Organizing your Fabric Stash, Help needed

[Borderline Quilter]

Oh my!!!!

I might have large sewing surfaces.....but my stash is nothing like some of yours!!!

Now.... I .....wish!

[blair8904]

My yardage is all folder the same size; salvage to salvage then folded around my 6"x24" ruler. Slide the ruler out and fold in half. That way it is all 6" x 11". Then it is stacked on 12" shelves. Batiks, orientals, Christmas and Civil War fabrics are together by color. The rest is by color also. FQ are in 12" deep plastic bins, again by color. Projects are together on their own shelf.

Easy to see and enjoy everything this way, for me.

[FloridaMissy]

I've enjoyed reading this thread and looking at the pics

My FQ's are in plastic shoe boxes with labels on the outside of what color, batiks, holiday print, and portrait quilt fabrics are all kept seperate.

If I buy fabric for a pattern it goes into its own see through bin with the pattern, at a glance I can see what I still need in order to make the quilt

I have a full wall of built in shelves which houses the bins. I use the zipper boxes from Joanns for backs and my wool stash.

I keep Jo Morton fabric seperate from the other CW fabric.

I group my magazines in plastic racks labeled and books are grouped by type, applique, borders etc.

Now that I'm into long arm quilting it is another dilema to organize but I keep 3 stackable flip top boxes from Joanns on the floor next to the frame. The small one holds thread, bobbins, needles.

Next size holds canned air, manual etc.

Bottom largest holds my extended base, rulers and templates.

Florida Missy

[mrsbishwit]

I have my stash sorted like Kristina, however it is in need of a makeover system because I am evolving into a more frugal quilter, thanks to Bonnie Hunter and her books, lol yesterday I spent most of the day trying to figure out how to fit more storage to accomodate my scrap stash into user friendly areas...I am doomed because it is very over whelming right now. I think my summer will be dedicated to tamming the stash to be more user friendly.

[Daisy2018]

Scrap stash is the worst of my stuff: I want to use it, I don't know where it will end up, I keep a wild variety of scraps, some is "smallish", it doesn't fold neatly......So three years ago, after my last child went off to college, I decided to use January to DO scraps.

My plan is that in Jan. I take all the scraps out and put them in compatible piles, then I sew very simple quilts (just squares, bricks, etc.) from them, no time for log cabins etc. I quickly get them on the long arm (ok so sometimes I get a little behind here...) So that at the end of Jan. I don't have any more than 1/2 a drawer of leftover scraps. This keeps it all from getting to be too much of a mess, and the best part of it, I don't think of it at all the whole rest of the year. Too, if you let your scraps "rest" a year, you may have the courage to say, "They are too small to use"! Pat

[witha'K'quilting]

Joanne, Yep...bonnie hunter was my inspiration!

[quilted charm]

Buying fabric is an ilness of mine. If I'm in a bad mood I buy, if I'm happy I buy, etc.... I moved into a med. size bedroom when I got the LA. The only problem is the long arm only fit one way, sooooo I can only get into the closet if I crawl under the LA. My kids think that hilarious. I bought an old cabinet made out of old painted doors, and it's full to the max. Then I moved into the bathroom! No room for towels, but I figure since the ironing board is in there too, no one is actually going to use it for a bathroom, so no big deal right? Then just last week, I got two book shelves and put them back to back. One side for fabric, one side for long arm supplies. Now if I don't move too quickly, I can actually move around and get to all those places:).

As far as fabric, it is just put in the shelves any old way, unless it was bought for a specific quilt. then it is in a big 2 lt. bag along with the pattern.

I gotta get organized some day!!

[KathG]

Thanks everyone, I love all your stories how you do or do not:D organize your stash. Loving all the photos too !!!.

[Little House Creations]

Here's my very little stash and my equally little quilting room. I just sorted yardages, 1/2 yard cuts, FQs and what you can't see is two bins of scraps, and another bin of projects ready to go . . . You may notice I was doing a bit (lot) of frogging on the practice quilt on Lennie - I quilted a panto row TWICE in the same spot - such a drag! Let's hope I can post these pictures with a link:

https://cid-09dcadd66ad6fde6.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=play&resid=9DCADD66AD6FDE6!330&authkey=DLSIXXfZQgs%24

[Oma]

Very pretty room and your quilts are beautiful.

