When is a Scrap Too Small to Keep?
All artists working with fabric have to decide a few things about the storage of their fabric. Things like:
– How will I store large pieces? Small pieces? Scraps?
– At what size does a piece of fabric change categories?
– And when is a scrap no longer large enough to keep?
Answers will vary, of course, from artist to artist. Decisions will be based upon:
– The size of quilts/art typically made.
– The number and size of fabric pieces typically used in a typical art piece.
– Amount of studio storage!
I like to work with a wide variety of fabrics, but I only use a little of each one in a particular quilt. Therefore, most of my fabric storage is devoted to “fat quarters.” These are 1/4 yd. pieces of fabric that are cut to an almost square proportion. Here’s my fat quarter storage unit:
Click any image for a larger view
As you can see, the fabrics are sorted by color and value. I have them folded and standing up so I can easily see what I have. When a fabric is no longer large enough to show up among the other fabrics, it becomes a scrap. Scraps are saved in a basket at the back of each drawer – still coordinated by color.
Larger pieces of fabric are rolled and stored in a file-sized drawer. Rolling them gives them enough rigidity to stand up so I can see them. Again, they’re sorted by value, but all the colors are mixed.
But, back to those scraps. I do use very small pieces of fabric sometimes.
So, should I keep very tiny pieces of fabric? My answer is “no.” Sure, I might one day use them. But, the space and energy required to store them in the meantime is more valuable to me than the little piece of fabric. Therefore, I get rid of anything smaller than fist size.
But, I don’t physically thrown them away. Instead, I save them for my friends.
I let these little bits of fabric fall to the carpet as I’m working. Later, I rake them up with my fingers, and my friends are delighted to receive little baggies filled with them. We’re all happy!
How do you decide what to save and what to keep?
Ellen Lindner
My minimum depends on the fabric. If it’s a beautiful hand dye, only the pieces less than maybe 2 square inches go in the trash. Otherwise, I like to have at a bit more than that, in whatever shape that might be – triangles or irregular shapes from applique cuts included. I don’t have a huge stash, so the little baggies just don’t seem to take up too much space. That means I’m not so generous toward my poor friends as you are! I set the scraps aside, and sort them into the existing baggies when pile seems to get out of hand. The smaller pieces land in a basket next to my sewing machine so I can always use them for leaders and enders when I don’t have a leaders-and-enders project going on.
Like you, Cheryl, I also keep smaller sizes of those special fabrics.
If it’s less than 1/8th of a yard or so, I strip it out in various widths and toss it into the strips bin. I’m done saving those odd-sized scraps…no room for storage 🙂
A great idea, Patty.