Use Your Scraps, part 1

The whole point of sorting your scraps and leftovers is NOT storing them.  The real point of sorting is knowing what you have so you can begin to use your scraps and stash.  :)
Keep your eyes open for patterns that use the stash items you have.  In the meantime, pull out some strips, small squares or half-square triangles.  Press them so they are flat and ready to work with.  Keep a box of them next to your sewing machine and use pairs of them** as "run-offs" while you are piecing other projects. (**Pair up your squares or triangles by light/dark.  Strips can be paired up according to length; choose colors at random.)  Before you know it, you will have enough of these units to use in a quilt top!

Boxes, Bags, Bins

If you are like me, as you've sorted your scraps, you've put them in boxes, bags and bins that you've had on hand. The 18-gallon plastic totes hold a lot!  Large shopping bags do too.  Shoe boxes, computer paper boxes and smaller totes are good depending on the size of the scrap collection.  If you choose clear plastic containers, you can easily see what is inside.  Label other containers with the contents.
My favorite containers for not only scraps, but also projects in progress, are the flat boxes I gather at my local Aldi store (a bulk-type grocery store).  Because of the way I store my scraps, they need to be pressed before I can work with them.  As I press them, I put them into a flat box so they stay nice and flat.  As pieces are cut for a quilt project, they go into their own flat box so they are all together when I am ready to begin putting them together.  I keep a flat box next to my sewing machine.  Pieced items that need to be pressed before the next step can be easily carried to and from the ironing board. And if I get interrupted and the project has to be put away, it goes into its own flat box, ready for me to pick it up and start again. 
(These flat boxes fit nicely inside an 18-gallon tote!  I have a lot of them stored inside MY 18-gallon totes...projects waiting to be completed and already pressed leftovers from previous projects...they will get used eventually!)

Storing Scraps, Part 3

I am not UNorganized.  I am not VERY organized.  I store my scraps and leftovers in ways that draw from both of these styles.  So, I call myself SOMEWHAT organized.
All of the charm squares that I have collected over the years are in one box.
Smaller squares are in their own zip-lock bags, somewhat sorted by size.
1/2 square triangles (those that haven't been passed on to a friend who makes miniature quilts) are in THEIR own zip-lock bag  
All of the strips leftover from projects are overflowing the large antique crock in which I put them. (I really do need to plan a strip-pieced quilt!)
Small scraps of fabric (smaller than 1/4 yard) are stuffed into a couple of plastic totes...a ready source for applique or scrappy piecing.
Larger pieces of leftover fabric (including fat quarters) are stored in boxes according to color.
My collections of 30's reproduction fabrics and late 1800's reproduction fabrics are in their own boxes.
And within my sewing room, I know where to find each of these collections. When I'm ready to start my next scrap quilt project, I dig into the collection I need.  That's when the fun begins! 

Storing Scraps, Part 2

So, how organized are you?  Unorganized, somewhat organized or very organized?
If you are a very organized person, perhaps you don't even like the idea of having fabric SCRAPS!
You are one who takes the fabric leftover from a quilting project and cuts it up right away into pieces that will be useable in a future project.  You cut 2 1/2" strips, 2 1/2" squares, 5" squares, or any other size squares you can comfortably get from your leftover fabric.  You then store these new pieces in their own (carefully labeled) containers so you know just where to find them. (Perhaps you even sort them by color...)  When you are ready to make your next quilt, scrap or otherwise, your pieces are all cut and ready to use.
I wish I were that organized, but I'm not.  Next week I'll tell you how a somewhat organized person stores her fabric scraps.  :)

Storing Scraps, Part 1

How should you store the fabric scraps you have decided to save?

That depends on the type of person you are.  Are you unorganized?  Somewhat organized?  Very organized?

If you are unorganized, you will use the easiest way to store fabric scraps.  Just stuff them into whatever container you have available--a bag, a box, a plastic tote, etc.  Each time you decide to make a scrap quilt, finding fabrics to use will be a new adventure for you.  You probably won't remember what you have stuffed into the containers, so you will have the joy of dumping them out and sorting through a mountain of scraps.  This will take some time, but on a day when you really don't feel like sewing, but still want to play with fabric, this will be the perfect activity.  As you sort, you will recall the projects you made with the various fabrics, too.  Just don't get too involved remembering that you forget your original task--finding fabric for the scrap quilt you want to make.  Happy sorting!  :)

Throw them away???

What can be done with the fabric scraps you do not want?
If they are too small to work with, you could just throw them away.
But, there are some "greener" alternatives:
--Check with your Humane Society to see if they take "dog pillows."  If so, make a pillow casing from unwanted fabric and stuff it with all your fabric scraps, even those pieces you trim off as you are squaring up your quilt blocks or trimming seam allowances.
--Is there any organization in your area that collects scrap fabric because they can sell it and get $$ for it?

If you have larger fabric scraps that you have decided you do not want:
--find a group that makes charity quilts (your church, for instance).  They will welcome your fabric donations.
--pass your unwanted fabric on to a quilting friend who likes to work with scraps or one who likes to make miniature quilts. 

Since quilters were the original recyclers, we should do our part to keep fabric scraps from the landfills...
:)

What scraps to save

You've decided to save your fabric scraps.  But what should be saved?  When is a fabric scrap too small to be saved?
--You need to allow a 1/4" seam all around a scrap whether you are piecing or doing applique.  If the fabric scrap is too small once you take away the 1/4" seam allowance, then the scrap can be discarded.
--What size scrap are you comfortable working with?  If you do not want to work with small pieces of fabric, then the scrap is too small for you to save.
 
Small fabric scraps can be pieced together to make larger fabric, but many small pieces means many seam allowances.  That means a bulky (and bumpy) finished piece of larger fabric.

Ultimately, the decision of what fabric scraps to save is up to you.  Have fun deciding!