How did this happen...
 

I decided to clean and re-organize my sewing room to start off the New Year right. OMG, where did all this come from. Maybe I am out of control when I see fabric on sale. To make it worse I just ordered 15 more yards. Look out Secret Pal, you are going to help with my de-stashing. And scraps...I think they multiply when I turn off the lights.

I guess I need to stay out of quilt shops until I get some projects done.

you just love to quilt and have supplies on hand don't worry about the extra fabric you will use it. happy new year too.

With the price of fabric going up so much I am sure you will be glad you have so much on hand.

Thanks Jennifer, what you can't see on the other side of the room is masses (probably 20 yards) of polar fleece for making dog mats. I'm not even sure I can fold and store all that is on my ironing board and cutting table.

You room looks great. How lucky you are to have all that wonderful fabric.

begin by getting rid of those scraps...
when cutting, (no reason to put this off, the stuff's on your mat, cutter's in your hand) evaluate...
what's left? is it more than 1/4 yd? trim tiny points and pieces and put in middle of mat. fold the rest and put back in your stash, folded edge forward.
Is it less than 1/4 yd? cut into your personal strip preference...mine is 2.5"... i cut all I can, and then sort them into the right color pizza box to store.
Now the leftover weird pcs, either the tiny ones or the leftovers after the strips... pile and slice several times to make confetti. Sort into correct color baggie.
If you do this while you are cutting, it will take 2 minutes more and your shelves will be better. Your confetti will be ready to use or let the kids play with...(i let them cut iron on interfacing into animal or toy shapes, then supervise while they sprinkle with confetti colors in the right places and press to set...then i put them on t-shirts, baby blocks, nursery items...the kids love them and are busy.............or donate to people who like confetti quilts. The strips are color sorted and ready to use when you're in the mood to just make a strip block in the evening without any hassle or add to your next scrap project.
AND, big bonus...you know that every piece in your stash is a minimum of 1/4 yard.
I put in a bit of time when i first did this but it didn't take long to just do the piece i was cutting and 3 or 4 more at the same time...now if i'm in a big hurry, i just push it off to the side and do it with the next piece.
Do you use from your stash? I find a lot of my friends don't use FROM their stash, they just add to it. Try sorting it in a different way... just pick up the stack of greens and put them next to the browns on the other end of the shelf...put all the pinks, reds and whites together...next time put all the black whites and grays together... i do this easily by taking then entire stack of green off, get the ones i like for cutting, and then when i put the stack back, i put it somewhere else. you will SEE it more and notice different combos.... and just remember to SHOP the STASH first..... then take all of them or their corresponding color chips to the store for those extras you need...you will buy much less...

Polar fleece seems to multiply in my sewing room too, and it's so bulky. I finally put a tall bookshelf in my room and I folded up the pieces and stored them there. If I can see it, I'll use it. Of course, I have 2 garbage bags full of fleece in my garage, a donation from someone, and no room for it in my sewing room. Time to make some blankets for charity!

I think your sewing area looks like a dream compared to some that are posted here. I try to keep mine reasonably neat as I sew in such a small space, I can't afford for it to get too messy. But I fail miserably some times. Check out some of the other posts here about sewing spaces and you'll feel much better.

Deemail, you have some great ideas and I will definitely try some of them. I hesitate to cut the leftovers until I am completely done with that color in the quilt in case I make a mistake and need more. I like the idea of migrating colors for inspiration.

Karen, I had already organized about 1/2 of what you can see...LOL

i agree, but i cut everything at once...so i am done when i get to that step...and of course, you could always make a 'todo' shelf for those pieces that are 'in work' right now and then when the top's done, you know where everything is that needs attention without letting your main stash get mixed up. I also don't worry about not having enough of any one fabric as i rarely use one fabric all the way thru a top... I would have pulled 3 or 4 'yellows' in the first place, and i consider them interchangeable... and of course if there is 1/4 yard, it's going back in the stash anyway...i don't cut up large pieces, just the little ones.... my stash is 32 ft long, 5 shelves high...the bottom row (in bins) is all dressmaking fabric, but the rest is all quilting.... there's always another piece of fabric you can use... check out the DWR here to see what i mean...red is red and yellow is yellow and which one is not important to me...they're just like different pots of paint...
Double Wedding Ring from Cheryl Phillips' Book

OMG!! I have a "twin". I really believe I love fabric more than I love quilting. Please, please get my name!

Today I was looking for a certain pattern and ended up organizing them and circle filing some of them. I hope it makes it easier to find them now. I never did find the one I wanted.

