I have a lot of scraps. Scraps in drawers, scraps in baskets, scraps I really like, and some I don’t. Big ones, little ones, some minuscule too. Some are from quilting, crafting and sewing and quite a few are from old clothing; specifically Bob’s old shirts. He’s a basic plaid man for shirts.
These past few weeks I’ve seen the need to manage them all.
So as not to overwhelm myself I decided to begin on the cutting table. You know, all the stuff I didn’t want to put away lest I forget about it. No judgements now. You know it happens to all of us from time to time.
I scooted over the wastebasket and immediately tossed the scraps I don’t like. Then I sorted by type and size. I began the process of cutting to common sized block sizes. Inchies, 2.5″, 4″, 5″, but I left the strips alone because, no matter how you cut them, strips make really awesome project starters.
I have begun making inchies, which are cut to 1.5″ to allow for the 1/4 inch seams, from any bits of fabric that will allow a 1.5 cut block. Smaller that that? Saved for crumb quilting or straight to trash.
Bob’s shirts I began cutting to 2.5″ and 5″ blocks when I suddenly realized I was working too hard. Five inch blocks can be cut into 2.5 inch blocks! Larger cuts give me greater future options.
The Kaffe quarter circles will remain as they are. They can be sewn together into half circles, whole circles or appliqued as flowers or wreaths, or who can say what I’ll come up with in the future?
This is only some of my scraps, but they are labelled and being properly stored. Probably organized into that basket of Bob’s old filleted shirts! When I’ve emptied it of course.
The 15th of each month is the day Gun in Sweden and Kate in Australia, host ScrapHappy, a day for showing something made from scraps.
Though ScrapHappy is open to anyone who uses or reuses scraps to make something beautiful and/or useful, they may not post every time. Go take a look, because there is always something of interest there:
Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda (me),
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Bekki, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Bear, Carol,
Preeti, Edith, Debbierose
Life on the Farmlet 
We’ve all got ‘scraps’ to manage, and I had to grin at your process. The first step is the same step I take when I’m culling my photos!
Linda, don’t even get me started on my photos! I have everything I ever took on my digital camera in “piles” on my computer. Sigh, a project for another day… 😛
interested to see what you’re making with the old shirts!
Ha, ha, ha! Clair, I’ll be interested to see what comes of these old shirts! 😀 The only certainty is that it will be for Bob. Why am I so indecisive on the block design?
You’ve been hard at work! The thing about scrap management, is that you need to remember to stop sometimes and actually USE them! I’m loving the look of all those plaids, so when are we going to see a lovely soft, cuddly plaid quilt…?
Kate, I have no idea! I’ve been saving his old shirts for a very long time. I have thought and come up with lots of ideas, and the only thing I know for sure is that it will be for Bob. Yet, no definitive idea about how I want it to look. Decisions, decisions…
If I lived in a colder climate, the Husband would be furnished with such a quilt with wool batting, and I’d build in pockets and velcro straps to hold all the bits that are strewn around and down the side of his chair of an evening…
That sounds lovely and infinitely useful!
well, it’s nice to have company and know that we are all trying to manage the accumulating piles of scraps.
Jean, I have been working at this for some time and I’m still not done. I have good intentions of not letting it get to this point again…
HA. We shall see! 😉
It just seems to creep up on us; doesn’t it?
I always love to see how people manage their scraps. And some days, it is the most blissful activity, just to stand there and sort and trim and stack…:)
Textile Ranger, I think I would never be able to make it through your stockpile of scraps! A queenly gift to be sure, and I am glad you find it blissful. For me, the act isn’t blissful, but it does give relief and satisfaction to get them organized and to know what I have. I work through them and my mind wanders through all the possibilities!
Scraps, oh wonderful scraps! They sure do know how to multiply!
Deb, they’re just like bunnies!
I applaud your scrap management. Congratulations on tossing what you hate, keeping what you love, and then cutting what needed cutting to make future projects much easier. You are a woman after my own heart.
Born to Organize, Thank you! I am trying to reform my leave it for tomorrow ways. 😉
One of the things I tell my organizing clients is to pay attention to how you feel when your done. More likely than not you’ll feel relief, satisfaction, accomplishment, peace or some other positive emotion. You’re on the right track!
Wow! Well done! It always feels nice to sort the scraps up!
Rutigt, yes, and even better to reveal the table so I can get to work again! 🙂
You seem a dab hand at scrap management. I just have things in bags in different colours, but I have got better at dispensing with minute scrapz.
Hi Nana Cathy,
This is early days for me in “scrap management”. I just thought of the sizes I most used and started cutting. For me I think having ready cut blocks is more conducive to my actually using them in a project, as opposed to the scrap drawer which is just crammed full of the last 12 years of scrap. LOL, when I open it the contents explode out like that joke can of snakes. Hm, do they still make those I wonder? 😀
Lynda
Scraps seem to be never ending. I got a whole box sorted and then found another one.
Hello Helen!
Did you deal with it or set it aside for another day? Scraps are never ending. I must confess, that even though I have gone through the stuff in stacks on my table, and a basket or two… I have not dared to open the last drawer… I will, but I need to get a bit of sewing done first.
On to the UFOs! 😀
I left it where it was!
I have pulled out another UFO that I hope to work on this week. I just hope that box of scraps doesn’t breed whilst I’m not looking!
Good luck on both fronts, Helen! 😀