As I have mentioned before, I currently use our guest room as my sewing space. It’s a little cramped with a big bed in there, but it works OK.
When I got my new sewing machine, though, I forced myself to do a major clean and re-organize to make it “worthy” of my fancy new purchase.
The bulk of my stash was previously in some open wire shelves, and while it was an OK solution, it was becoming a little too messy. The stacks were precarious, and larger pieces of yardage were stuck in the back until I practically forgot they were there. Scraps were in a set of plastic drawers, organized by color.
Now, I’ve got my stash (basically anything from a scant fat quarter on up to several yards) nicely folded and in those drawers, organized by color.
Aaahh, it makes me so happy. I like that it is both easily visible and completely contained. One drawer for reds and pinks, one for oranges and yellows, one green, one (stuffed to the brim) blue, one purple and white/multicolored prints, one brown/black/gray, and even a separate drawer for colored solids. (And yes, I had fun with my label-maker.)
I used a 5.5″ wide piece of cardboard to fold everything from the scant fat quarters up to about 1/2 to maybe 3/4 yard. The template was just the right size so that the fabric can be two-across, and is just shorter than the depth of the drawer. Larger pieces were folded around my 6″ ruler and then folded in half, and tucked in the back. As you can see, the drawer itself is easy to pull completely out of the shelf and look at an entire color group, which is nice.
The old wire shelves have moved to the other side of the room, and now hold works in progress, and stacks of fabric that I have pulled for a particular project, as well as batting and other miscellaneous things. Hopefully the “miscellaneous” category won’t get too out of control and the shelves won’t become a catch-all for everything I don’t feel like putting away.
But my question for you, fellow fabric fiends, is how you organize your scraps (basically from maybe half of a fat quarter down to 2″ squares). For the moment, I have moved mine into latching clear plastic boxes, also organized by color. And it’s certainly a good start: again both visible and contained at the same time.
But in talking to someone a week or two ago, I found that she actually cuts all of her scraps into uniform sizes and stores them that way. Some 10″ squares, some 6″ squares, and on down the line. On the one hand, the organization and neatness of it certainly has some appeal to me, over my tangled mass shoved in a box. But it also makes me weirdly nervous. Cutting is just so… final. The one thing you really can’t un-do. What would be the “right” sizes to cut? What would simultaneously most useful and least wasteful?
So, an informal poll of my handful of readers: how do you store your scraps? Are they in a big mess in a plastic bag? Sorted by color? Organized by size? Do you cut them before storing, or just toss them in a box and figure it out later?
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I feel like you do…I don’t want to cut anything because what if you need it just a smidge bigger.
I do know people though, we cut scraps as they go for known projects (Like they are going to make a scrapy quilt with 2″ squares or something). That makes sense to me.
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You can get some great ideas for how to manage your scraps (although they do involve the cutting process) from Bonnie K. Hunter’s website found here:
http://www.quiltville.com (She also has a blog.) If you look on the right side of the website scrolling down to the Tips & Techniques heading, you will find her Scrap Users System listed. She has a whole process that she uses to manage her scraps. She is a big scrap quilt maker so this all makes sense for her. You might not want to cut all your fabrics like this but for those smaller pieces that you were mentioning, it might be just the thing to get control and be able to pull out already cut pieces to put into your quilts. AND she has so many free patterns and other goodies on this site. Really, even if you don’t want to cut your smaller chunks, you should check out her site. -
It looks to me like you are plenty well organized! I have all my scraps overflowing in a container way too small. I would like to do just what you did with them. I would never, never cut them either. Way too final.
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I keep my scraps, uncut, in a hanging shoe organizer. I agree with you that cutting them is very permanent
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My scraps are in a big basket – wild and unruly. Occasionally I will go through them and cut 1.5″ blocks of each (to someday do a postage stamp-type quilt) but that’s generally where they stay. I like to pick through it – something satisfying.
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Your organized fabric looks wonderful! Maybe one day i’ll get to that point and figure out a good way to organize mine!
right now they are just folded in stacks on a shelf – and my scraps… um… I have two baskets on the floor by my feet. One for large scraps, and one for smaller scraps 
And dig thru them regularly looking for that perfect piece I can use, instead of cutting into yardage for a little hunk! Because I too hate cutting unless I have to! LOL -
As you know, I am a log cabin girl so I do cut some scraps into convenient sizes for that (I generally start with a 3″ square and my strips are 2″). I also have a stack of 5″ squares to make a charm quilt(s) so I sometimes cut one or two of those from a given fabric. Otherwise, I try to square up the fabric as best I can and fold it and then I store all the scraps, precut and not, in plastic shoeboxes by color. I also have one box for selvedges and teeny scraps, I call that box the “scraps I’ll never use but someone else might.” I figure I’ll give them away when the box is full.
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mine stay in groupings (sorted by fabric collection) in plastic bags in big plastic containers. cutting them before storing sounds like too much work that may in the end make pieces too small…
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Oh what a confession.. my scraps overflowed out of a big plastic box and the rest are just in knotted carrier bags. I’d like to give them away but can’t part with them… just in case. Cutting and sizing them reduces the spontaneousness of having scraps for me. Occasionally I do feel guilty and go through the box but it doesn’t seem to shrink! I even tried making Christmas wall hangings from Christmas fabric scraps and now find myself buying and cutting fabrics for these wall hangings!
