Iceblossom

I mostly work in scrap quilts and I keep all my fabric sorted into color/theme sorted boxes. I use cardboard "banker" boxes because they stack well and keep out the light and I don't have any issues with bugs. To some people even though I have been reducing it, I have a huge stash. For me, I figure it fits in one room and I know people with entire basements and storage units of fabric... I prefer to prewash my fabric so it is ready to be used, I press and fold ready for cutting -- the box size is very convenient for that.

For years I used to throw my scraps into a hamper but it was a terrible mess to work with, it wasn't pleasant to sort through and I always had to spend a bunch of time with the fabric once I found it refolding, ironing, etc.

A few years ago I started cutting my leftover fabric to pre-determined sizes, badly cut ends went into their own "string" box which periodically got sewn together into "fabric" for use in various projects. They stacked neater and I could sort through them easier but I realized that no matter how I had them organized, there was no single answer. I keep them loosely color sorted but maybe this time I want all civil war or 30s or florals or whatever. Still, I can sort through a large amount of fabric quickly and easily.

In the last year or two I've decided I don't want to keep/store anything smaller than 6.5" wide. because although I can cut a piece smaller I can't make them any bigger. I had a moment recently with finding some Y2K squares and looking around and realizing that I could spend my entire quilting career with nothing but 2.5" cuts... while that could be sort of fun and satisfying in one way, in another way I was horrified! I made up a top for me and the memories and sent all the other strips and squares away.

So that's what I do now with my small scraps. Fat quarters and up go into the sorted theme/color boxes. Smaller than that and they get cut into a 6.5" WoF which goes into the 6.5" strips box. The remnants get sent to a crumb quilter I met here on the board. I keep a flat rate postage box by my cutting area and the scraps get put in there (neatly as I go) until I fill the box.

I've been working on reducing my stash, largely because I am dealing with progressive vision loss and no, I'm never going to use up all this fabric I've collected over the years. In the race about "she with the most fabric wins", I've already placed. Had to face a bunch of things and look at life with a different perspective. Life is too short to burden ourselves with the things we don't want/care about and that includes at least some fabric! Keep the stuff you love, ditch the rest.

First to go was my garment construction stuff, I found a textile student from the local arts college on Craig's List and gave her all non-quilting yardage. Another person into Cosplay took the fancy bits and pieces of velvet and lame and such. All the craft stuff went to a local elementary school art teacher. Bags of fabrics and orphan blocks and UFOs (mostly ones I picked up at thrift stores and not my own, but a couple were mine) went to a church group that supported various causes. It's easy to find people who want larger pieces of fabric. There are people here (and at most quilt groups) willing to take the small bits, some are willing to pay for the postage even.