Most of mine is folded on shelves in my studio. I use a 6 1/2" wide ruler, fold the fabric in half. Wrap around ruler, pull ruler 1/2 way out and fold fabric. Pull ruler completely out and stack folded fabric on shelves. Use narrower ruler for smaller pieces. 3-4 in.Fabric is easy to see and shelves are very neat and tidy. I try to stack by color for most things but sometimes by theme. Makes finding easier.

vicki, i'll come help you! I live in Georgetown, TX. Nancy Rose

I was tossing out the trash after my volunteer stint at the Luv-a-Pet center at our local PetSmart when I saw some cardboard cat treat display containers being thrown out. Suddenly I saw it filled with charm packs. I brought home 3 of them and the largest one is now home to my charm packs. They fit perfectly standing on their sides but I need to get them labeled. It is a perfect recycling project and is narrow enough to stand behind the door. I haven't decided whether or not to cover it with paper or fabric because the color isn't what I like. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow....
Wendy

Caution on how you store your stash.

A well known quilt appraiser and historian, as well as some quilt judges, cautions against using anything plastic for storage for any length of time. She also told my group that 'acid-free' paper looses it's acid-free ability in 3 to 5 years ... she stores her quilts in natural [almost beige] sheets.

Boy you are well organized! I am impressed.

Here are my 'recycled' charm pack/fat quarter storage centers. They had been used to display cat treats at our local PetSmart where I volunteer in the Luv-a-Pet adoption center. I was throwing out the garbage from cleaning the cages and saw these ready to go out to the dumpster. Good thing I have a van. Being narrow, they will fit behind the door in my sewing room. I have to figure out a way to label what is in the cubbies though.

I will come help you, if you come help me.

I found adhesive fabric on a roll at the local craft store. It works great to cover cardboard. Double faced tape (larger for carpets) also works well to adhere fabric to cardboard without the risk of adhesive getting all over. Good luck - would love to see pictures when you are done.

Mine stays "organized" till I start sewing....then I can never find what I'm looking for!

Great find and recycling....love those free finds.

Reading about those of you that have organized your sewing room/areas and seeing those nice pictures, has inspired me to clean, sort, purge and organize my sewing area. Thank you. (grin)

My larger pieces of 1 yard or more, I snip off a piece, paste in a book, label it, fabric content, how much, and where it is stashed. That way all I have to do is look in my book. The smaller pieces, less then 1 yard, I put into bins by color. One thing, I do tho is I keep my batiks in a seperate bin, as I use these the most. I have been sewing for over 50 years, and quilting for 20, and I find that the above works best for me. Hope this helps.

Ditto...by color - fqs separate from yardage.

Yep, I do that too.....along with the sorting by color and by type.....kids, batiks. I do an assortment of things, but it somehow works!!

And that is what I store on, too...a real restaurant 5 shelf rack, 4 feet wide, 7 ft tall. It's wonderful!!!

I was walking out of the PetSmart this evening after delivering my lastest batch of kittens/cats to the adoption center and watched one of the employees pulling some of the display units to the back to be thrown away. Sure wish I lived nearer any of you who were interested in trying one or two for storage.
Wendy

Having had surgeries and not allowed to lift family and other non sewers have "helped me out" in my sewing room.
Yes, they eventually find what I am looking for but really don't put thinga back as they were. I hate to complain but after 7 months of this the so called almost organized fabric is a complete mess. I try the best I can but there are now actually areas that I cannot get to.
The family complains about my "mess" but I notice that when something needs to be fixed, resewn or repaired, or "could I make", or "do I have", they always come here and expect me to pull the rabbit out of the hat.
Sometimes a match seems to be a really good idea. (ggg)

Anne

Anne

So, from this site, did you buy the backer boards or the extenders? How rigid are they?

I fold all my yardage fabric with my 6" x 24" ruler so they are all uniform. Then store them on shelves by color. My fat quarters and small pieces are stored in see through plastic containers by color also.

You're supposed to organize?

