I've been going thru all my fabrics and deciding how to store them. Do you most of you separate by color tones? I started doing that but then noticed that I have so many that are matching patterns but in different colors. I don't know if I'd use these by 'color' or if I wanted to put them together in something and had them separated by color, would I remember that I had a matching pattern??
Also, many are several colors where it's hard to determine the main colortone.
I also have many that I know I want in certain quilts so those I think I'll keep together for now. And I've decided to keep all flannel together no matter what the colors, and all denims together.

I store mine by color and by mfg/collection; the pieces without one definite color I store in a multiple color bin

I separate mine by length of the cut and then by color. I can see what color it is. When I'm looking for at least 3 yards of a red there's no point in pulling out a 2 yard cut. And it makes it faster to find the right 2 yard cut of green if all the 2 yard cuts of green are together.

I have mine sorted by batiks, childrens, landscapes, hand dyes...
Fabrics I consider to be blenders are all together by color.
Matching patterns different color I would put together too... as well as fabrics I think I may use together in future projects.

But really, sort them out to what makes sense and works for you. You are the one who will be shopping there :D:D:D

I put it together with other fabrics I would use them with. So 30s with 30 s, civil war with civil war, Hawaiian, I spy fabrics, batiks, certain lines or designers, FQ, etc. When I want to do a project I grab the storage container and go through it taking out the fabric I need for a certain project to get started. I also make my own kits of a pattern and fabrics to get started on that pattern.

I keep the ones that I know will go into a quilt together. I keep the pattern and rotary cutting instructions with that batch, ready to go.

After specific projects, I sort by type or novelty: wide backings, Civil War repros, 30's repro's, solids and tone-on-tone for applique, baby, juvenile, Christmas, Autumn, gardening, sewing, Texas, etc.

Within those groups, I sort by color.

I sort by dark and light. No mediums. Mediums will get you all messed up because they can be light or dark so you have piles and piles. I just toss mediums in either the dark or light pile. I sort my fabric on folding boards by dark and light. Much easier then by color.

I predominantly work and store by color. Fabrics that are hand dyed, hand painted, 30's, batiks or Asian are stacked separately on a shelf. Fabric selected for specific projects are kept together. I've tried many different sorting systems and this is the best one so far.

It seems we each have to figure out the system that works best for us.

I keep everything but selvages.. This is how my room is organized..

These are in 30 gal tubs no matter what size pieces they are:
Holiday- each holiday (xmas, 4th, halloweenie, easter, etc) have its own tub
Flannel
Vintage fabric (35in xWOF)- all goes in one tub
Authentic 30's feedsacks

All my Bolts (3+yards) are on the bookcase and in walk in closet.
All my 1-2 yards cuts are ruler folded, then separated by theme (floral, kids prins, asian, etc) and solids, blenders, and the rest are seperated by color on bookcases

Batiks are in a sterilite three drawer unitl seperated by light med dark..
Fqs are separated by color, floral, novelty in it's own sections on wall cd racks, closet maid 24/36 bin shoe organizers.. Each area has its own 'theme' so i can find what I'm looking for.

My scraps are in specific see- thru bins, tubs and drawers depending on size..

Each Accuquilt Die cut shapes have a sterilite drawer all of its own- I do have most if not all the dies already.. lol..
strips less than10 inches but longer than 5 inches of has a a sterilite drawer all of its own
Strips longer than 10 inches but less than WOF has a sterilite drawer all of its own
2 inch strips are hanging on the back of the door
1.5 x wof has a sterilite drawer all of its own
2.5 x WOF strips has a a sterilite drawer all of its own
3x WOF strips have a sterilite drawer all of its own
5x WOF strips have a sterilite drawer all of its own
all other strips x WOF are separated by colors and has a sterilite drawer all of its own
Crumbs have a sterilite drawer all of its own
Scraps less than a fq but larger than 6x6 has a sterilite drawer all of its own- these are waiting to be cut with my Accuquilt
2 in sq have a sterilite drawer all of its own
3 in sq have a sterilite drawer all of its own
4 in sq have a sterilite drawer all of its own
5 in sq have a sterilite drawer all of its own


And that's how my room is organized..