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I *just* blogged about this very question and I’m really interested to see what others do. I currently have a big clear bin that houses my scrap collection but it’s overflowing and overfull and I can’t ever find anything. So I was thinking about sorting by colour and *maybe* cutting some strips or 2″ squares. Maybe. I am a-feared of cutting, too. WHAT IF I CUT SOMETHING THAT I NEED TO BE BIGGER??? It’s a paralysis akin to that which makes me hesitant to throw/give anything away (“what if I need it someday???”). Help!
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For any scraps smaller than 10″, I cut them down into either 5″ or 2 1/2″ strips. That way I can either use them in scrappy quilts or use the strips for binding. I then organize the strips by color in clear bins.
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I had the pleasure of spending a day with Bonnie Hunter last month. She calls her approach a scrap USERS system as it’s intended to get them ready to use.
Until that time, I too left all the scraps uncut. However, the bin of scraps expanded to two and I once in the bin they were not getting used. Now, all scraps are cut into 5″ squares, 2.5″ strips or 3.5″ triangle (for HSTs). These are the sizes I chose based on the quilts I wanted to create. All the scraps leftover from cutting scraps are going into a bin for filling (have my eye on a large Amy Butler gum drop pillow).
Ask yourself how easily you use scraps from your scrap pile/shelf/bin. If not easily, decide on 1, 2, 3 sizes and cut away. Once I realized that I was saving for the possibility instead of using for the now, I had no problem with cutting.
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I have two big messy bins, sorted only by – fabric I LOOOOVE and other stuff. I would love to find a better and more decorative way to store it. But I for sure am not going to chop stuff into uniform sizes.
I agree – too final. Also, that’s not how I use scraps. I really do use them at random.
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I, too, have my scraps in a big plastic bin, un-cut, un-organized. I have been making lots of “tickertape” or “confetti” quilts lately, and hexies, too, so I have been wading through my scrap stash a lot. However, I always seem to make as many scraps as I use up with other non-scrap projects. It’s an endless cycle, I suppose, but I’m getting lots of fun quilts out of it…
Thanks for the inspiration to finally organize my regular stash. I have the plastic bins, I have the current projects shelving, and I certainly have the stash, I just need a couple of very satisfying hours to finally face the music!
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I don’t have enough scraps yet to organize by colour but I certainly don’t cut them down because in my mind that just makes more scraps and I won’t know what sizes I need until I go to use the scraps. Random is more fun. But thanks for asking the question because I really haven’t got a good system established yet…
The tidy stacks and perfectly folded fabric must feel so satisfying – looks great!
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What a great question and your organised fabrics look great!
I also don’t really have enough scraps yet, However:
I keep most of my fabric that is large ish or fat quarters, folded on a shelf in piles with the folded/rounded edge facing out because it’s easier to see the fabric. The piles are organised by colour and then in groups, such as under collection or under Theme/ Type e.g. I have a Christmas pile and a Batiks pile. If it’s not from a collection or there isn’t enough for a theme pile then I have a pile for random fabrics. I try to even them up before I put them on the shelf and the scrappy bits go into the scrap collection.
On my sewing desk I have a big basket for scraps, but if the scraps are from a specific collection I put them in a snap lock bag and they go on the shelf on top of the pile- I like to keep them together for projects where I want to use one fabric collection and to save me from losing them
I also have a glass jar for Selvages and a big old fashioned decorative glass jar with a glass top (It’s kind of hard to explain) but I have put in it all the longish scraps from a quilt I made because I love the fabrics and if you put them in a glass jar then you can use it for storage and decoration!Sorry if that’s really confusing to read
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I keep my scraps similar to yours: uncut and separated by color in plastic shoe boxes with labels. (Love my label maker too!!) I could never bring myself to cut scraps … what happens if you cut it a certain size(s) and then wish they were a different size? I hate the finality of it all.
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I hope this helps you. I am just starting with patchwork and I don´t really have scraps to worry about but I found this place and what they do seems ok http://quiltville.com/scrapusersystem.shtml
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I’m with you on not wanting to cut anything, even scraps, until I know what the project will be! A storage “system” that has helped me immensely involved salvaging all the plastic snap-top bags that my son’s baby onesies came in. If you know someone having a baby, check with them early on to see if they’ll set them aside for you! They are a great size for scraps, you can see all the way around and you organize by pattern, color, size or whatever. They’re also great for holding cut-but-not-yet-pieced pieces!
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Oh, that’s way too neat!
Looks great though.
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I think your organization is fabulous!I have the colour coordinated scrap bins but nothing that closes like yours. They’re in dollar store baskets. And my room is a disaster area! I’m going to take your inspiration and go with it. Sometime this summer.
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Tossing my scraps in a bin then closing the lid and starting another bin is my method. I now have about 3 bins of scraps! It’s a mess! I keep telling myself I will sort them out and see how many quilts I can make just out of the scraps.
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