Studio Organizing, Week 14

Posted on April 4, 2016 by prairiemoonquilts in Studio Organizing Challenge

Did you find plenty to organize last week?

I’m not doing so well. I feel like I’m making a bigger mess than any I’m cleaning up at the moment. So this week, I’m going back to one of the things that annoys me the most, and I’d really like to get under control:

Work on your scraps

They multiply, don’t they? Or is that just mine?

Back at the end of last year, I decided that I would work on my scraps for 30 minutes a day. In January, I began seriously tracking how I was doing on that, and in January, I only missed 7 days.

In February, I only managed to do it 6 times — not so good. In March, I did it 15 days. A little better, but a far cry from every day. I’m still trying it in April, just to keep it an active goal of mine, so that I can finally once and for all get them under control, and make my system work for me.

Even with the days I’ve done it, I’ve made a lot of progress. I tell myself that without having done it at least as much as I have, things would be even worse. Baby steps forward.

How about you? Are all your scraps under control? Neatly stored? Or do you even keep any? Or are yours completely overwhelming like mine? Let’s use this week to work on them! And if you don’t need to work on yours, then pat yourself on the back and consider this a catch-up week!

12 responses to “Studio Organizing, Week 14”

  1. Wendy says:

    With one of my latest projects, I’m trying a new thing. As soon as I get done cutting what I need for the present project, I’m taking the scraps and cutting them up for another mini project. So far I’m keeping up with it. We’ll see how it all works out. I can’t say the same, however, for other projects! One step at a time 🙂

  2. Pat Mac says:

    I always need to work on my scraps. At least I have corralled them into a clear tub that resides under my cutting table. At one time they were even bagged by color so I could pull out the color I needed for a project. I also did not do well organizing last week. Too busy volunteering.

  3. I’m actually using some for my Splendid Sampler blocks. I can’t do much with these hands and a special project I must concentrate on.

  4. randy says:

    Yikes I guess I dreamed that I told you my March block report, because evidently I did not. I made 78 blocks for a king for my N.C. friend,
    Than 20 for the brown jelly strip quilt. I hnestly forgot to write down how many of the first double charmed quilt I believe o got 12 don on that. Make 110. Wow , iexplains why my house is a shambles…

  5. Meloney says:

    Scraps. They breed. I have mine color coded, but that does not mean I feel they are under control.
    I was thinking that if I could move those drawers somewhere else, I could get an AccuCut and have a place to use it.
    Maybe I can figure this out this week?

    http://melsquiltingblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/prairie-moon-organization-challenge.html

  6. Kate Blanchard says:

    I have been working on a suggestion from a friend’s daughter: If something can be done in under 2 minutes, DO IT. Pick up a dish, wash a dish, put away that scrap, or cut it into the length I need for that scrappy border. This has been working in every room! And since I did not make it a “RULE” I feel good about what I get done. Rules tend to be boundaries I want to ignore or break down. This is just a gentle suggestion. I find I have accomplished much more with this gentle reminder.

  7. Kathy Fraser says:

    I’m with Wendy. After each project I cut up if they are smaller then 10 inches and put them in the right container. The rest if big enough, I remeasure and mark how much I have left. This works for me.

  8. Sew says:

    My scraps go into a box and then I pick a day each week and Im turning them into string blocks, so far so good, and my pile of blocks is growing while my scrap box is dwindling 🙂

  9. swooze says:

    Have you discussed your process before? As in how you decide what size to cut and what size a scrap is?

  10. Pat Mac says:

    I find 1.5, 2, and 2.5 strips and squares most useful in the quilts I make. I do have a smaller amount of 3.5 and charms (5) for nickel quilts. If the scrap is large I cut 10.5 to piece backs.

  11. Yvonne says:

    Both 2018 and 2019 were work on scraps and only scraps. I made myself only buy fabric that could be used immediately to finish a project. NO stashing. The scraps continue to crawl out of the boxes. So, it looks like 2020 will be another scrap year. In fairness, in 2020 I will be quilting 40 years and these scraps are from all those years. I have also given away many to beginner quilters to start their own stash. I really do think the crazy things sit in those boxes and reproduce 🙂

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