Organizing my Scraps, Thanks to a Swap!

I am participating in a challenge where a group swaps squares of specific size among each other to make a Postage Stamp quilt.  Now, I am NOT a scrappy quilter as I think basically, they look cluttered, messy and far to busy for my taste. However, to defend myself... I am overly organized, tailored and set in structure kind of person too! But I came across this Postage Stamp quilt-along and thought, now is a good time and this is a good way to try to over come my adversion to scrappy quilts and use up my scraps! The host of the challenge/swap mentioned making it into an I Spy quilt...which I love and that is my focus.. an I Spy quilt for my grand children when they come over.

I currently have an I Spy quilt as a WIP...here are a few of the blocks. I have sashed them with 2 inch white sashing. The center square is 4"x4". I plan on putting a colored sash between the white ones... thinking of red!

Anyway, one swap is 100 squares, and I chose 2,1/2" squares to swap. I have to cut 100 different squares for a swap of another 100 different squares from someone else. I can send in up to 8 packages of 100 squares.  And each packet has to have 100 DIFFERENT squares.. no duplicates! So I chose to do 4 packets of 100 squares each. I send out 4 packets of 100 and get back, 4 packets of 100. It will be interesting to  see what others have! And a great way to utilize my scraps...and not buy new fabric!  So I got out my stash of scraps... and started cutting.

 The 3 colored buckets and one clear one are where I am collecting 100 different print squares to swap with 4 other people. I also used masking tape to mark out the 2,1/2" measurement lines on the template...for easy measuring. I was even able to cut some into "fussy cut" squares

  In going through my scrappy drawers, I see the larger pieces or strips are all wrinkled..and I didn't even know what I had, so this is also a good time to organize the scraps better so that for the next time I use them.. they aren't messed up. At this moment, I don't have any other way to organize them other than by size, but I would really like to come up with a way to organize them by color.. at least I think I do! Not sure if it is better or more profitable to organize by color or size. If you have a theory, please leave me a comment below and let me know how you organize your scraps to have them easily usable.


This is where the scraps "start". My cutting table is right there to the left of the drawers, (top drawer is out and on the table to be gone through to cut (above)... and when I cut scraps, they go into the top 2 drawers. 

Then when I cut the larger pieces, they go into the "size drawers" in this picture (to right) which are marked 2,1/2, 3,1/2 and 5". I have another container for smaller 1,1/2" strips for...something.


I am well on my way to having the 4 sets of 100, 2,1/2" squares for the swap in March...and looking forward to those I will receive in return and getting them together for an I Spy quilt!

If you'd like to join the swap...here is where you join and can read the rules of the swap.  Postage Stamp Quilt Swap March 2014.    
Sign up is March 14

 So the next few evenings will be spent cutting 2,1/2" squares and then waiting for March 14th for the next step!

I currently have a "postage Stamp" style quilt as a WIP...I just altered 2,1/2" color/printed squares with a white 2,1/2" square and have about half of a twin size quilt done...intention of this quilt is an outdoor quilt..at the park, beach or just the back yard. Haven't had time to work on it for about 6 months as so many other things to do instead. But maybe this summer I can get back to it...after the postage stamp challenge/swap.


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Thanks for stopping by and...keep on sewing those memories!