"Ugly" Fat Quarters or What Was I Thinking?

I originally posted this under the title of "Ugly Fat Quarters". But I now believe it should be more of a "What was I Thinking" post title. Since beauty is really in the eye of the beholder and not wanting to insult any fabric designer, the post has now been edited appropriately. My apologies to anyone who might have been offended by my original title!

I been thinking about and attempting to use Bonnie Hunter's "Scrap User's System" for about a year and Joan Ford's "Scrap Therapy System" for about six months now. I have cut some of my project left overs into their recommended sizes and begun some of their scrap quilt patterns. But I still have many fat quarters and pieces of yardage hanging around that do not fit into specific projects.

You know those "free" fat quarters you get when you visit a shop during a shop hop or on a bus trip. Or the fat quarters you "win" at your guild meeting as a door prize. Or the fat quarters you bought because they were soooo inexpensive.

None of those fat quarters were the cream of the crop in terms of designs and colors in the first place. After all, there is a reason they were free!

So I have now decided that I need to do something about those fat quarters I was calling ugly but those which really fall into the category of "What Was I Thinking" when I bought this piece of fabric!

Here is the formula. 

First cut one strip 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5 inches wide by 18 inches long. You have now used 12.5 inches of the 22 inch width of the fat quarter.

Next cut a 6.5 inch strip.

Cut this strip into one 6.5 inch square.

You should have about 11.5 inches left of the original 18 inch long piece. 
Use this "left over" piece to cut bricks which measure 6.5 x 3.5. 
You can also cut bricks that are 2.5 x 3.5 or 2.5 x 4.5. 
You can also cut squares that are 3.5 inches or 2.5 inches, or 2.0 inches or 1.5 inches.

There are options since not all fat quarters are cut the same. 

You could also cut the strips 22 inches long across the 18 inch width.   In this scenario you will probably have a strip closer to 5 inches left to cut a 5 inch square, then a 1.5 inch strip and a 3.5 x 6.5 inch rectangle, a 2.5 x 3.5 inch rectangle, 2.5 x 4 inch rectangle leaving a 1 inch scrap and a less than 2 inch rectangle.

Once again, not all fat quarters are created equal, so it is a good idea to have some projects in mind while you are cutting scraps.  A visit with your favorite scrap quilter, either on the web or from your quilt book library will help you decide which quilts you might want to construct in the future and thus which sizes of strips, bricks and squares you will want to cut in the present.

Managing your stash is never easy. But now those "ugly" or "What Was I Thinking" fat quarters in your stash are usable. They may still be ugly to me, but they are useable!


PS. Straightening strips (identified above as scraps) in case case go to Mom who crochets "rag" rugs. Very little of the yardage and fat quarters is wasted when you practice this cutting methodology!