From Discards to Quiltlets

When piecing a quilt or sewing a garment, there are pieces we discard. Some pieces are too little to use. From person to person, the determining of what is trash and what is useful differs. Some people prefer not to keep and use any of the scraps so they discard or give them away.

For a quilter, scraps must be greater than 1/2" wide as seam allowances are 1/4". Some may keep 1" strips or squares. Others may think those are too little to use. Personally, I will keep a 1" strip for string quilts but I determine 1" squares to be too small to keep.

Sometimes pieces are larger and they can be cut into whatever sizes the quilter frequently uses. I use leftover blocks and pieces up to 18" square for preemie quilts which are 18" square. 

Here are 3 preemie quilts I finished this morning. They were made from discarded fabric that I brought home from quilt guild. The bottom one was made from squares that someone had cut. Chances are these were leftover from other projects but there were enough for a cute little preemie quilt.