How it started:

Honestly? I can't remember exactly how it all started.

Anyone who sews or quilts loves fabric & is hard pressed to walk by a fabric store without wandering in....and most likely coming out with a purchase of some sort. Knowing how expensive fabric is, there is NO way I was going to throw out anything that looked useable (and eventually, even the unusable found a use as stuffing for pet beds). I always tell myself I have MORE than enough (and my husband agrees whole-heartedly), yet, I still come out with a yard or two....or more....

I'd get together with friends and they were just tossing their "scrap" that was plenty big enough to still use! So, I started collecting theirs as well....and then they would save it for me.....

I saw an ad from someone downsizing their stash, so of course I offered to take some off their hands. I have also purchased boxes of "scrap" from others & have participated in many swaps to increase the variety of my pieces.

I used to do Interior Redesign & would have scraps left after making curtains or re-covering furniture or pillows. Heavier weight than quilting cotton, but still useable. I was also gifted a ton of fabric swatch books and I have a friend who works at a fabric store and saves me the off-cut scrap. I've dabbled in making clothes, so of course, MORE fabrics of different weights and materials entered the sewing room.

I clean off the "free" table at our Guild Meetings once a month. Members bring in what they don't want, and at the end of the night, whatever is left needs to be cleaned up by someone. After being a member for several years, I finally asked what they did with it from month to month (I thought they brought it back the next month!) and found out that it was donated or dumped. I offered to take care of it at the end of each meeting. Some members also bring me their scraps.

I'll be sharing some information about my scrap sorting system, some tutorials that I've found extremely helpful, book reviews and anything else that I think will be of interest. I LOVE input and would love to hear from you with requests, questions....anything!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out Project: Scrap Bin. I hope you find some inspiration to use some of the scrap you have laying around! I've found that adding many MANY different fabrics in the same tone adds a dimension to your quilting you could never get with just using one. I'm not generally a "random" scrappy designer unless the pattern can hold that. I find I am much more of a "controlled scrappy" kinda girl, letting the variety of fabrics draw the beholder in.
Karyn