Scrap Survey Results

Scrap Survey Results
Scrap Survey Results

Some time ago, I asked you to take a survey about the size of your scraps. This came back to mind as I work through the various scraps in my drawers. Thus, I finally took some time to look at the results.

Over 180 of you responded. WOW! Thanks. Sadly, 97 of you also skipped the one question I asked, thus I had 83 usable results.

I was really surprised to find that almost 60% (49.8) of you keep scraps larger than 3″. Now, I have some scraps that are large from awhile ago, but these days I make a big effort to only save scraps that are smaller than 3 inches. As you know, I cut up anything larger into usable patches. When in doubt I cut pieces up for donation quilts. I am curious about what you think are scraps and how you plan to use them. Please leave a comment to let me know.

There are no wrong answers and we each have our systems. I think we can learn from each other by understanding how we work.

Author: JayeL

Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

6 thoughts on “Scrap Survey Results”

  1. I keep scraps as small as an inch wide…sometimes smaller if in strips.

    I took a class recently in scrap management. Very informative. After completing a project, she takes the scraps from it and trims them to have at least one straight edge. then sorts them into piles. strips she cuts to 13-1/2 inches, then sorts into shorter and shorter sizes. then she takes the smallest sizes and sews them together till they are the size of the next larger pile. Then sews those together till size of next largest pile… etc. till she has slabs about 13-1/2 inches wide. She then cuts the slabs to 12-1/2 inch neat slabs. Then adds strips or more slabs to it to build her usable fabric. At which point she cuts what she needs for her quilt pattern.
    Because these are scraps from one quilt project, they are already color coordinated. (she also has scrap bins sorted by color so she can pull these as needed.

    hope that description makes sense.

    S

    1. I have heard of many different scrap management plans and I love to hear about new ones. I use slabs of (usually same) color fabric to make covers for journals and books. I think minimizing scraps after a project, as your description suggests, is the best idea to keep scraps at a minimum.

  2. I try to keep any WOF pieces in the drawers with their color neighbors, even when they’re pretty narrow, like 6″ or so. Below that, I’ll cut them into 2.5″ jelly roll strips.

    I cut for projects very carefully, so I usually have only small scraps left. I cut them into strings (1-2.25″ wide, any length), 2.5″ squares, and 3.5″ squares. Those are the majority of my scraps. When I have larger pieces, I cut 6.5″ squares (for baby quilts, tissue covers, and quilt labels). More recently, I’ve started cutting 4.5″ squares because I use them frequently in the blocks for Covered with Love.

    I think life is too short to save the tiniest bits, but I don’t how you can’t have scraps at all!

    1. I have been trying to cut my scraps into sizes that I will use like 2.5 inches for donation blocks. It is difficult, though. I have more than enough in the bin I use for donation blocks. I may need to cut some just to donate to the guild.

  3. I may have been one that skipped the question, as none of the answers worked for me. My scraps are anything smaller than fat quarter size. The smallest is 2 inches. I leave them in whatever size they are until I find a project for them.

    1. I have been doing that and still do to a certain extent. The color donation quilt project is an effort to clear out some of those scrap drawers as they are overflowing. I need to focus on using them otherwise they will just keep filling up.
      It is interesting to hear different scrap strategies.

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