I have it both ways, you get more piled, but when you have to pull out a fabric from the middle, you get a mess, unless you take out the entire pile. I have long yardage (3 or more) on the cardboard holders from the quilt stores, I have 3 yards and less on plastic flats (sign board from lowe's, my dh cut them into the sizes I needed). I also have tubs filled with fabric.