Sundays are for Scraps: Behind the Scenes

I started "scrapping" when my Mom moved into an assisted living center and I inherited boxes and boxes of her fabric scraps.  That year during winter break, I went through all the boxes and sorted out the quilt fabrics, then cut them into usable sizes and shapes.  Here are some photos of how I organize my scraps:

As I cut fabric during the week, I toss it into bins or piles under the ironing board.  That yellow brush is to clean off the cutting mat.

We brought this stacking plastic bin back from Italy in 1981.  Our gatto (Italian for cat) had kittens in the bottom bin -- now it holds the scraps from my October quilt camp quilt.  I think this will work better than just tossing them under the ironing board, don't you?  On the left is my son's 60" LeClerc floor loom. 

This is what the ironing board looks like after I've pressed the scraps from this week.

And here's the other half of the ironing board.  I sort them out according to size -- solids have their own stack, and I've started a drawer for scrappy bindings.

Strips cut to 2 1/2" and sorted by color go in these drawers purchased from Nancy's Notions. 

The rest go into labelled drawers or Tupperware canisters (you know, so they stay fresh!). I cut my scraps from large to small, starting with 5" squares all the way down to 1 1/2" squares.

Then when I'm ready for a scrap quilt, I can just pull out the right drawer and start sewing!