Not sorted. Rainbow look in the bookcase

Since moving, and soon to be hubby buying me shelves and bookcases, I have decided for the first time to orgainize, what a trip!I didnt realize how many greens I really had, and Im partial to the oranges, yellows, etc... anything other than greens, lol.I have a section for solids, a tote for Christmas, another for Halloween(my favorite holliday), and a tote for 1950's repo's. The shelves are seperated according to color, and then large bins in the garage for flannels, fleece, etc.I foung the top of an old hutch at a garage sale for $3 and that is in the closet with my books on the shelves of the hutch. Anything over 2 yards is hung in the closet with skirt hangers, this way there is'nt any folded lines going across it in the center.All altered art material is in a tote on the top shelf, since it has been awhile since I have used it, along with another tote for paints, dyes and stains. Im not quite done yet, but 2 more days is my goal, and I have to say it is SSOOOOOOO much easier to find things, and looks 100 times better than my old "orgainized clutter".

Mine is sort of "where can I put it?"

Generally, the cat prints are together, the blacks and whites are together, the really big pieces are on a bed, the halloween fabrics are together, small blues are together.

Where indecision sets in: when a fabric would be appropriate in more than one stack/box/shelf -

Examples:
the black and white cat prints - do they go with the black and whites or with the cats?
the "holiday" (Christmas or halloween) cats - with the cats or with the holiday fabrics?
the orange flowers - with the florals or with the oranges?

etc.

I keep my fabric in clear large totes and stack the fabric so I can see what is in there. I also get smaller ones and use them to keep together the fabric etc of the quilts I am making. I live in an apartment and not much room to store my huge stash and have to store most of it in the garage.

That is SO smart!!! I'm actually doing the organization thing at this time...and I'm going to follow your wise example. Thanks!
:thumbup:

Another AWESOME tip...which I am going to use right away, as in midst of organization at this time. THANK YOU!

Don't want to be a downer, but if it saves someone from a disaster willing to risk it. Do you think maybe the acid the cardboard contains might discolor/fade the fabric next to it? Maybe you use your stash faster than me, I'm more into buying the stuff...slower than some actually cutting it up to use. PLEASE don't be offended...I just know how valuable this stuff is...just want to help is all.
:idea:

That is really smart!

Me too, UPS just dlvd the four this week...from Sam's. I'm doing a complete redo of all at this time. It fits or it goes... Stuff like large coffee urn etc too...things I don't want in garage.

I have a 5'x8' bookcase with a bunch of shelves. I break down fabric by color. I also keep Christmas, Halloween, Holiday fabrics in a pile too. My scraps for now are kept in a zippered bag on the shelf since I don't really have much of that. Any fabric other than 100% cotton goes on a shelf all by itself. Little compartments on the shelf I keep my books and rulers, magazines, etc. It works for me until I have a sewing room one day.

Right now it is mostly organized per project the fabric is intended for. New stuff is not organized, just put in clear plastic bins. Guess I have some arranging to do.

i have a sewing bucket that has fabric that is waiting to be cut into a quilt and I have one of those grocery tote bags that has the rest of my fabric in it. I am actually starting to grow out of the bag and the bucket. Needing to make a shelf to store the small amount of fabric in the bed room or closet. can't wait till i get a sewing room or a corner that I can put shelves up in. the corner I am in now I am not wanting to because it is in the middle of the living room wouldn't look good.

I have several catagories and each are stored separately.
* Batiks are stored separately
* Fabric with predominant flower scheme
* My Asian fabrics are stored alone on their own shelf.
* Landscape/wildlife/along with outdoor novelty themes
* I have containers for each project I am working on.
* I place future projects in their own container, and just
add fabric as I see something I like.
* Wools, felts, corduroy, plaids all have a separate
storage spot.
* Kits are kept in my large drawers.
* Juvenile fabrics are kept separate, along with having my
flannels separate. All my Christmas fabrics are in
one place
* The rest of my fabric is separated by color.