I followed Bonnies method.. www.quiltville.com.

I'm weird - I have all my florals in one section, no matter what the main color is - if it's floral, it's there.

All of my novelty fabrics are sorted by theme.

All of my colored fabrics are sorted by color.
I know I'm an oddball. I just like to keep my florals separated since I'm not a big floral person - which is funny since I have a ton of them. I tend to use them as backings for things that people won't see like wall hangings and table runners lol. I just don't like those old fashioned or girlie girl florals much.

There are always a few that could go in one or more places.

Examples: the black and white cat prints - do I put them with the cat prints or with the black and white prints?

The multi-colored ones that don't have a dominant color - do they go with the "theme" - such as florals or geometrics? or in the "miscellaneious" stack?

The holiday themed cat prints - do I put them with the Holiday - or with the Cat Prints?

etc etc

Those are the decisions that kind of slow me down.

Now - when there gets to be ENOUGH of whatever to have its very own tote - - -

Thanks for all the ideas. It sounds like many of us have the same dilemna. I can tell I don't nearly have the same amt of space as some have! I like the idea of CD racks for fat gtrs.

I put flannels together - If I have matching fabrics I put them together then seperate by colors and theme. Hope this helps - Its really what works for you - nWhen you purchase fabric you have to know where to find it - what works for one may not work for another!!!

I bought some of the easy core boards from M.I. Late and now have most everything neatly stored. I tend to buy my fabric in "collections"; i.e., I buy coordinates of the same group so I have them stored together. Patterns not part of a group are stored according to color. Everything is on shelves and in the open though so I can see it all at a glance.

Like you, I keep all my flannels together. I keep what few garment fabrics I have separate also. For my regular quilt fabric, I don't pay too much attention to color. I separate by value. Since any fabric can be either a light, medium or dark depending on what fabric is adjacent to it, this helps me select what works best.

I have mine separated in a couple of different ways. First, there are bins by color on my shelves and a couple with special fabrics for art quilts. Then I have a plastic 3 drawer bin under my desk for two projects I'm working on.

You're supposed to sort your fabrics?

My basic stash is by color.
but I have these items separate
Multi color florals
Flannels
Batiks
Thimbleberries
Fat Quarters
Patriotic stash for QOV

I separate mine by color, so if I'm looking for a green print I can pull this bin out and have everything green all together. A separate bin for childrens fabrics, and a separate bin for solids. Sort whichever way works for you. Think about pulling fabric for a quilt and what would make this easiest. :D

I separate by color. If I have a collection of multiple colors that would be used together in one quilt, I make myself a "kit" with those fabrics AND a pattern. I don't let myself make the "kit" without the pattern....just gives me more self-discipline.

Mine are separated by color. Anything larger than 4 yds still gets ruler folded but not half-folded and all stored together on top shelf. I keep all my Stash Fabric in one area so I don't lose them- you know what I mean. I bought a bunch of Iris Shoe Boxes- Costco- and store Projects in them until I have all the materials or ready to start. I really think you have to work out what is good for you. Good Luck.

Well, I had no approach but based on all the input, I will get organized. Thanks.

I have my oriental fabrics together, as well as what I would consider Christmas or holiday. Flannels for the babies in another drawer. The rest I sort as the colors of the rainbow, only putting the yellows and oranges before the red. I have two drawers for those scraps or larges strips that are used for log cabins. FQ are stacked.

Great idea to use cd racks........

I typically sort mine by color. But, to help with time in color selection, I will also pull colors and put into coordinating fabrics and tie a thin ribbon around them. That way I know these all go together and don't pull them for another project. I keep these groups on a separate shelf by themselves.

I do something similar, keeping specialty fabrics in separate bins. I also keep my larger scrap pieces of a color in a bin next to the stack of fabric.

Some of my stash is bundled into 5 or 6 pieces of coordinating fabric ready to start a quilt and some are separated by the main color. I keep the large pieces (for backing) in a tub together and separate tubs for just batiks, pillowcase fabric and dog bed fabric. Also made a very comprehensive list of what is in each numbered tub and refer to that list when I need to add or take something.

