5 Ways to Collect Fabric for Your Scrap Quilts

If you are a new quilter this may be a problem. If you’ve been quilting for a while your scrap bins may be totally out of control. While my bins tend to overflow. I find it fun to add new fabrics to my scrap bins. So these tips designed to help you collect fabric for your scrap quilts, may be useful to both new and experienced scrap quilters.

Waste not Want not

Save all the leftovers from your projects. That fabric cost just as much as the pieces you used in your quilt. Don’t throw it away! It may be just what you need in your next scrap quilt. I like to sort those precious bits into my various bins after each project. Learn my method here.

One person’s garbage is another’s treasure

This would have embarrassed me as a teenager but not anymore. After a class, sometimes even during a class I go though people’s garbage. Many quilters throw away what I think is great stuff. I think this is in my genes. My parents love garage sales. They go every weekend. My children love thrifting. Every time they visit we hit the thrift stores to see what bargains we can find. I’ve found some pretty great treasures using this method.

Get the Word Out

Let your quilting friends know you are looking for scraps. Quilters are generous. When I first started quilting money was tight. My husband was in school and we had small children. A lot of my fabric in those days was donated by the wonderful ladies in my guild. They were getting rid of what they no longer wanted. This accumulation of cast off bits may be why I scrap quilt. It’s what I had to do. Then became what I love to do. Now I have friends that keep their scraps just for me.

Network

Explore quilting forum’s and Facebook groups. They often have people selling there scraps. Or there are fabric exchanges you can take part in. This is a fun way to add variety to your scrap bins.

Shopping

Finally some shops have scrap bags you can purchase. I’ve seen stores where they have a bin of scraps and you can fill a bag for certain dollar amount. It’s like a treasure hunt sifting through all those pretty bits.

I hope you found this useful. That it has inspired you to collect pretty bits of fabric. Check out my many tutorials to help you find homes for your newly acquired scraps.