Julienm1

I am so frustrated. Made lots of progress on the batt situation.And then...oh there's a container. Hmmm, been at the bottom of the pile. Better check. Oh crap. More batting scraps! I will work hard on this project for lthe next 3 hours and then call it done for today. Found a panel of Seasme Street characters and cookie fab for backing. Need something fun to work on and a quick project. Yes I do have a batt ready for it!!!

rryder

I feel your frustration, Julienm1! I've been trying to excavate my studio and keep finding batting scraps that need stitching together. I keep thinking I'll start dealing with batting scraps as soon as I finish a quilt, but somehow that never happens LOL. Oh, and I've let my fabric scraps get out of control again-- so much for trying to process them as I finish each quilt...

Rob

Julienm1

Rob, I made a HUGE dent in the massive pile of batting scraps. Have just a little bit left bkut after trimming and fusing for several hours I said, "I'M DONE." and sewed up that little panel. Good feeling about the batts.
Now the next issue is the cutting table, I think that's were my teeny tiny rotary cutter is hiding and my 1*6 ruler. Maybe Wed I'll attack that mess. Have some tops I need to linish up and give to our long armer for PL.

Buckeye quilter

For batting scraps, I like to cut them down to 4,5, or 6 inch squares to use in rag quilts. I have a LOT of flannel that needs to get used up. You can make a rag quilts without batting, but what else would I do with all these scraps?

rryder

Julienm1- good going! I'm still looking at mine LOL!

Buckeye quilter- some folks use batting scraps and flannel scraps as dust rags and also put them on their Swiffer sweepers for doing their floors. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Rob

Julienm1

Hurt my arm patting myself on my back! CLEARED OFF MY CUTTING TABLE!!! Huge accomplishment since half of it was piled high with leftover cuttings from several projects. Felt so good I tidied up my sewing table, too. Have a biscotti container crammed with left over binding strips. Thnk today I'll press them sew them together NOT end to end for a whatever project in the future. Now to take the stuff that was moved to the ironing board to my fab shelves.

I also lpacked up flannel yardage that will go back to Project Linus closet. Have a tote crammed full and 2nd tote has flannel squares for PL too AND 5 tops for our long armer to finish for me.

I got a lot done but as I look around my sewing room, what I did is just a drop in a HUGE bucket.

Slsweets22

Just a quick ‘donate to’ note for everyone:

Home Economics Sewing classes
Art Classes at schools, Boy and Girls Club, Afterschool programs
4-H or other youth groups (Scouts, Explorers)
Local Community Center
Senior Center, Assisted Living or Care facilities. (Call and speak with activity coordinator)
Local Religious/Social Groups. My favorite quilt, my mother-in-law and her church group made to be raffled.
Youth or Group homes,
facilities/training centers for the Differently-Abled.
Local VFW, Elks, or VA Homes- again, contact the activity coordinator or the auxiliary contacts.

RN-Quilter

I need some advice. I have a very small sewing space in the corner of our bedroom. I keep it reasonably organised, and the stash is kept in another room, but am REALLY overwhelmed with all the fabric. (If I have to start over, I will not stash-build again.... but hindsight is 20/20, as they say......)
SO........ this year I need to start using yardage.... or do away with it.

My usual preference is to use my scrap-drawers (ala Bonnie Hunter) when I start a new project.
I think if I cut layer cakes, charms and jelly rolls from each fabric, I might be using it more.

Has anyone else done this? Does it work?

quiltsfor

I don't keep a lot of scraps. Once I finish a quilt, instead of just dropping leftover bits and pieces into a bin, I cut them up. I make them into pre-cut fabric pieces like you listed. Anything smaller than one of the pre-cut size (jelly roll, charm, layer, etc) gets tossed. Any thing smaller than a fat quarter gets cut down to the next pre-cut size. A fat quarter or larger gets trimmed to straighten all of the edges, and then gets kept in that full piece. It works well for me.

And, every time I finish a quilt, I will make a small zip lock bag of a few of the pieces of fabric I used in that quilt, so if it gets a hole or tear it can be mended. Even if the fabric 'looks' newer when the repair might be made down the line, it is still the same design/fabric and won't be as noticeable as it would be trying to match the color or fabric design with a completely different fabric would be.

I have found that if I keep scraps, not in the pre-cut sizes or the larger, then they just sit until I end up getting tired of storing them and they get tossed. I finally just stopped saving those, as I know I will never use them.

I also label my totes that contain them so they are easily accessible on my shelves.

Gemm

What a helpful list, Slsweets22! Thanks for sharing these ideas. :-)