organising scraps

I generally use colors of the rainbow, brown, black and white, and then go from there. We do have a pink category, too, but that's because i have a 9 year old DD who LOVES pinks. There's also a separate bag each for solids, florals, music, batik and novelties I use gallon baggies. Jenn in Tacoma

I keep all regularly cut strips in one box. Then I have a yellow and green box; a red, pink and brown box; a blue and purple box; and a black, white and grey box. Seems to work OK. The boxes just stand one on top of the other in the corner and get rootled through when I need something specific. . In message , Anne Rogers writes

I think it probably depends on what type of quilts you make most often. Since I most often seem to be making scrappy ones, I have just organized my left over fabric strips into plastic boxes (each box holds a different width). Left over chunks of fabric are on the shelf.

Fabric for my current project of cream/tan and some other color pineapples are in two bags. One holds the creams/tans and the other holds the other colors. Once that is done, those pieces will rejoin their friends.

Other plastic boxes hold fabrics which are intended to be together some day. Sometimes it is good for them to get to know each other before being joined in a quilt!

I do foresee a need for a box for chunks which would get lost on the shelf but aren't strips....

Mary

Make something with them -don't let them pile up to the point where your whole sewing space is dominated by scrap storage! If you make them into little blocks of consistent sizes (I do 6.5" and 4.5" blocks), and design, you will eventually have a stack of blocks instead of a heap of scraps.

The fleece strips can be sewn together using the 3-stitch zigzag (or even better, the feather stitch) on your machine. Just make sure the edges are smooth and even and butt them together, one layer. I did a few blankies for the women's shelter this way, and the little kids snatched them up. If your scraps really annoy you, send them to me for remedial treatment. Roberta in D, Queen of the Scrap Heap

"Anne Rogers" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net...

Your fleece strips can also be make into great dog toys. Just layer 3 strips knot them at the top, then braid and tie another knot. I make lots of these for the rescues and the dogs love them. They are also washable when they get dirty. If you don't have a dog, your local animal rescues would love to have them!

Critter Comforts: Quilts for Homeless Animals

Do you know, Roberta, I actually think that I am really going to start doing this. I saw a little collection of scrappy quilts yesterday; and, although I wasn't that smitten with any of them, it did occur to me that, if they were in my sort of scraps - ie I had bought them, I might like the end results. So, I'm going to include a couple of scrappy quilts - one pieces and one strips - in my overall plan for the next few years! Can you believe this? >gg<

Also, I have really liked what you do with scraps - a convert? . In message , Roberta Zollner writes

I'm not very organized, so can't help with that. But, about those strips that you're thinking of tossing!!! Start a box on the SR floor, and put them in it. When it gets full, ship it to Jill, who makes quilts for homeless animals. Her web site is:

I just went through mine this past weekend. I don't have many yet, but this is what I did. I decided on some quilts I wanted to make from my scraps. For me it is a Cathedral Windows, 6 in pineapple blocks, an english paperpiened hexagon scraps and a sampler (several I know but that's ok). I then looked at them each individually to see what sizes I would need. I then took my scraps and made piles for each - 3 in. squares into the hexagon pile, strips at least 1 1/4 in. wide went to the pineapple, etc. Cutting them to the correct size if needed. The only exception was the sampler. I just put them in a pile to cut when needed as the shapes and sizes will vary with the block I'm doing. I have some larger scrap pieces (smaller than a FQ but not small enough to just trim a hair to fit a project) that I need to sort still. Those are going to be sorted according to color for applique or sampler use. If I end up with one color that seams to have alot I will sort lt, med, dark for that color. For now the projects are all stored in seperate baggies in one small tote. Eventually they will each be in their own small plastic tote. I think that is probably what will happen to with the larger scraps when they are finished too. Don't know how well this system will work, but that's what I'm trying at least for now.

've organizing into color groups. Largish pieces are folded andstacked. Others are cut into 2.5" strips or squares (2.5, 3.5, 4.5).I still have a number of boxes that defy description and much havebeen groups purchased together for a project. I read somewhere(here?) that it's good to organized projects while going thru scraps.It takes longer, but then everything is ready to go when inspirationstrikes. Here's hoping! BTW, one of my favorite scrap quilts is large hexagons. Easy to sew and a little bit different. I've uploaded several recent projects into My Webshots.

joan p.s. Facing a debate. Do I want to continue to work in the quilt store or quit to have more time to sew?

Howdy!

Gorgeous, Joan. So is the quilt. Who is that quilt holder, anyway?

Ah, to work the quilt biz or to quilt-- ... they let me go back and visit and play at the shop after I made that decision; I've never regretted spending more time at home making quilts. Good luck! ;-)

R/Sandy -- organized: yeah, I know where everything thing is!

The quilt holder is DS#1 Matthew, hiding behind his winter beard. :>

Thanx for the advice. I've got to make up my m> Howdy!

Wow! An ultimatum! Good luck! I think the quilt shop would miss you terribly...but you gotta do what you gotta do! Kj

Thanx for the advice. I've got to make up my m> Howdy!

Hooray! And of course all your own scraps will tend to coordinate -the quilts will be beautiful! I don't always like every single block from the Scrap Heap, but there's generally a use for them somewhere. Even the oddest orphans can be cut into random slices and tossed into a crazy quilt. (Not all the scraps in the Heap are my own, sometimes nice people send me some :-) Roberta in D, Queen of the Scrap Heap

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Joan - those are lovely. I love the pink one!! But tell me - you say the hexagons are easy to sew? Just how do you do them? I like the look, but can't seem to figure out how you'd put them together without Y-seams.

Well, you do have to 'sew to the previous' seam, but it's relatively easy because the pieces are so large.

joan