I feel your pain. Have you ever bought a pattern and then found the same pattern when you got home? After doing it a few times I made a spread sheet of my patterns so I could check to make sure I didn't already have it. Of course, if I have so many patterns that I can't keep track of them, maybe I should quit buying them. But then, where's the fun in that, right?

Ohhhh, that makes me want to sign up for the secret pal swap again...LOL

Thank you so much for all the wonderful ideas. I am organizing my stash and every new hint helps. Right now, I have most of my fabric in large clear rubbermaid bins wrapped on the plastic boards from MILate. I am planning to get some cabinents with doors so I can store the fabric without opening all the plastic containers when I am looking for something.

I had most of my older stash in the clear bins...that's where most of the surprises were found. Now I only have 3 bins with new fabric, 3 bins of scraps, 1 bin of leftover binding, and 1 of scrap battings. I used my label maker to ID all of them. Progress.

Aren't label makers wonderful! I don't think I could exist without one.

It's funny and almost frightening at the same time. Last time I organized and took stock of my stash, I had NO idea I had that much fabric. From the looks of your sewing room, and it's looking very tidy to me, I have twice as much fabric, and that's honestly, not boasting. I'm thinking I may not live long enough to use it all. My best friend and fabric enabler kept/keeps encouraging saying "we're saving (fabric) for our retirement". Well, mine starts 3/31/12. Time to start using more and buying less.

I spent Friday visiting 3 LQS and didn't realize till today how much I have accumulated! Already did my first project for 2012 - new pillow cases for my bed. Now to chose new patterns for all that fabric. Happy New Year and to lots of sewing/quilting - Cheers!

Mission accomplished[ATTACH=CONFIG]299495[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]299496[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]299497[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]299499[/ATTACH]

I also contacted a friend about building shelves in my oak thingy (it was the top of our TV cabinet until I bought an extra big screen.) I'm going to print these photo, tape them up in the sewing room to remind me how to keep it neat.

Those white bags under the table are full of polar fleece to make dog mats. I need 8 done by February for a specialty dog show so that will clear out soon...I hope.

I identified 7 projects and put them in separate bins in ziplock bags WITH the patterns. I am so ready to sew.

I think we all have this problem :)

Your room looks great - you've been busy.

I've been rearranging and trying to get better organized too. I'm like you - where did all this come from? LOL. Lots of good ideas being posted so I'm going to follow this thread. I would love to be organized again. I used to be but something has happened to me lately.Good luck with your sewing room.

you have a fantastic sewing area

Thanks Fred. It is very small that is why the shelves go so high that I need a stepladder.
And come March I have to share the space with a litter of puppies if the breeding goes well.
Of course there will be photos of that too.

I have been trying to clean up my space too. I think the fabric is multiplying behind my back.

Want another secret pal? I'll volunteer. It's the least I can do. lol.

Yep, that looks exactly like my sewing room right now. Today, I start re-organizing. I swear. I promise. I take an oath. First, I'm going to have a cuppa. I guess it's the New Year. I just feel giggley.

I understand completely. Didn't realize I had so much fabric until we moved last April. But, now that I see that I have almost enough for a store, does that keep me from buying more? Nooooooooo.

You can never have too much fabric. With the prices now, it's an investment.

same here but gave all but about 1/4 away whene i moved to fl dh said we were moveing into a 5th wheel so no room well guess what in a 3br apt dont work any more so no frabice a little here a little there.

You did a great job on getting control over your space. I try to keep mine in some order... but as soon as I get going on a project ... all is lost !! Literally !

Sounds like a good problem to have!! :) I think we all love a bit (or more) of fabric!! Good luck using that all up!!!

Rachel

From what I can see of your sewing room, you have NOTHING to complain about!! I'd love it if that was my space! I will admit to being a bit of a slob when it comes to cleaning. Unless I get inspired, my whole house is usually 10 times worse than that! Enjoy!!

My New Year's resolution is to finish every project I started before going on to something new--stay tuned :-)

Me too!!! Me too!!!

Thanks for posting pics. I took notes to help me organize my sewing room. I just moved everything downstairs to a larger room. I didn't realize how much I really had. My 14 year old granddaughter is trying to organize the fabric for me. Right now she has containers of strips, squares, ufo's. I told her we need to separate the strips and squares into the different sizes. Then we'll need to separate the colors.

Some organization, and some quilts made for loved ones is all its going to take.
Fabric makes us happy, just looking at all the quilts on our 'to do' list.
Winter is coming, a great time to make some quilts.

OOOH Iam droolilng, have fun sewing this year!:)