Aaaahhh, the dreaded pile of scraps.
Some of my quilt friends sort by size and color and type of print. I don’t do that as a rule. If I have yardage left over, then I fold it back on the comic boards and put it in the stash.
The Scrap Bin!
Others quilters are like me: I have a bin under my cutting table. I throw the scraps and test blocks and leftover binding in it without any plan. When it gets full, I do a very simple sort ( Dog Beds below).
Borders, Binding and Backing
If I have larger pieces left over from making blocks for a project, I’ll use them to make pieced borders and binding. These large pieces of fabric do not go into the scrap bin. Instead, I keep all the fabric for a project in the project bin until I have finished the project, including making the binding. Here’s a photo of a project bin with the pieced blocks on the design wall.
Recently, I’ve started making pieced backs like this one I made for a recent Fibonacci Quilt. Pattern is available here.
Stash Jazz Quilts
Eventually, I pull out the bins and make a Stash Jazz quilt to use or give away to one of our Guild charity efforts. To buy this pattern, go here. I also offer Stash Jazz as an online live class.
DOG BEDS!
I will sort out the scrap bin out occasionally to get rid of certain fabric and scraps. I keep a trash bag in my second storage area for smaller scraps taken out of the bin under my table, leftover pieces of batting that are too small to piece together, and yardage of fabrics that I really don’t think I will ever use again. I give these bags to my friends who make dog beds for animal shelters. They piece the covers from the yardage or fat quarter size pieces. Everything else is used as filling. It’s a worthy cause!
Mainly, I do not hoard scraps.
Great ideas, I try not to keep scraps, but I manage to have a lot anyway. I don’t like cutting them up, so I pull for scrappy quilts then cut what I can.
I love all your ideas and hope to take one of your classes. Quilt on!
Thanks! I look forward to meeting you one day.