Fabric Scrap Organization
I Love Scrappy Quilts.
Let me repeat, I LOVE Scrappy Quilts.
Yet, I actually don't make a lot of them; which is sad considering how much I adore them. When I ventured back into quilting years ago, the process of saving scraps was a mystery to me. I knew that quilters must save them; but how and where they kept these fabric treasures seemed to be a secret.
Out of sight, out of mind.
A plastic tub was my solution and soon enough I had one filled with scraps of every size, shape and color. The up-side is that I was finally saving scraps, the down-side is that I would forget that I had them and end up cutting into my stash anyway.
While strolling through Pinterest many moons ago, I saw lovely glass jars filled with scraps, sorted by color of course. While buying new jars was not in my budget, buying pickles [Yum!] from the grocer was in my budget and some months later, my Sister and I had devoured about eight whole jars.
These jars have been filled many times over and the scraps used for lots of small projects like zipper pouches, scrappy pillows, etc.
How Small Is Too Small?
I went through my scraps recently and found that there were quite a lot of scraps that I had never used, most due to their tiny size. They always languished at the bottom of the jar; so I decided once and for all to just throw them out, because let's be honest...they were taking up real estate.
During my sorting, I also realized that the smallest thing I should likely hold onto was a string about 3" wide or a rectangular/square-ish scrap about 2" x 4", anything smaller I would completely gloss over. I also decided that anything in my fabric stash that was about half the size of a Fat Eighth needed to be moved into my scrap bin. This way they wouldn't get lost among the larger cuts in my stash.
Oh, and don't even get me started on selvages, I just started collecting those a few years ago and still cringe when I think of all of them that I hastily threw out before then.
So, tell me...do you save you scraps? How small is too small for you? How do you keep them organized?
--Kristy
Let me repeat, I LOVE Scrappy Quilts.
Yet, I actually don't make a lot of them; which is sad considering how much I adore them. When I ventured back into quilting years ago, the process of saving scraps was a mystery to me. I knew that quilters must save them; but how and where they kept these fabric treasures seemed to be a secret.
Out of sight, out of mind.
A plastic tub was my solution and soon enough I had one filled with scraps of every size, shape and color. The up-side is that I was finally saving scraps, the down-side is that I would forget that I had them and end up cutting into my stash anyway.
While strolling through Pinterest many moons ago, I saw lovely glass jars filled with scraps, sorted by color of course. While buying new jars was not in my budget, buying pickles [Yum!] from the grocer was in my budget and some months later, my Sister and I had devoured about eight whole jars.
How Small Is Too Small?
I went through my scraps recently and found that there were quite a lot of scraps that I had never used, most due to their tiny size. They always languished at the bottom of the jar; so I decided once and for all to just throw them out, because let's be honest...they were taking up real estate.
During my sorting, I also realized that the smallest thing I should likely hold onto was a string about 3" wide or a rectangular/square-ish scrap about 2" x 4", anything smaller I would completely gloss over. I also decided that anything in my fabric stash that was about half the size of a Fat Eighth needed to be moved into my scrap bin. This way they wouldn't get lost among the larger cuts in my stash.
Oh, and don't even get me started on selvages, I just started collecting those a few years ago and still cringe when I think of all of them that I hastily threw out before then.
So, tell me...do you save you scraps? How small is too small for you? How do you keep them organized?
--Kristy