Charm Pack/layer cake organization ?
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 180
Charm Pack/layer cake organization ?
How do you organize your charm packs/layer cakes. Do you just leave them as is? Or do you sort by color, designer, etc? My shoe boxes are becoming full and they all look pretty but I was looking for a more effective way to get to my stash.
Mary Ann
Mary Ann
#2
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 41,535
I don’t usually buy precuts and I have been stash sewing for a couple of years now. I have drawer filled with adorable fat quarters that I have been using for face masks this year. I am trying to reduce my stash so I say, use it, forget storage.
#3
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Central NM
Posts: 1,596
I leave layer cakes alone and bought 12*12 plastic containers w/lids for storage. Charms are different. I keep them bundled until I start using them. I find that sometimes I find just the right pieces for a project in a charm pack. I have clear shoe boxes, again, w/lids stroring packs "broken" by color. Some charm packs I have stored with rubber band to keep them together.
In orther words, find a system that works for your "searching" method.
In orther words, find a system that works for your "searching" method.
#4
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: northern minnesota
Posts: 2,480
I have stopped buying charm packs and layer cakes.....I will sometimes cut them myself....I have a shoe box of "charm squares" cut out of scraps. For the ones I still have, I just keep them as they come and basically, if I find a pattern I like that calls for "Layer cakes" or 'charm packs" I just go look at what I already have and use it up. I found that the layer cakes and charmed packs seldom worked for me as either they had some colors or designs that did not work for what I was making and I had to cut some out of my stash to make them work or there simply was not enough of them to make what I wanted to make. Now my they are just a part of my "scrappy" stash and get used as I make a scrappy quilt.
#5
I don't buy charm packs as I use all my scraps first to make charms and I have a box that is the perfect size to store them in. I think that and my yardage stash are the only things really in order in my sewing studio. I do buy the occasional layer cake. I would love to be able to make my own but that time is coming I hope. I use the Accuquilt cutting system so I always have the perfect size charms. I do not have the larger machine that would cut layer cakes. (not associated with Accuquilt). My layer cakes are stored in a corner of my room and stacked as neatly as I can.
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Davenport, Iowa
Posts: 3,882
Once upon a time (in the Land of Fabric) I bought all kinds of charm squares and layer cakes, and fat quarters. Eventually it came to pass that I had so many I wasn't using that they ended up being sold to someone else. Now I only buy if I know for absolute sure they will be used. Layer cakes are stored in dresser drawers and charm squares are placed in 6"x6" plastic containers with lids and put in the dresser. But still, I can't sew fast enough to use everything up and may be selling off again!
#9
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 5,963
I keep them flat and together in a stack. I also leave fat quarters and jelly rolls together. I love that I get the full range of the fabric line. Though I almost always add solids since precuts have a tendency to be all prints.