Originally Posted by
np3
You will get a lot of different answers here. And you can use the search for even more ideas.
I have learned that if I buy a collection or coordinates for a specific quilt, that I need to keep them together with the pattern and tie them with a ribbon. Otherwise I might use a piece that I can't replace when I am ready to make that quilt or project.
My "stash" I group by theme, juvenile, holiday, etc. Others will sort by color. You need to figure out what works for you.
I'm actually in the process of screening, purging and (re)grouping yardage (including fat quarters), but the system will be the same. Like np3;3094031, I also bundle fabrics for a specific project with a ribbon or ziplock bag (with front-to-back holes punched in it for the fabric to breathe better) if some or most of the pieces are alread cut; I also tuck a COPY of the pattern photo underneath the ribbon tie so I won't forget what I had planned. [I know that's never happened to anyone else....]
Fat quarters and yardage up to 1 yard are stored in my floor-to-ceiling melamine cabinets (no leaching of woods into the fabric), either in drawers (like sock drawers), or pull-out shelves. Fabric types are clustered together (1930's, civil war, batiks, kids, novelty, baby/infant, holiday, solids, etc. I have a separate drawer for precut shapes and appliques (hexagons, diamonds, tumblers, butterflies, etc.) BUT fabrics that can go with any of these fabric types are in the center cluster of drawers.
I have three pull-out shelves for projects that need finishing, mostly queen quilt tops, because the design isn't "done" yet, regardless of the pattern; I'm able to go back to these and knock them off thoughtfully. In one case I had to wait 3 years for the right fabric to use as a broderie perse solution to a not-successful color selection for a Yellow Brick Road quilt top.
What's gotten REALLY out of hand for me have been the scraps, but I finally settled on a system of how to cut them so that I'll actually do something fairly quick and easy; since a lot of the work of any quilt is cutting the fabric into shapes (rectangles, squares, strips), I took a look at what patterns I found attractive and made a master list of those precut components for several types of blocks for scrap quilts. My husband has enthusiastically volunteered (really, he did!) to help me after the first of the year with this scrap-taming task: grab a piece from one of the five copy paper boxes of scraps, cut it into the size and shape of choice (no overthinking!), sort into shapes (then by size) for sorting into fabric types (1930's, batiks, holiday, etc.), then by color. I won't get stuck with overthinking with someone else who loves quilts working beside me; I also like the idea of our doing something together like this. These new precuts will be stored in plastic shoe boxes. Then, using the Leaders & Enders approach, I'll just start knocking off block component construction (9- & 4-patches, half- and quarter- square triangles) to grab-and-go to the design wall to lay out those scrap quilts.
THE BEST PART OF SCRAP TAMING: FIGURING OUT WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE "SHAVINGS" & TRIMMINGS! Our guild is now collecting them from every quilter to use as stuffing for anti-ouch pouches (these go between the upper arm and side of women who have had breat surgery), Paul Newman's turtle pillows, stuffing for the bears our guild gives to charity, stuffing for Me dolls (dolls made for children undergoing surgery), pin cushions and such for fundraisers. Several of us admitted we hate throwing those shavings and trimmings away, so now we have something concrete to do with them, and our collective efforts can really make a difference.