Funny, I should have know how many of you had the same problem. To be clear, I don’t mind having scraps – I love them but they’re unorganized and taking over. So why is that? I looked back over my spreadsheets for the last couple years. In 2020, I pieced 35 tops and only 4 of them were from scraps/strings. The rest were from precuts or yardage. In 2019, I pieced 20 tops and 5 of them were from scraps and the rest from precuts or yardage.
I quilt a lot of tops each year too. Some are mine, some are Mom’s, and there are always HeartStrings tops pieced by other quilts – that generates a ton of scraps from the backings.
Another issue, we tend to move every 3 – 5 years which forces me to sort and reorganize … we’ve been here 5 and a half years now. Past time to go through all the different bins sitting around and sort into usable groups.
Finally, I know what doesn’t/won’t work for me. I do not cut my scraps up into pieces before I decide what I’m going to make. I like to keep my options open because I frequently change my mind about the quilts I want to make. I also know that the last 3 years I was either dealing with health issues or going back and forth between two places. It’s always easier/quicker to pick up precuts or yardage than to cut a scrap quilt.
So like I said, there will be more sorting through bins and more focus on string and scrap quilts. I’ll try to keep one of those projects going at all times. I’m participating in HeartStrings 365 project this year and if I stay focused I might actually hit 365 string blocks – which will be a combination of HeartStrings blocks, my strips and strings Log Cabin blocks, and I’d like to do at least one rail fence from the string bins too. Those are quick and easy.
And it’s been a long time since I’ve made a Chinese Coins quilt. Good for using up smaller strings.
I’ve always liked making string versions of Roman Stripes quilts.
I could also dig into the scrap bins and the string bins for another Half Square Strings quilt. So I have plenty of inspiration just looking back at my string quilts and I just need to focus on using them!
