yel

get your bestest girlfriend and a bottle of wine ......jump right in ....

quilter68

Yep, that is what my sewing room looks like! This is my reason for sewing on the dinning room table.

Sorry, I don't have ideas for you but I do have empathy.

Letty

Turn the fan on ??!! Or maybe that's what you already did----sorry, only joking,my room often looks like that ! Love Letty

mighty

This sounds like a excellent plan!!!

rjwilder

If you have the space I would take everything to another room. Maybe set up a few tables or use a bed to put the stuff on. Then you will have an empty room, that will help when you put the stuff back in. Then sort into piles by colors and/or size. Fold the larger pieces, roll up or fold the batting. The completed projects or WIP's could either be folded or hung on sturdy hangers. After the sorting, folding and hanging is completed then go out and buy the appropriate size bins and hangers for your stuff. Also shelving or storage units that fit the room if you need those. Get plastic bins that you can stack and see thru. Put a strip of blue painters tape on the ends of the bins and label them. Then put it all back in the room so it is accessible to you. If you can reach it, and see what's inside the bins you are likely to keep things organized and put stuff away.

quiltmom04

I had a pile that looked very much like that. I sorts first into sizes. Anything under a half yard was considered a " scrap " and went into one pile. Then I sorted the rest by color. I know that lots of people use the boards to wrap fabric, but to me that's a waste of time to refold and wrap, and money for the board. Just fold it. Then put the sorted colors in the storage of your choice - I use clear bins, but you could use shelves, bags or whatever, depending on how much you have. I have a container for WIP's ( works in progress ) and sets of fabric that is already coordinated, so I don't accidentally use a key piece of fabric in another project that in one project that I was already part of a set. Just pick away at it and it will eventually get organized!

bearisgray

I applaud you for being brave enough to show us what your space looked like at that moment.

llong0233

Like most tasks...one step at a time. Biggest part of the job is starting. Good luck!

cricket_iscute

Think about how you are going to use it. Will you be using a group of fabric together? I see some autumn fabrics. Then store it as a group. What are your categories? I see a "to be quilted" and a "batting" and a lot of "to be sorted." For that last category, unless you have something else in mind, I'd sort and store by color. Wind the bigger pieces around your ruler or use mini bolts of cardboard. Did you ever think of using the smaller pieces for a string quilt? It's quick and easy and all the colors go together. If so, you could put all the smaller pieces one container despite color and just pull from that for string or scrap quilts.

I feel for you. I have a 10x12 storage space and did have everything sorted in boxes and on shelves, easily accessible, according to color. Then DH dumped a whole lot of stuff in the middle of the room and now I have a mess. To be fair, I am disabled and couldn't do it myself, but now I have a much bigger mess to clean up than you do. The breezeway is also a mess. A friend and I have given it a lot of thought (I make a lot of quilts for homeless families) to a course of action. What we have decided, since I know I'll be getting a big donation soon, is a threefold approach: 1) sort out and give away locally what we can't use, which I do every autumn; 2) Ruler fold the bigger backing pieces and see if that will make more room in the boxes; and 3) buy a Accuquilt GO with these strip cutters: 2.5, 4.5, and 5". Cut up all the scraps and small yardage. These three sizes will allow any jell roll quilts, and Nickel quilts, and quite a few others. If there is money, also get a 6.5 strip for strip quilts. We figure that if we have the pieces all cut and waiting, a lot more sewing will get done. I am a good rotary cutter and she is a very frustrated rotary cutter, so even though I don't want the expense, as she points out, it will make a bigger impact than any other sewing-related purchase could. But the last time I cut pieces for a quilt, it took 40 hours for just one quilt, and I think that time could be put to better use sewing and quilting.

What do you think of my plan?

lawsonmugs

First start with a very big glass of wine........