I Have A Question...

How do you organize your scraps, and what do you do with them?

Here's what got it started. I posted pictures of my daughter getting her braces off. Jane commented, and I clicked onto her blog. Jane had this cute purse that she made and said that it was so much easier to pick the fabrics out because she organized her scraps like Bonnie. Hmmmm. I thought I had better go check this out, so, here I go to Bonnie's blog to see how she organizes her scraps.

Little did I know that Bonnie is a HUGE fan of scrap quilts. She's my kinda girl since I have so many scraps and need some ideas for using them! I spent 5 hours or more reading Bonnie's blog and looking at all of her scrap quilts. She even gives step by step instructions on how to make them! How fun is that? A lot!!!

Go check out Bonnies scrap organization tips, and come back. Don't spend too much time looking at her quilts. You can go visit her later when you answer my question. :)

Ok. So what do you think? I think it's great, but given the fact that I have a huge mountain, and we're talking HUGE, of scraps so huge that sometimes I cry about them (it really is overwhelming), I want your ideas, too.

Here they are, again, in case you missed them in my post about 7 random things about me. I did have cute little tags telling me what colors were in the baskets. My granddaughter removed them, though. I guess she thought that since they were overflowing I could see what color they were without having little cute tags to remind me! She's 6.

Do you organize them by color, by strips, by squares, or do you do as Nicole's friend does and give the left overs away! Nicole has a friend that buys more than she needs for a quilt pattern, then she mails the leftovers to Nicole. How cool and sweet is that? I personally don't need a friend like that; I would start crying again because it would overwhelm me! Cheri had a giveaway of her scraps one day, I posted a comment, but I told her to PLEASE do not put my name in the drawing!

Right now my scraps are in their own baskets sorted by colors. Greens, Blues, Reds, Blacks,and Neutrals have their own basket. Orange, Yellow, and Brown share a basket (since I have been making fall quilts because I didn't have any I can see now that I need to buy more baskets. I think they get in there and multiply!) as do Pink and Purple. The pink and purple basket has more pink because I love pink.

I have a lot of fat quarters. (Most of them were given to me. Anytime I chair an event for my Guild, or my position as an officer on the board is over, they give me a bag of fat quarters in appreciation.) However, I don't consider fat quarters to be scraps. Maybe they are, but for myself, I'm in denial that fat quarters are scraps simply because I can do that! Again, I would probably start crying! LOL

Fat quarters do not belong in the scrap baskets because they wouldn't fit. I have the same system set up for them all sorted by colors in cute little baskets, on a shelf, in my grandchildren's playroom. (Yes, they know there is fabric in those baskets and not toys. Well, maybe not the kind of toys they like; they know they are my toys! Do I have them brainwashed or what??) Fat Quarter collections that I buy but never use because they're too pretty, stay together in my sewing room as a decoration!

I also have years and years of 6 1/2" squares. I say years and years because I have been in my Quilt Guild for almost 12 years. For the past 11 years or so I have particiapted in the 6 1/2" square exchange. There were some times that I didn't participate because I knew I had too many 6 1/2" squares. Some times you've just gotta say "No, I have way too much!" Obviously I just now learned how to say that! Now we are exchanging 3" strips of one fabric. So far I have a collection of brights, batiks, and neutrals.

The problem with scraps is the more quilts you make, the more scraps you have. Tazzie seems to agree, but she doesn't see it as a problem. They're great, if you can keep them in control and use them. I use them for appliques, or for UFO's where I need one more piece of something, and there it is waiting patiently for me while sitting in a scrap basket!

Okay, so here's the part that I start to psychoanalyze myself: Maybe I'm attached to them! Maybe I'm afraid if I use them there will be an unfinished project somewhere in a deep dark place in my closet that needed that peice! Maybe I'm crazy! That's it: I'm a crazy scrap collector lady!

I could do like Patti. I admire her for realizing that some things just need to be thrown away! You go girl!

Libby did the daunting exciting task of going through her scraps. I was jealous because she only has one basket. It took her what seemed like days to iron her scraps. I guess she got bored with it and realized her ironing board cover was in bad shape and had us that blog with her to share our ugly ironing surfaces. My guess is that she had to break up the monotony of ironing her scraps and do something fun like seeing everyone's ironing board woes. During my time of ironing scraps I envision me thinking "I wonder what quilting magazines my bloggy friends love?", I would get sidetracked and go to the computer and ask you about your magazines. Then I would ask about your favorite quilting tools. The list of things I would love to know about you would go on and on. I would draw the line when I would want to know your shoe size. :)

By the way, Libby has made some beautiful quilts as a result of ironing her scraps.

My question, again, is how do you organize your scraps and what do you do with them? We all want to know! Post pictures because we want to see!

Have fun!

Amanda