again tomorrow afternoon.

If there are errors, birthday gals, let me know.

Heathermom2opmc

Instead of throwing them away, please consider starting an envelope and sending the ones that don't make your cut of exactly 2.5 inches to me. I am currently making a jack's chain quilt as well as a postage stamp quilt all hand pieced and can always use small pieces of fabric. I can very easily cut down shy 2.5 inch squares into the needed 1.5 inch squares. Just a thought for your consideration rather then throwing them away.

Janice McC

Good morning. What I do with the candies that are too small but usable is to sew them together and make 4 patches out of them and then square them up to 4 inches so they finish at 3-1/2. I’ve never had one square that couldn’t be used this way for being too small unless it way cut completely off grain. Those that are too small are generally no more than an 1/8 of an inch off. I’ve actually got a large pile of 4 inch 4 patches I need to use one day.

Hope my math is right. Haven’t had my second cup of coffee yet.