I cut anything less than a fat quarter into strips and squares for later use.

I can't bring myself to cut until I have a project in mind.

Yes, those gurus have a huge stash with alot of variety.
I buy jelly rolls or 2.5" strips when I find them on sale to have on hand - or- if I have a pattern I want to make. I don't have a big stash (on purpose), so unless I have a pattern or design that I want to make, I do not cut my yardage down.
I will cut pieces from my yardages to make up a variety only when I need it. Unless you have a huge stash like Jackie, Sharon, Beverly and Bonnie Hunter, I can't wrap my head around cutting it down all willy nilly.

Missouri Quilt Company is a great place to build your stash of precuts, buying them on the Daily Deal.

I never actually considered myself as having a huge stash but over the years have gotten into a habit of watching for bags of odds and ends at good fabric stores (Lois, I got a bag at Blue Bamboo and it was yummy!). Sometimes I even see them online now. I don't always like every piece of fabric, but that's ok as it's going to get cut up anyway and I didn't pay full price. Then when what yardage I have gets down to 5 or 6 inches, that does, too. Those strips go into a scrappy quilt or looked through for something specific if I'm just making one or two blocks for some reason. Another way you could build some strips is to buy an extra 1/4 yard of fabric when buying for a project for just that purpose. If scrappy doesn't appeal to you, that's ok, you can send your odds and ends to me. :-)

I would never cut fabric into strips until I was sure I wanted it for something specific.

I read it on the blogs all the time about cutting up your scraps into strips and squares, but I'm with several others...I can't bring myself to cut until I have a pattern in mind.

V.

I think the first time I started organizing my scraps was when I looked at the box of odds and ends and knew my kids/DH would just toss them if I wasn't around. That is good fabric and it would be so wasteful for that to happen. It was a 'down' point in life and even sewing wasn't much of a lift so I started in on all those pieces to make them more useful (I still have a small container that needs going through). As strips and squares, they are more useful and ready to be used. Yes, if you really don't care for the scrappy look, this won't appeal to you. I don't like every scrappy look I see and I'm not enthralled with every scrappy top I've made, but some kid somewhere will be kept a little bit warmer and maybe they'll have a feel good moment because of my scraps.

Sharon, your post brought tears to my eyes.

I reviewed Bonnie Hunter's scrap saving method and I just don't think that saving all those different sizes would work for me. But maybe I should start with a few sizes. I'm already cutting 1.5" squares from really small bits for a someday postage stamp quilt. I could cut larger squares for HSTs and D9Ps. I'll have to investigate to find which size would be best. And maybe 2.5" strips.

Definitely only cut the sizes that you find yourself using the most. I cut 2, 2.5 and 3.5 strips, I hardly ever cut squares though. If I need squares, I will cut them from the strips that I already have.

Lois, I don't follow everything about Bonnie's scrap saving process because not all of it appeals to me, but it did help to get me started and eventually I learned what is more useful to me. Anything less than a 1 1/2 inch strip gets put in a special container for string quilt blocks that I am doing now and pulled some 1 1/2 and 2 inch strips, too. It's really great to have them already cut and waiting to be used. :-)

I think you have to decide which designer you're going with before cutting scraps, because they design quilts to fit the sizes they like. I have a bunch of Judy Martin books, and she uses smaller pieces. I started cutting some Bonnie Hunter sizes then I thought, if I decide to make a Judy Martin quilt, I'll have to cut all these 1-1/2 strips down to 1-1/4, which would waste lot of fabric.

So...I do trim some odd shaped pieces into strips, but mostly I wait till I have a pattern in mind then cut my scraps. :)

Donna

I love scrappy ICs, so I cut 2&1/2 squares for leaders and enders. I have found great deals on quality fabric that I just didn't care for the design, on a 2x2 it looks wonderful lol!

But, I can't bring myself to cut all of my scraps down either.

How I do miss those quilting retreats. Still doing fine, just getting a bit older!

what is daily deals?

Daily Deals are just sale items some websites offer on that one day only. When you browse some of the fabric and quilting sites, you might see a sale.

I'm not a scrappy person so when I tried to be good and follow Bonnie Hunter's lead, I found I never used them and the sacks are still in there till I take them to a thrift store. So, I don't cut up strips in excited anticipation any more. I'm getting older, too.

I just made a baby quilt with the friendship braid border. It was so easy and used a large variety of 2.5" pieces. A few years ago when I was so stressed, I went through my scraps and pulled everything that could be cut up into all the squares and strips. I haven;t done a darn thing with those piles but now that I have done this braid, I think at least the strips might have a purpose.

Thanks for the sale info. You also might be able to donate your cut up strips to a Girl Scout troup or something like it.

I have pretty much only worked with scraps this year. I have to say, it has been the most enjoyable year I have had in quilting. So any of you people who do not use scraps can donate them to me :) I have even been known to buy bags of scraps just to have a little more variety.

Meyerk9, would you post a pic of the quilt? I like scrappy and would love to see it.

It's out for quilting. I will have it back next week. I chose a lady bug motif based on the backing.

Very pretty. Thanks for posting.

silly question but I can't find the answer in the FAQ. How do I thank someone for their comment?

meyerk9, I think the 'thank you' button is only on each post of the threads you start.........I think. :-)

meyerk9, I'm enhanced with the border. It goes really well with the quilt. Nice job!

I just got it back from the long arm quilter. Hope to get the binding on this weekend. Does anyone apply binding by machine? I have always hand stitched the back of the binding but...just wondering if anyone has tried and like the results. This quilt is for my daughters best friend from HS, so it's special.
Sharon, it's called a braid, sometimes a friendship braid. I like it a lot and easy with the ruler that has the angle though I suppose one could do it without.

I tend to keep bigger pieces of scraps because I hand applique and those smaller pieces (even though they're odd shaped sometimes), come in handy. It seems that whatever project I do, I never have the right shade or pattern! So, my stash is always growing :-)