Guys look at projects two different ways: they're either creating OR doing. The doer mode has to have everything organized. The creator type doesn't mind having stuff around, ready to grab and audition and perhaps discard.
There's also a question of project SCALE. My husband loves making miniature clipper ships and small project leather-working. All of his clipper ship stuff goes into a fishing-tackle sized storage box with drawers. The same for his leatherwork; his leather scraps occupy a large drawer he installed under his work table. His tools are on the wall. You just can't do that with sewing and quilting - even miniature quilts. There's also very little variation in supplies and requirements for his ship projects - they're all the same scale. One queen sized quilt (nicely folded) simply requires a far greater volume of material and supplies than one of his ships, and there are far more opportunities for variation in finishes: pieced or simple borders, sashing, binding, quilting thread colors, batting (one package of batting is the same size of or larger than one of his ships). My husband also does not have more than one model ship or leatherwork projects going at the same time; right now I have four lap quilts, a dress-up bridal gown & veil, and eight customized placemats in various stages of assembly to get ready for Christmas.