This is interesting reading, especially since I'm working at reorganizing my sewing room. I am lucky enough to have 2 closets with shelves and a wall cabinet that was a pantry before. In my closets, I have flannels, vintage, Christmas/Holiday, patriotic, Civil War, 1930s, novelty. Then in the pantry, I have them sorted by colors, with multi-colors all together.
I do believe that luvTooQuilt has the best system. I have my scraps not too organized; that's what I'm working on now.
Thanks for starting this thread!

This is what I do, except I don't distinguish by manufacturer. I do separate out landscape and cat fabrics.

Hello! I sort my yardage by main color. All my solids are on a shelf by themselves. Fat Quarters and smaller pieces are on a shelf. Batiks on a shelf. Holiday fabric on a shelf. All stripes on a shelf together. All ginghams on a shelf. Fabrics that I have in several colorways, go on a shelf together.

I did mine by colours with the exception of batiks, flannels,novelty, and coordinating fabrics that I bought together like from Connecting Threads.

I read your response and of course I now want to know how luvTooQuilt's system. Thanks.

And yet another post that makes me think about what I actually do. Thanks for that. I sort primarily by color BUT I separate flannels, juveniles, panels, some novelties in their own little categories and when I find fabrics that just need to be together in a quilt, I will match them up and keep them (in baskets) ready for a moment of inspiration. I guess you need to think about what you go looking for when you have a new quilt in mind and sort accordingly.

Imagine a rainbow..
That is how mine is organized.
Patterns are sorted into the mix by predominate color.

Holiday/Batiks/Homespun are separate and are sub sorted the same way.

Fat quarters are sorted into the rainbow and stored in a CD tower.

With the exception of fat quarters, all fabrics are on EZ Cores (see member M.I.Late)

up to 1 yard - small Cores
up to 2.5 yards - medium Cores
up to 4 yards - large Cores
over 4 yards - bolt Cores

Each size Core is in it's own rainbow.

I've just finished getting my ENTIRE stash on the Cores and have sorted them into 2 stainless steel rolling cabinets.

Just have to finish the rest of the Sewing Room makeover! :)

How I sort mine:

First, solids from prints, in fact, they're on different floors of the house!

The prints:

by main color BUT certain collections have their own shelf:
1. sewing theme
2. dog
3. animals
4. 30's prints
5 juvenile
6. patriotic
7. gingham
8. Christmas
9. Other holidays
10. Bugs
11. prints of shoes
12. lightweight denim-looking fabric
13. Hawaiian prints
14. fabrics that I bought as a group - they were next to each other at the store, and meant to 'go' together
15.African animal prints - due to my many basenji themed quilts
16 polka dots
17. Alaska theme
18. plaids

I'm sure there are others (those are only what I can recall from memory), and that list alone makes me realize it's not really an organized stash, is it?

All I can say is WOW. I thought I was good by separating into seasonal, colors, baby, Christmas, etc. but you put me to shame. Oh well, whatever floats your boat. I get it organized, then I start working on a project, pull the fabrics out and then I get disorganized again. OH well. Some would say that I'm disorderly organized, but it works for me.

I do the same. It works best for me, too!

I have them separated by color if that is obvious, unless I bought something specifically to go with other fabrics. I have groups together that I have something "in mind" to use them for. I have a container filled with mainly florals or prints with many colors in them. I have all my large cuts stored together, unless they were bought to go with a specific group of fabrics or project. I buy mostly small pieces, so maybe someone who buys larger pieces has a better way for that type of stash.

Thanks.. Took a lil while to get things where I wanted them but after searching thrift stores and finding cd racks, clear tubs & sterilte drawers I was on my way..

I put them by color then I "play" with them and get them all messed up If I buy fabrics for a project I try to keep them together so I won't use it for something else. I can never keep fabrics organized. I never seem to have the right amt. of fabric for a project in my stash so I have go buy more. and of course I buy a little extra so I won't run out if I cut something wrong. On my I am a lost cause. If you figure out the correct way to do this please give me directions.