Fabric Scrap Management Phase 3 & BLUE Scraps

Okay - Phase 3 of fabric management.....

[Link for Phase 2 click here... ]

So I am saving scraps and accumulating quite a few,

What am I going to MAKE with them?

Stage 3 happened the way the other two happened... when my 3 drawer chest and bins began to fill!  Rather than buy another bin....

I decided it was time to USE...

I knew that it would be smart to use typical pre-cut sizes - 2.5-in and 5-in. squares and strips.  And I started searching for patchwork patterns that I wanted to make!

And I found a TON!  And then had to choose what to work with..

* (1-inch)   I found a book with mini-log cabin patterns for the different seasons (that I liked) that uses 1-in strips.  The name of it is Holiday Happenings and it is available from Amazon (so please search using my link - thank you!)  So there is where I can use tiny  1-inch pieces..

* (2-inch) I found a pattern online that made potholders from a 5X5 block of 2-in squares.  ( I kind of thought I could make the blocks and on one ambitious day... turn them into gift potholders for Christmas - with the added bonus of using up the Insulbrite scraps left over from making table runners)

* (3-inch & 1.5-inch) I found a picture of a 4X4 square block with a star in the middle.  It isn't a pattern so I made up my version using 3-in squares and 1.5-inch squares for star points.


and a friend turned me on to http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/   What fun!!  She hosts a rainbow-themed block of the month.  So - I thought - COOL!  I will handle colors of scraps one at a time!  And January was blue - all shades of blue to aqua...  so I pulled everything from my stash that was a fat quarter on down.   Lots of the pieces were from sewing so I had to trim them down (I will do another post on that)

She is doing 12.5 inch star blocks with 6-inch scrap sampler center blocks. 

In honesty, I didn't understand the method for the center - but decided I had 2 choices..... spend the time to figure it out - or get busy.  I already knew how to do the star - just not the center.  BUT I COULD do a 9-patch using 2.5 in squares as a 6-inch block.... so that is what I did so I didn't have to slow down!

This block uses 2.5-in squares for the center - and 4-inch squares for the star points. 

Here are my blue potholder tops (2-in squares in a 5 X 5 block): 

Here are my 3-in scrappy star blocks (using 3-in blue squares, a 3-in white square and 1.5-in white squares to make uneven star points):

..and some of my tiny log cabin blocks:

The light blue are destined for an Easter wall hanging and the dark blue for 4th of July.... which will, of course, take a year at least to finish!

and I still had a ton of 2.5" squares so I did an 8X8 block for fun:

I don't have set plans for these blocks but they are fun - and will make nice rainbow-flavored quilts later on!  Kind of like having more fabric.....  I like possibilities - and it doesn't bother me to create without a specific end in sight :-)   Next year, I will look at all I have created and design quilts out of them.

the finished blocks have a bin of their own.... and, as you can see... I have some different size possibilities.

I started small clear boxes by color with plastic baggies of different sized strips: 1-in, 1.5-in, 2 & 2.5-in, 3 & 3.5, 4, 5, 6 and up.

I have since found a mug rug pattern for 2X6-in strips.... and a couple of other ideas as I move through the colors....

So - back to MANAGEMENT!   Small box of BLUE scraps sorted into plastic baggies by size with larger rectangles folded neatly on the bottom.

As I do other projects, I am sorting the scraps by size in baggies in another bin until I specifically do that color.

and when January ended..... I went through my big pink fabric bin and pulled these so I can keep moving!