Sunnie

I decided to clean and re-organize my sewing room to start off the New Year right. OMG, where did all this come from. Maybe I am out of control when I see fabric on sale. To make it worse I just ordered 15 more yards. Look out Secret Pal, you are going to help with my de-stashing. And scraps...I think they multiply when I turn off the lights.

I guess I need to stay out of quilt shops until I get some projects done.

jennifer winters

you just love to quilt and have supplies on hand don't worry about the extra fabric you will use it. happy new year too.

crafty pat

With the price of fabric going up so much I am sure you will be glad you have so much on hand.

Sunnie

Thanks Jennifer, what you can't see on the other side of the room is masses (probably 20 yards) of polar fleece for making dog mats. I'm not even sure I can fold and store all that is on my ironing board and cutting table.

mighty

You room looks great. How lucky you are to have all that wonderful fabric.

deemail

begin by getting rid of those scraps...
when cutting, (no reason to put this off, the stuff's on your mat, cutter's in your hand) evaluate...
what's left? is it more than 1/4 yd? trim tiny points and pieces and put in middle of mat. fold the rest and put back in your stash, folded edge forward.
Is it less than 1/4 yd? cut into your personal strip preference...mine is 2.5"... i cut all I can, and then sort them into the right color pizza box to store.
Now the leftover weird pcs, either the tiny ones or the leftovers after the strips... pile and slice several times to make confetti. Sort into correct color baggie.
If you do this while you are cutting, it will take 2 minutes more and your shelves will be better. Your confetti will be ready to use or let the kids play with...(i let them cut iron on interfacing into animal or toy shapes, then supervise while they sprinkle with confetti colors in the right places and press to set...then i put them on t-shirts, baby blocks, nursery items...the kids love them and are busy.............or donate to people who like confetti quilts. The strips are color sorted and ready to use when you're in the mood to just make a strip block in the evening without any hassle or add to your next scrap project.
AND, big bonus...you know that every piece in your stash is a minimum of 1/4 yard.
I put in a bit of time when i first did this but it didn't take long to just do the piece i was cutting and 3 or 4 more at the same time...now if i'm in a big hurry, i just push it off to the side and do it with the next piece.
Do you use from your stash? I find a lot of my friends don't use FROM their stash, they just add to it. Try sorting it in a different way... just pick up the stack of greens and put them next to the browns on the other end of the shelf...put all the pinks, reds and whites together...next time put all the black whites and grays together... i do this easily by taking then entire stack of green off, get the ones i like for cutting, and then when i put the stack back, i put it somewhere else. you will SEE it more and notice different combos.... and just remember to SHOP the STASH first..... then take all of them or their corresponding color chips to the store for those extras you need...you will buy much less...

lalaland

Polar fleece seems to multiply in my sewing room too, and it's so bulky. I finally put a tall bookshelf in my room and I folded up the pieces and stored them there. If I can see it, I'll use it. Of course, I have 2 garbage bags full of fleece in my garage, a donation from someone, and no room for it in my sewing room. Time to make some blankets for charity!

karenpatrick

I think your sewing area looks like a dream compared to some that are posted here. I try to keep mine reasonably neat as I sew in such a small space, I can't afford for it to get too messy. But I fail miserably some times. Check out some of the other posts here about sewing spaces and you'll feel much better.

Sunnie

Deemail, you have some great ideas and I will definitely try some of them. I hesitate to cut the leftovers until I am completely done with that color in the quilt in case I make a mistake and need more. I like the idea of migrating colors for inspiration.

Karen, I had already organized about 1/2 of what you can see...LOL

deemail

i agree, but i cut everything at once...so i am done when i get to that step...and of course, you could always make a 'todo' shelf for those pieces that are 'in work' right now and then when the top's done, you know where everything is that needs attention without letting your main stash get mixed up. I also don't worry about not having enough of any one fabric as i rarely use one fabric all the way thru a top... I would have pulled 3 or 4 'yellows' in the first place, and i consider them interchangeable... and of course if there is 1/4 yard, it's going back in the stash anyway...i don't cut up large pieces, just the little ones.... my stash is 32 ft long, 5 shelves high...the bottom row (in bins) is all dressmaking fabric, but the rest is all quilting.... there's always another piece of fabric you can use... check out the DWR here to see what i mean...red is red and yellow is yellow and which one is not important to me...they're just like different pots of paint...
Double Wedding Ring from Cheryl Phillips' Book