Scrap Management

I had made a goal of dealing with the accumulation of scraps. I have been cramming them into a box to keep the mess contained, but I knew something needed to happen soon. Of course, digging all the scraps out of the box and out of the corners of the cutting table makes an even bigger mess, so that is always the starting point.

Once everything is out and in plain view, there is no turning back. I try to cut the largest pieces possible from each scrap. For instance, this one is around 3-1/2”

So I cut 2-1/2” squares and put the other piece in the string/crumb bin. I know I could have cut 3-1/2” squares, but I have done that before, and I don’t think I have ever used them or the 4” squares. I am able to use 5” squares, and I cut 15-20 of those.

I can also use the 10” squares, but most of my scraps are turning out to be smaller than that. This is where I am so far:

On the left is 2” strips and squares, 2-1/2” strips and squares, and on the right is 1-1/2” strips and squares. I haven’t been very good about using the 1-1/2” squares either, but there are a couple of patterns I want to make that use them, so I went ahead and cut some. 

I will be continuing this effort until I plow through all the accumulation of scraps. If you can recommend patterns that use 3-1/2” or 4” squares, please let me know what they are!

Today I have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon for my trigger finger. This will be the third time I have seen him. I hope he will go ahead and do the surgery and get it over with. The shots do help some, but they are not really fixing the problem. The pain is certainly less than it was pre-shots, but my finger still locks when doing things like wringing a dish cloth, and it still gets stiff and sore at night.