Purging

Well I've spent the whole morning trying to purge and consolidate the scrap bins, and honestly it's been pretty fun!  I've filled a whole box with stuff headed for the DI.  That feels pretty good!  I started a fabric scraps pin board for inspiration and it seems like I might be able to work through these scraps and bang out some quilt tops.  Looks like Rachel will be doing some sort of string-along.   Maybe I'll make that scrappy string triangle quilt.
 I wanted to share with you some of my favorite prints from the vintage stash, just for fun. Get ready for a boatload of pics!

 

 It looks like these fishies are coming home from the pet store in a plastic baggy.  I'm not sure what the design is supposed to be, but I think its adorable. 

 

Speaking of adorable, it doesn't get any cuter than Bambi.

 

Some of these older fabrics have unusual color schemes.  I love this royal blue, grey and pink print.  I'm pretty sure this is a feed sack.

 

I wish I had more of the bottom print.  

 

I love the bottom left print with circles,  It makes me think of Italy and race cars. 

 

Is this not so Kate Spain?

 

I have yards of these adorable cowboys!  Love

I have yards of this, too.  I don't know what the material is though.  It's stiff, but loosely woven.  I don't think it's a feed sack because of the size, but it is definitely old.  

 

Jenn- I know you love purple.  Again, I'd never put peach and purple together, but it looks really great in this feed sack print

The one on the right might be my most favorite print of all time, old or new.  I love it!  I wish I had yardage of it.  It looks traditional and contemporary at the same time.

The navy and lime is pretty fabulous, too.

It think these are all feed sacks.

The thumbprint chicks are killing me.

 

Isn't this one so cool?  Kinda snakey.

 

Another very modern color combo; lime, coral and gray.

 

I only have a few triangles of this, which is a crying shame.

Another 20 little basted flowers.  I really must learn how to applique.

More feed sack

 

Hey Jenn, she started this really great purpley block, you wanna finish it?

For $10, I think I got the deal of a lifetime.  Lest ye be too jealous, these did NOT come from a smoke-free home!  Boy howdy, this old Betty liked her ciggies.  I've decided to store the old scraps separately, because of that.  I've already used them in a quilt, and I've never noticed the smell since it's been washed, so that's lucky.   Well, that was probably more fun for me than for you, but I do love looking at pics of old fabric.  Speaking of, I think I need to learn how to use my nice camera. 

Assignment: Scrap

I've never been a scrappy kinda girl. Although I do LOVE LOVE LOVE me some scrappy quilts!! And I by and far prefer to make quilts that have a million different fabrics in them and aspire to one day make a charm quilt (a quilt with not one repeating fabric). But alas, I can barely stand to keep scraps. My scrap bin is unashamedly dismal. And every year, when Rachel has her scraptacular festival of scrappiness, I resolve to enlarge my chest of scraps and strips. Yet it never really happens and I have to make a conscious effort to do so. It turns out, I don't like to waste my fabric (yes, I admit to hoarding issues) therefore, I don't have many scraps to speak of. These are my rules when it comes to scraps.

1. If the scrap is between 5" and 10" I put it in my charm and layer cake bin. Now I admit, I've got a TON of charm packs! I have 5 layer cakes, but probably 20 charm packs that I've gone through and taken out squares. And then I've added a bit from a few scraps.

2. If my leftovers from a project are bigger than 10", or about the size of a fat eighth, or larger, I put them back into my stash. I think that's where the majority of my "scraps" end up, back into my stash.

3. If they are smaller than 5" or I love the fabric so much that I want to save every last little bit, then it goes into my scrap bin. But they have to be bigger than 2", because I don't want to be keeping anything smaller than that.

So, there you have it, my scrappy rules! And here are a few iPad pics of my scrap bin and charm packs/layer cakes.

My Scrap Bins Overfloweth

I'm trying to get organized down in that wreck-of-a-basement. While down there I noticed, again, that I have an overabundance of scraps. I thought this was pretty normal until I started reading quilt blogs. Most of those quilty bloggers only have one scrap bin. I have ten, or more. The really organized bloggers keep them in those plastic six drawer chests. I would need at least two of those chests. It's ridiculous.  And now, please enjoy some low-res, taken at night, in my dark basement, iPhone pics.

Part of the problem is the big box of vintage fabric scraps I bought at an estate sale a couple of years ago.  It had tall stacks of various sized squares and triangles:

This bag of wonky sized strips that I ironed before we moved:

The cutest, tiniest hexies on the planet.  Isn't that fabric to die for?

These butterflies:

A stack of random and poorly pieced nine patch blocks:

About 20 of these goldy-orange 16 patch blocks.  Hand pieced:

A stack of the hexie flowers out of broad cloth and that ubiquitous gingham:

 

So what should I do?  Should I get rid of everything I don't love?  Or what I don't think I'll ever use?  The butterflies are ADORABLE, but can I really see myself appliqueing 20 of them?  Have you ever thought about doing a destash on Etsy?

How do you organize your scrap bins?  Do you cut your pieces into charms squares and strings?  Do you save every little scrap?  Do you have any favorite scrappy patterns?  Are you like me and feel a moral obligation to thriftily use as much as possible because it shouldn't go to waste?  Even though I only paid ten bucks for that box?  Should I separate the vintage scraps from the contemporary scraps?

Howsabout a blog assignment.  Take a pic of your scrap bin(s) and post it.  Jenn, I'm counting on you to be binS not just bin.  Help me feel better about my situation.