I have been in your situation many, many times. Now I try (not always successfully) to put fabrics, pattern, or magazine together in a jumbo zip-lock bag, so when I get back to a project, everything should be there. That went out the window when we moved from a house to an apt., but I'm slowly getting things organized, so I'm definitely doing my best to keep projects together in those bags. Of course, once you find or buy another piece of fabric, the original binding will show up. Murphy's Law.