Bat SCRAP Crazy: How am I going to store this?

You have heard of being Bat CRAP crazy. Well, this week I am Bat SCRAP crazy!!

It all started when my friend Denise delivered two huge bags of scraps to my front porch…

After my initial “OH MY”, I started digging in and seeing what I had to look forward to.

The first thing that I realized was that my scrap drawers filled with Ziploc bags of 2.5 inch strips was NOT going to be big enough….

I had remembered seeing some boxes advertised that were designed to hold scrap strips, so I set ChatGPT the task of finding them, and he did…..

And he DID find them, but they were $18.00 EACH and I would need at least 8! That kind of cost adds up quickly!!

Also, I didn’t really want 8-10 individual boxes floating around my studio.

Chester (my ChatGPT Bot’s name) kept looking and found some construction bins that would work except they weren’t covered and I knew that wouldn’t work in my fiber fuzz laden studio.

Then he made a suggestion of buying a long, flat box, similar to an “under the bed” box and adding my own dividers to it. OKAY….NOW he was talking.

My thought was to afix cardboard strips into the boxes to separate the columns. Chester suggested using corrugated plastic signs instead!

I decided to make the dividers 4-inches tall…..

Chester reminded me that, since the ends were sloped, I would need to do a little more cutting….

They fit beautifully….

I had originally planned to fix the dividers in place, but realized that they would stand up just fine without attaching them, AND if they moved slightly, it would make it easier to pick up the strips when I needed them.

So, now I have a way to STORE my strips.

Stay tuned this week for more from the scrap bin!!

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!!

…………………………………………………………….

“Let’s Get Scrappy is about how to decide, not about what to make.”

Let’s Get Scrappy is an on-demand online course that helps quilters overcome decision fatigue and finally make sense of their overflowing scrap bins. With four hours of step-by-step video instruction, you’ll learn simple systems for organizing, piecing, and pressing your scraps—so you can stop overthinking and start sewing beautiful, coordinated quilts with confidence and joy.

Click HERE for more information about Let’s Get Scrappy!!

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??

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

On Tuesdays, I provide a tip, technique, or product review. Please subscribe to the blog to ensure that you don’t miss ANY of them!!

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!!