Folding, folding, folding fabric...
 

Just a little tip for any newbies and a question. The tip - keep up with organizing your fabric from the BEGINNING!!! I was very fortunate to have several people give me fabric to build my stash. Now, I am trying to oganize it and it is a bit overwhelming. I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it has taken HOURS and HOURS and HOURS to organize. My hard-learned advice - neatly fold and put away each piece as it comes into the home to aviod one big overwhelming project! MY QUESTION - How on earth do you arrange fabric so that it makes sense. First, I separated out all the ones that go with projects I am currently working on and put it in one pile. Next, holiday fabrics. Then, novelty prints. The rest I am trying to organize by color, but it is soooo hard. Do you just go from light to dark in each color, or do you separate out solids and ones that read as solids, ,etc. Do you keep certain lines together, or do you arrange them by color also. Also, do you just wind up with one big whopping pile of *multicolored fabrics* that cant really be classified. Sorry if this is hard to read, the right side of my keyboard died so I dont have enter, quotes, appostraphe, queston mark, etc. I will post a picture when I get everything as organized as I can. Finally, to everyone out there who so graciously sent me part of their stash - THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I now have so many beautiful things to work with! I am planning on making quilts for two womens sober shelters that helped me so significantly when I was homeless. I think that if I buy background materials and backings, I have enough to make one for each bed in each shelter (34). Will likely take me years to do, but I feel ready to get started! SEW excited!!!! I LOVE THIS BOARD!!!!!!!

Oh - forgot - what about fabrics that are same pattern in a variety of colors - do you keep them together or separate by color Thanksk to anyone who can help!!

Everyone sorts theirs differently. Last month I finally organized my stash, refolding everything. Took a couple of weeks. This is what I did: I have Christmas separate. The rest is divided between batiks and regular cottons by color. I don't sort within color families, so I just have all the greens together, not sorted light to dark or by print size. I just looked at the fabric and whatever color seemed dominant, that's the pile it went into. The fabrics that didn't seem to have a dominant color went into a 'novelties' pile. I don't have many of these, but they are mostly florals, some pictoral. I put the neutrals (white, beige, brown, black) on a separate shelf.
I do have some misc fabric "bundles" that I purchased as a group, either several colors, same print, or coordinating fabrics from the same fabric line. Fabrics I purchased to coordinate with a vague quilt idea in mind. I did keep these together. I only have a few of those because most of my purchases were from the sale table ;).
I didn't stress too much over the categorization... Most of my cuts are at least a yard, so there's enough of the fabric showing for me to find what I want.
I also wanted to say that making quilts for the shelters is a wonderful thing for you to do. Good luck!

It really depends what works for you. We did by color - dark to light with Multi-colored also dark to light. The specials like panels and prints together.

I have mine by color.

I believe that it will change over time, go with what you think you want and then make adjustments as you find something that works for you. I do have several of my lines together, then Kids prints and Christmas together, all B&W together (that was the really easy one). I put the ones that read mostly tone on tone and solids into the color familys, then I have florals and Blenders. Will probably end up with one more category of those that dont' fit anywhere! I agree with your advice we have pulled our fabric out of the nooks and crannies and are still in the process of wrapping.

I have mine sorted by color, with Christmas separate. Then, the fabrics I have set aside for specific projects are stored in those clear plastic boxes that salads, lettuce, and spinach come in. That way I don't use them when pulling from my stash, but they're still visible.

I sort by color because when I go to my stash, that's what I'm looking for - a specific color. I don't sort light to dark within the color, that would get disorganized way too fast. I have a separate section for multi-color fabrics that don't read any one color.

I also store my fabrics on a bookshelf (out of direct sunlight) and I made sure my stacks are very short, i.e. the distance between shelves is very small. I do not want the stacks of fabrics to be very tall, because that would make them hard to access.

You all have some good advice! Thanks so much!

I have been asking for the empty cardboard fabric holders from Jo ann's and Hancocks, I wrap my fabric around them and set them up like in a fabric store (by color), and it is easier for me to shop (like in a fabric store) and pull out one fabric wrapped around the cardboard than pulling out one folded fabric, and having the rest tumble about and make a mess. My dh made shelves 37" high in the closet, and right now they are 2 fabric wrapped cardboard holders deep (not practical, but better for me than folding) as they are built into a deep closet attic nook. When I move into my sewing room I am going to have 8 feet of linear closet space with shelves 37" apart. I still will have bins of fabric, christmas, kids, flannel, civil war. Ideally, they will be only 1 cardboard holder deep in this space, but that is still on the drawing board. I keep my fabric out of sunlight, so the bins and all fabric is stored in closets, cupboards, all over, in drawers, chests. In my new room, I will be able to bring up a couple of old "chifferrobes" that he has built shelves in for me. I find them in yard sales, and auctions fairly inexpensive. Great place to store fabric, notions, etc, away from sunlight.