[KathG]

Bev, love your studio, thanks for sharing !

[Linda G. Craig]

Kath, I too am enjoying this thread. Great topic! Only yesterday I was looking at my shelves of fabrics thinking, holy smokes, I need to do something about this stash -- then shrugged my shoulders and went to my sewing machine and started piecing flying geese! LOL! My next hurdle though is all the books and magazines I have. It's becoming ridiculous! And I'm ashamed to say they are all over our home, wherever I might have a few minutes to browse something you'll find a stack of magazines and books. I think it will take me a day or two to reorganize myself. Thanks for all the ideas!

[witha'K'quilting]

This just posted on Bonnie Hunter's blog... http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2011/04/scrappy-mountains-in-trumbull.html....

" Start with a project you have always wanted to make….cut for it from your scraps…and as you clean up the left overs from that project…slice the remaining fabrics down. Make sure that NOTHING you take OUT of the “scrap box” gets puts back IN that “scrap box” again. We are going FORWARD, not BACKWARD! "

I do this very thing and it has helped tame the stash!

[Neher-in-law5]

Interesting thread here. I have things in 3 drawer units under the drop leaf of George's table (leaf is never put down!) and the drop leaf of my sewing cabinet. There are a few more in other tubs under the bed or in the slanted eaves of the loft. I control the scrap problem by not ever having scraps! I don't do scrappy--hurts the brain too much, so the small pieces that are still usable go back in the drawer with similar colors or attitude. I usually am able to use the fabric up to nothing or have a 1/4 to 1/2 yard or more left.

[KathG]

Kristina, thanks for the link. I have spent most of the day, going through my scraps, trying to put them in some sort of order. I have been wanting to use my Go tumbler block for ages, so some of the bigger scraps will go into that. Also I have wanted to make a string quilt, so lots of scraps are getting sorted to go into that.

With Linda mentioning her books and magazines, it has made me wonder does everyone keep there magazines, or is there a time when you say some of them most go, ?

[meg]

kath - i used to keep everything....but my goodness....it became too much! so i take real good articles and whatever patterns i think i might make out of my magazines and have them in binders. it ismuch easier to find what i'm looking for and it saves me lots of shelf space. i still keep all my books, but i am much pickier about what i buy now.

[Oma]

I had quilt magazines dating back to the 70's...and a few years ago I gave them away...at times I wish I hadn't. I have started scanning patterns from my magazines to the computer and I save them on an external harddrive. I took the doors off a fairly good size closet in my sewing room and put shelves up and it holds my books and magazines, however, I intend to go through them when I start remodeling the room and I will be getting rid of most of them.

Buying all the new magazines is sort of a compulsion. There's always at least one pattern in each book I just know I will do...(batting my eyelashes here).

This reminds me of a story about my step-daughter when she was about five and we were on vacation. She saw a Barbie doll in a travel shop that she wanted. I asked her, "Sarah, how many Barbie's do you have?" She counted on her fingers and said she had 27 then she looked straight at my husband...batted her pretty little eyelashes...and very seriously said, "But Daddy...I don't have THAT one". Needless to say she had another one to add to her collection. That was almost twenty years ago and I still say to my husband..."but, honey...I don't have THAT one".

[mrsbishwit]

Originally posted by oma

I had quilt magazines dating back to the 70's...and a few years ago I gave them away...at times I wish I hadn't. I have started scanning patterns from my magazines to the computer and I save them on an external harddrive. I took the doors off a fairly good size closet in my sewing room and put shelves up and it holds my books and magazines, however, I intend to go through them when I start remodeling the room and I will be getting rid of most of them.

Scanning the articles/patterns is an excellent idea..I think this is the way to go for me. Thanks for the idea! :cool::cool:

[cookie]

It is so good to know that I am not alone with my "need" to buy fabric. As I am new to patchwork (2 years) my family really do think I have a problem in that the amount of fabric bought does not equal the amount of quilt tops produced! They just don't understand!! I have just finished turning my garage into a sewing room and I cant believe the amount of boxes that have been "stashed" all over the house. As for sorting them - not sure - I have just enjoyed looking at all the fabric again so much! I also buy books and magazines!