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| 12 Jan |
Yesterday, I decided I needed to get my scraps a bit better organized, I had them in different boxes around my craft room, and always seems to have to go searching for things in the sizes I needed. When I have scraps, I try to keep them in as large a piece of fabric as possible, because I do make other things besides quilts, and some of these fabrics will make great pocket linings in bags, or even piecing larger scraps together to create new "fabric" for the outside of my bags. Since I might need odd sizes for linings and bags, I didn't want to cut everything down into "quilt sized" pieces until I knew I needed it in a project. I don't mind having to spend some time cutting fabric for a quilt, to me, that is part of the process, and would seem strange if I didn't cut fabric before I started sewing.
So when I was out and about, I purchased this Sterilite 3 drawer unit.
I did move my scraps in there last night, but I plan on organizing it better through out the year, as I'm working on my 365 Challenge. The bottom drawer is going to be sorted by value, instead of color and will be my larger pieces, which is anything over 5" wide by any length. The Middle drawer will also be sorted by values and will be anything larger than 2.5" up to 5", The top drawer is going to hold all my small squares and strips. Right now, I have a small plastic box for each size of squares (and I'm not even close to getting those full) and my strips are in plastic bags by size. I think I have enough 2.5" strips, that they will be in a separate plastic box, but if I can get them in here also, they will be put in with everything else. By sorting my fabric by size, I know which drawer I need to look in, depending on what size I need for my projects. I don't have to sort through small scraps if I need something 7" or larger for a pocket lining, I can go straight to the bottom drawer. This unit is going to live under my cutting table, so it is easily accessible when I need to dig through my scraps. The containers on the top may not stay there, I'm still debating about what I'm going to use those for... the Pink box is my current UFO, and when I'm finished with that, it will probably get my next project moved into it, so I can keep what ever project I'm working on handy. The smaller 3 drawer chest may become a place where I store scraps that still need to be trimmed down, since I wait until I'm finished with a project before I cut scraps to usable squares. I usually end up with a pile of left overs from strips, on my table that has pieces that are large enough for at least a 1" square, but I don't take the time to trim them when I'm working on a project, and will save them for another day. So I might throw them in there, and then trim when it's too full to put any more in there.
When I'm pulling fabric for a quilt, I will always go to the smallest size I need, and pull from that box first, then work my way up in size until I have the fabric I need in the color or value I'm looking for. That way, I'm always using the smallest pieces of fabric for something, before I cut down something larger. For today's 365 Block, I didn't have the values I needed for two of the fabric, so I had to go up to my 1.5" strips, instead of using my 1.25" strips. But by doing that, it saved me from cutting my larger pieces of fabric and left overs from Fat Quarters for just a 1.25" by 6" piece of fabric. If I were making an entire quilt, I would cut what I thought I could get sewn that day, or until I got tired of cutting fabric. Then do some sewing, and cut more down another day. That way I'm not cutting constantly and still can do the fun part of sewing.
When you are working at organizing your scraps, think about what YOU do with your scrap fabrics. If all you do is make quilts, then it might make more sense for you to cut your leftovers down to "quilt sized" pieces, instead of leaving larger pieces that will always need to be cut down. What size strips and squares do you use most often? Cut your scraps to those sizes, then you can just pick from those piles. Remember, you can always cut fabric down smaller, but you can't make it larger once cut, with out using a seam.
How ever you organize your scraps, it can always evolve as you change what you need or have. It doesn't have to stay the same, just because that is how you started. If I get tired of doing small blocks, and miniatures, I will probably stop trimming to 1" squares, as I wouldn't need them for much of anything. But as long as I do continue to make miniature blocks, those 1" square that would otherwise be thrown away, will come in handy as I find more projects to work on. And I might just find more projects to make as I have more 1" squares to use.
Until next time... Happy Crafting!!!
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