Since I Was Cutting Anyway...

...I decided to tackle my growing piles of scraps. Actually, I had three bins this size overflowing with scraps, I just didn't think to take a photo until I had already emptied the third bin. One of these bins is almost all leftovers from quilts, backing trimmings, leftover borders, etc... The other bin is almost all scraps from garment sewing, the scraps from the 14 pairs of pajama pants I finished, and the scrub tops I cut out, but haven't sewn yet. The third bin not shown, was a bit of everything. A lot of leftovers from cutting other quilts, the end of strips, the odd bits leftover from using my Accuquilt GO! cutter.

It took me four days, but those overflowing bins now look like this.

The cut sizes of what I save are 3.5" strips, 2.5" strips, 2" strips, 1.5" strips, 10.5" squares, 6.5" squares, 4.5" squares, 3.5" squares, 2.5" squares, 2" squares, and 1.5" squares. Those are the sizes that work for me. While I was cutting the scraps down, I cut some scrappy setting triangles I needed for another big quilt. I've already put the squares away, and tomorrow I'll work on putting the strips away.

I did get the other wedding quilt cut out, as well as setting triangles and alternate squares for another quilt. While I was gathering my scraps together, I found a set of quilt blocks that I had forgotten about, and I knew I had planned on sashing them, so I cut sashing and cornerstones for those too. Now I have LOTS of quilts cut out and ready to sew.

I am really glad I took the time to deal with my scraps before they built up anymore. Scraps just want to take over, and as long as they are messy in a bin, I'm not going to use them. I know some people don't pre-cut, because they don't use the pre-cuts, or they are afraid they'll cut to the wrong size. Since most of my quilts are multi fabric quilts, there is no such thing as cutting to the wrong size for me. I just see them as a color after they are cut. I'll divide the strips up into color families before I put them all away (and yes, I do have a multicolor stack for each size, when I absolutely can't decide on what color it is ;-)

Since I am used to having pre-cuts on hand all the time, even though I have never purchased a jelly roll in my life, I'm used to being able to use a huge variety of each color in my quilts. For anyone who doesn't pre-cut, I can totally see why you may shy away from multi-fabric quilts. The silver/purple wedding quilt I cut out last week was a rude reminder of how difficult it is to deal with 50-60 fabrics for one quilt. If I had chosen a different pattern that used those colors, I would have gone to my strip drawers and pulled everything from them that would work, then see if I needed to grab any fat quarters or yardage. Since I was working with big pieces, and couldn't use strips, I had to actually press and cut 50+ fabrics. I thought the cutting for that quilt would never end! It took me two long days of cutting to cut that one quilt. Quite a difference when the next day I was cutting a five fabric quilt, and it took just a few hours. I've made two color quilts with over 100 fabrics, where I could pull from my strip drawers, have great variety, and with only having to sub-cut the strips, it was quick to cut. If I wasn't a pre-cutter, I might stick to five fabric quilts more often.

At any rate, with the scraps dealt with, my sewing room looks much neater, even with piles of quilt pieces everywhere. I doubt I'll get to sewing until next week, but at least I'm ready to go!

DS the Younger and DDIL arrive tomorrow. They will be packing up all their stuff and moving it to Texas where DS the Younger is now stationed. I'm not planning on doing anything quilty for the next week or so, aside from cutting out those denim circles a little along. I can cut those while visiting or watching the twins.

I'd say I won't be cutting again for a while, but it's not true. I just ordered what I need to make a couple weighted blankets. Weighted blankets are used for people with anxiety, autism, various psychological disorders, and even insomnia and restless leg syndrome. I have a couple of people that I love with anxiety issues, and I decided I really needed to try making them the weighted blankets. When the supplies arrive, I'll blog about the process.