Scrappy Decisions Have Been Made!

I am in desperate need of cleaning out my scrap basket…..

…but frankly, I just can’t get into the groove with it!!

Part of my delay is that I’m unsure if I really want to cut the smaller units anymore. And, by smaller, I mean 1.5-inch strips and squares, as well as 2.0-inch strips and squares.

Somehow, those seem to be one step too far!!

As I considered my scrapping journey, I realized that a 2.5-inch scrap was my favorite.

A 1.5-inch square was just TOO small, and I was “on the fence” about 2.0-inch squares.

Then I had an epiphany…. IF I need 2-inch scraps, they can be cut from my 2.5-inch pieces, as can any needed 1.5-inch pieces.

BUT, what about all of those scraps that are too small for a 2.5-inch strip. Am I REALLY going to be willing to toss them?

The answer was NO!!

Instead, I decided to cut STRIPS of 1.5 and 2.0, regardless of their length, but not to sub-cut them into squares.

That way, I am not wasting the fabric, and I can sub-cut them when needed.

OKAY….decision made.

Now to get motivation to actually tackle the job!!

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What to do with your scraps…

Some time ago, my friend Dale sent an article from “American Patchwork & Quilting”. It talked about scraps and how/if you should keep them. There was a great flowchart to help you decide…..

Which category do you fall in??

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There has to be a minimum!!

For many years I have carefully cut my scraps into various sized strips and squares, starting with 1.5-inch and moving to 2-inch, 2.5-inch, and 3.5-inch.

While I think that this is a decent system, the truth is that I don’t use most of those sizes.

I have a large drawer of 1.5-inch squares……

….another drawer full of 2-inch squares…..

….and a stack of 3.5-inch squares that are simply NOT being used.

So, WHY am I spending time cutting them???

I regularly clean out my 2.5-inch strips and the box of 2.5-inch squares has been replenished many times……

I also find many uses for the 1.5-inch strips.

This past weekend my plan was to start working on this large bin of scraps and fabric pieces that had been gifted to me…..

I started out cutting all of the different sizes and then decided that LIFE WAS TOO SHORT!!

It was really freeing to limit the cutting to 1.5-inch and 2.5-inch strips and 2.5-inch squares!!!

I am using my AccuQuilt to cut the pieces and found that it was easiest to use the strip die to cut the fabrics.

I first placed a number of scraps on the cutting area….up to 6 layers deep…..

After the first pass, these scraps were cut into 2.5-inch strips…..

I then stacked the strips up perpendicular to the cutting lines…..

….and ran it thru again……

The result was a nice stack of very USEABLE 2.5-inch squares…..

So far, I have cut these strips…..

….these squares……

….and I still have this much left to work thru…..

Now, much of what is left to do looks as if it will be too small to use so I HOPE that I can keep my resolve and add them to the dog bed bits…..

How about you…..what is your smallest “scrap”?

Joys of an empty scrap basket!!

One of the first jobs that I wanted to do when I got home was to finish cleaning out my scrap basket. Before we left I had used my new Accuquilt machine and finished all of the strips but still had to cut the squares.

The cutter made life SO much easier and, before I knew it, I had tons of 1.5″, 2.0″ and 2.5″ squares!!

As I was storing all of them I realized that it is probably time to make something with 2.5-inch squares……

…..either that or get another box!!!

The bottom line is that the basket is EMPTY….

….and now I get the enjoyment of filling it up again!!!

Bye for now……I’m headed to the studio…….

It’s scrap clean-up time!!

When I moved into my “new and improved” studio last March, I searched thru all of the boxes and bins and pulled out ALL of my scraps, dumping them into a large basket. As the year progressed, I continued adding bits and pieces from the projects that I worked on. At the start of December, the bin was overflowing…..

I started to work thru it a number of times but just couldn’t get motivated because I knew that it would take a LONG time to do!! Finally, I pulled out the fabrics and sorted them by color…..sort of……

The next step was to iron each color and group into three stacks….the bits, the chunks and the hunks!!

Bits are the pieces that can only be cut into small squares….1.5, 2.0, 2.5 or 3.5 inch.

Chunks are pieces that can be larger squares……5+ inch.

Hunks are longer pieces that can be cut into strips…. 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.5 inch.

Once I had everything ironed, I started cutting the two smaller groups….orange and yellow/gold…..

It was a good start, but then the holiday s came and I didn’t get back to this particular project!!! The ironed fabrics were carefully laid back into the basket…..

If nothing else, it looked a lot better!!

Last week I decided that I wanted to start the new year with this basket completely cleaned out so I made this task a priority and, although I didn’t quite make it by the 1st, I did get it finished on the 2nd!!!…..

Doesn’t that look great……

As I was cutting, I started wondering exactly WHY I was doing this but remembered someone saying that you pay the same for the scraps as you do for the yardage. That spurred me on!! But also the thought of having all of this cut and ready to use just makes me happy!!

The question now is whether I can set a schedule and clean it out every few months rather than waiting 2+ years!!! As with all things…..time will tell!!!