Monday, July 19, 2010

HELP!!!

I know I should be showing you a finished product after playing but I have a very important question. Since we all seem to be playing with scraps, I have to ask.

How does everybody organize their scraps?

I spent a couple of hours once, sitting on the floor organizing all of mine into this. A bunch of baggies full of scraps organized into colors and categories. Ugh. I never feel like digging through this.
For the 15 minute project, I thought I was smart and put a selection of scraps into this handy, sleek container. By selection, I mean I dumped out a few baggies. My plan was to pop this open for 15 minutes than quickly stow it away. It's not working. This is how I left my cutting table last night, and the night before. Notice how exposure to air seems to 'plump' the scraps. Do scraps procreate? It's a struggle to get them all back in so I just leave it. I am going to use the container for just the finished blocks since I'm getting quite a few. But I need ideas for the dadgum scraps (is that how you spell dadgum? just askin).

Hmm, as long as this mess is out, I might as well play. Have a good day everyone.









13 comments:

paulette said...

Hey, I thought this was MY problem!! I will be sitting on the sidelines waiting for a brilliant solution!! Bring it on....
:o)
Take care!!
Paulette

beth said...

scraps are sure messy! I stuff mine here and there. Some are by color, some are cut into squares in little bags and others are strips.
You're right...They do tend to expand when exposed to the air. ;)

Michele said...

Boy, can I relate. I do the color thing too, but I think sometimes it does limit your creativity.

Mary said...

I put colors together in baskets that I put on shelves, behind glass doors. The 1/2 yard or bigger pieces get folded and put on the shelves. Organized? I think not! Problem is that most fabrics don't get put back. And yes, I do believe they procreate and then they hide!

Kim said...

Organize?

Britt said...

I do a modified system inspired by Bonnie Hunter at www.quiltville.com. I sort and cut my scraps into various strips by preset sizes. Only I do fewer than she does as I like to keep bigger pieces available for quilts that don't involve strips, rectangles or squares. Each size has it's own clear bag and the smallest crumbs go in their own bag too. All of this gets stored in a three drawer bin on wheels that I can hide in the closet and pull out when needed. New stuff that's not sorted/cut by size waits in another bag til I have time to get to it. Hope that helps - it's not a perfect system but it does make it easier to actually use your scraps and get to ones that are the size you need.

Lynn said...

Me too, I have my scraps organized (?) similarly in baggies by color, but now I'm thinking maybe they need to be organized by size instead. I spend more time looking through my basket for the size I need then I do looking for a certain color.

CharlotteP said...

Mine live on the dining table when I'm using them and we peer across them at mealtimes...but it does make me slightly tidier than I would be if I had a sewing room! Fortunately, I have a very understanding husband! Like Paulette, I'm waiting for someone's brilliant solution!

Victoria Findlay Wolfe said...

I have BIG clear bins,(otherwise outta site outta mind) and I have blues/reds/purples, yellow/pinks/oranges and greens/browns then a separate one for solids another for batiks...and yet another for vintage...
sigh.
BUT, when I work on a project, like this scrappy stars, I pulled all the brights from all the bins, and put them into one, and that is the bin I am working from... that way you can still select what You want...

Nifty Quilts said...

Do whatever gets you sewing. Sounds like the mess is doing the trick!

Magpie Sue said...

I learned that you sort of have to do this for a while and live with the mess until you discover the system that works best for you personally.

Like Britt, I pre-cut some shapes in specific sizes from leftover fabrics. They get stored in tins I've purchased from the thrift shop. What I consider true scraps, the bits and pieces and strings, go into the popcorn tin or laundry basket and the box I mentioned in my recent post.

Magpie Sue said...

I wanted to say that I'm a little disappointed your cute little tote didn't work out the way you hoped it would. It sounded like such a good idea to put a selection scraps in it and work exclusively out of it for a while!

Kim Brackett said...

I sort mine into really pretty piles, but they don't stay sorted very long!