First of all, I put in bookcases that I had bought at Office Max and then I took one of the removable shelves to Home Depot and had them to cut me extra shelves so that I could separate the colors and not have them stacked so high. This worked great. I also have 4 of the 9cube book cases that you can get from Walmarts. Some have the canvas totes and other do not. My projects go into the totes with pictures on the outside to show what is in there. They now have stackable drawers for these cubes so I want to get some for my FQ. I have tons of fleece that I have in storage containers under my bed since I know that I need them unless I'm making something with fleece. Having all of my fabric out to see easily has made a world of difference. I had forgotten that I had a lot of it.
Towards the end of last yr I decided that I wouldn't buy any more fabric until I got caught up with my WIP. I started with the ones that could be finished the fastest so the pile would go down faster. The only exception was if I had a quilt or embroidery project that was meant for a gift then it went to the top of the pile. I finished my DGD 3D pinwheel quilt for her birthday and found I had extra squares withe 3D pinwheels so that'll be pillows for her bed. This weekend I'm going to finish her pillows and then start on finishing my son's quilt for his birthday in April. I haven't bought any fabric since last yr execpt for what I need for my monthly embroidery club. That is learning so I do that but if I don't finish it in class I finish it the same week so that they don't pile up on me.
If having so much out it the problem, then pack away alot of the fabric that you won't use to finish your WIP or don't have a plan for yet. As you work thru your projects and reduce the pile you can slowly start unpacking your fabric or other projects. I also have projects for kits that I bought and haven't started on but those won't get touched until I finish what I started so those are packed away. For you I think you have to go with the out of sight out of mind thing so that your mind doesn't wonder to much from what needs to be done to what you want to be done. I think most of us get overwhelmed at times over something but you just have to figure out what works for you. Good luck and let us know if you find a system that works for you.
By the way, I just made it thru the Hampton Quilt show and bought no fabric. There was some that I wanted for a jacket but knew that I had bought two patterns and a fabric at the Raleigh NC sewing expo and hadn't used it so I told myself no until I make what I bought. I went home and looked for the pattern and one of the fabrics that I wanted to buy was the same one I bought last yr for a jacket.
Last edited by romanojg; 03-05-2013 at 05:37 AM.