The taming of the scraps

When I made my New York City quilt I tried to make a smooth graduation from the very dark 9patches to the soft-colored ones. So I cut a lot more of the squares than I needed.

As I was about to toss the remaining patches into my scrap box I realised (not for the first time) that this box was a mess. That’s the reason I usually cut even small new pieces from my more organized stash than digging into my scrap box.

As our season is going into spring I just bought some new shoes and the boxes still lingered there. So I decided to make a start on organizing my scraps. I always envied quilters who cut their scaps into some useful size and when it hit them they just could grab the box and start to sew a great scrap quilt. That’s what I wanted to do as well.

So I cut my small scaps into squares 2½ inches (6,5 cm) which is a sewn square of 2 inches (5 cm) and seam allowance. They all went into one of my shoe boxes.

My larger scraps got cut into 5 inches (13 cm) squares. This is two times the small square plus seam allowances. So if needed I can cut the large squares into 4 small squares. They got a separate shoe box.

And finally I had some strips left over from jelly rolls. They got their own shoe box as well and will be joined by longer strips from the scrap box. As they all will be 2½ inches wide they too can be cut into small squares when needed. Of course they got their own box too.

And those boxes fit perfectly into my fabric closet. 6 of them. So I can choose 3 other dimensions for my scaps – we’ll see. But therefore I have to buy some more shoes first.

It’s just a start and it will take some time until all my scraps are cut and organized. But at the moment I feel clever, busy and organised. What more can you wish for.