That's my theory and I'm sticking with it!

Yikes!

Nope. I cannot be that organized! That's just too much work for me, would take all the fun out of it!

I keep saying, and continuing to believe and practice, that not having the "right" fabric increases your opportunity for creativity. It forces you to think beyond the limit at hand. It requires using similar colors but in other prints/lines/manufacturers. And *that* adds to the texture, movement, eye appeal of quilts!

I hope never to use my time to makes rules and demand (to me) unnecessary organization when I could be spending that time of dreaming about, designing, looking at, and sewing quilts!:D Other than preferring 100% cotton and storing my fabrics by color stack, I am not obsessive about it. :)

Jan in VA

I try to stick a 1/2" square using a glue stick to put it next to the item number especially with fabric bought at JAF. I NEVER cut off the selvage edge until totally used up.

I organize my stash based on color... that is "it" ...its as far as I can go with being organized. It doe not keep me from admiring all those tidy stashes I see posted from time to time. I just recognize my limitations and desire to spend that kind of time to "stash housekeeping".

I can usually estimate fairly closely how much fabric is in a given piece.

Nope. I'd rather be quilting. Way too much time keeping track of stuff I'll never look at again. Why bother?

That's exactly the way I like it, too. I'd much rather be quilting than taking inventory.

It would seem to me that if you kept a loose leaf binder with your sales receipt and a small cut of the fabric stapled to a heavier piece of paper (like the dividers) that would be all you would need to accomplish that mary katherine. You could section it off into years with tabs to give it some order.

I could never be that organized. But, I know people who are.

Unless I am making a specific quilt that I purchase all fabric at one time I do not keep track. Most of my projects now smaller so I first shop my stash then only buy if I can not fine enough of a color to go with what I have. Shopping for real always leads to finding some other fabric I can not live without though. I also tend to buy with planned left overs for applique and crazy quilts.