The question came up in the comments yesterday about how small does a piece have to be to be rejected, and do I save them. Yes, I save them in a little plastic bag. Another point I need to make here is that these are all batik fabrics. They are a pima cotton and the seams press very flat, unlike regular quilting cottons. Hoffman is my favorite brand and the finest weave. Here are some of the too small pieces, narrower than 3/4".
Here are a few I rescued back out of that bag while I was looking for ones that contrasted with the green cutting mat (so they would show up in the photo).
OK, you encouraged me to "never mind" cleaning and have fun. I did hold off sewing though until evening while watching TV and made all of these groups. For those of you who think I agonize over color choices and placement, I have to say I only have one thing in mind when I pick up the next piece, contrast. It is either a light to dark contrast, or a color to color contrast. I am using whatever is in the bag of scraps, not cutting anything special. This is total relaxation making these little bits into something bigger.
What do I do with the little bits? This is one of the projects I have made. I took an 8" square of Wonder Under and put it glue side up on my press cloth. I place little bits until they totally covered the surface and extended off the edge a little. I pressed the pieces lightly to the Wonder Under.
Then I peeled off the paper and placed the square on top of another piece of fabric which would become its border and pressed with steam. Now everything is firmly held in place with raw edges here and there that might raise up a little as you are stitching. I then layer it with batting and backing and stitch, stitch, stitch, like in the book "On the Surface".
I will use this piece as a pocket on a tote bag.
Here are a few I rescued back out of that bag while I was looking for ones that contrasted with the green cutting mat (so they would show up in the photo). OK, you encouraged me to "never mind" cleaning and have fun. I did hold off sewing though until evening while watching TV and made all of these groups. For those of you who think I agonize over color choices and placement, I have to say I only have one thing in mind when I pick up the next piece, contrast. It is either a light to dark contrast, or a color to color contrast. I am using whatever is in the bag of scraps, not cutting anything special. This is total relaxation making these little bits into something bigger. What do I do with the little bits? This is one of the projects I have made. I took an 8" square of Wonder Under and put it glue side up on my press cloth. I place little bits until they totally covered the surface and extended off the edge a little. I pressed the pieces lightly to the Wonder Under. Then I peeled off the paper and placed the square on top of another piece of fabric which would become its border and pressed with steam. Now everything is firmly held in place with raw edges here and there that might raise up a little as you are stitching. I then layer it with batting and backing and stitch, stitch, stitch, like in the book "On the Surface". I will use this piece as a pocket on a tote bag.