I'm in the same boat as they say, that is why I mailed out so many boxes today , I just got back from lowes and bought some shelves, what does not fit on them is also out the door ! At least it looks like you have the room to get it organized. I am a horrible organizer , I get overwhelmed and also have horrible ADD with out the hyperactivity part , too bad I don't have the hyperactivity with my ADD . Lots of good suggestions here ,I will look forward to seeing your end results.Good luck to you !

QuilterMomma - I love everyone's ideas here. Perhaps I can add one more to the list. Incorporate the help of a close friend to help you stay focused. The chat will help your time go smoothly and you'll have another brain to bounce ideas off of. That hurricane sight will be quickly tamed into a workable quilt room. Before you begin, be sure to have comic boards, plastic boxes, ziplock bags on hand - whatever you decide to help you manage control. Once you decide what to do with each piece, don't re-think it. Just keep going!! Please take photos of your progress. We are all rooting for you and look forward to seeing your well organized room very soon!!

I've got similar piles in every corner of my sewing room. I've been chomping at it bit by bit, but the piles seem to multiply as I "organize." The one thing that I do feel that I accomplished is the batting. I rolled up separate pieces that were of "usable" size and bagged in the original plastic bags they were brought home in. Those I stacked on the highest shelf of the closet. I boxed small scraps that I was saving to make 6-hour quilts, small projects, etc. I brought this box to a friend who makes things for the animal shelter. I've put a lot of folded fabric in clear vinyl bins. It's neat but unhandy for me. The bins are heavy to move around when I need to get into them for fabric. The folded-on-rulers fabric in the recycled kitchen cabinet was once neat, but pulling out fabrics leave it's mark. The frustration gives me the jitters. Right now, I've got these piles stacked in front of the furniture on one side of the room which makes reaching some of it almost impossible. There is a path to the sewing machine so I am managing to get some sewing done. I sew a little and organize a little. It is mindboggling and unnerving. Those of you who have been here for a while know that this is my perpetual song. I've been at it for years. I love this board. "United we stand." or as one board members stated in her signature: "Untied" we stand.:D

I like neatly folded material in my piles and the fastest and favorite way is to fold freehand to a paperback size.folded so can put in bin with back up. By putting 5-8 in at a time they line up neatly. I like shallow bins(or boxes) so are easy to see all at one time and easy to lift. Painters tape label on all bins.

organize
 

by folding to same size you have a rough idea of size by thickness of "paperback". I start at around 13".
Smaller stuff is sorted by strips or need cut to a usefull size and then into sorted into strips, squares and triangles, and put away.(ongoing)ready to use.

zozee.....come visit me :). Seriously, when I start sorting fabric, I look at it and decide.....love it, loved it when I bought it, hate it now. Will never use it in a quilt........poof it goes in the bag for the Prayers & Squares Ministry. I kept about a fat quarter of each fabric so I have it for my applique. I got rid of half my stash that way.

There was a time (a few years ago) where I used my 3rd. bedroom as an office, sewing room and dumped everything else in it. It was a mess and I didn't sew for the longest time because it was very confusing to be in there let alone work in there. I am ADD and when I walk into something like that it absolutely overwhelms me. The first thing I did was take everything out. I kept the furniture, but everything else went into the 2nd. bedroom. I washed everything--floors and all. Then I sat down on my computer and planned it out on Word using the shapes (you can move them around your pretend room. Printed it, then wrote on the shapes of what should go where. The next day I sorted everything in some type of piles. On the 3rd. day I took the piles back into the sewing room and placed them in their specified place. I know this sounds a little overboard, but starting from a clean slate is soo much easier. I would attach a pix of my room, but I am having a very hard time downloading for some reason.

Just jump in and sort and fold 1 piece at a time.

By now you have probably made great indents in the taks of organising. Please give us another update. I'm sitting on the sidelines waiting for the advice on how to handle the last bits that do not seem to fit into any of the categories you have created.
Am also going though fabrics bought in the previous century ruler folding the bigger pieces and cutting the rest into 5 and 2½ inch squares and a variety of strips. My friend is laughing to see me actually thowing out the odd scrap (very painful experience that one), but the crumbs crate is close to overflowing. Several boxes to go and still sorting the newer fabrics into the new shelves and re-purposing the plastic containers in which they were sort of sorted.

Feel your pain and can't wait to see 'after' pictures.