...organize your fabrics? I keep trying to get organized, but every time I think I have a system, it falls apart when I have a piece of fabric that could fit everywhere...or nowhere.

I thought, color...but what about prints...the predominant color?
then...holiday, novelty, by season, animal! I need serious help here! I am wallowing in fabric (not totally a bad thing ;) ), but I need to be able to find stuff!

I organize by what I think the predominate color is and then I also have an area for ones that are just too mixed for that and another area for seasonal prints.

I organize my fabrics mainly by type - Moda Marbles; Kona cottons; batiks; Asians; patriotic. If I buy several pieces of fabric from the same line, I try to keep them together. And, I also put all my fabric on these plastic holders that I get at http://www.polarnotions.com/. They are very stiff plastic, so don't bend. That way, my fabric closet is like a fabric book case.

I have mine in rubbermaid totes by color family. Make sure the totes are clear if you use them, it will save time in finding the right one.

color, but have 3 totes of Holiday fabric.

Thanks, keep the info coming....I am getting psyched to start!!!...almost...

I bookmarked that site, might order some of those! I sure need them. :)

I organize by holidays, flowers, red white& blue, childrens, flannel.

by colors works best for me. Even with the fabrics that are multi-colored, I can always determine what color family. Then is just a different section for the Christmas prints and the children's themes.

Some people organize by size too. I don't. So I have little baggies of small fabrics in the same bins as the whole color family. So if I need pink, I go to the pink bin. Only need 6 pink 5" squares? No need to look elsewhere. I'll see what's in a small quantity in the bin before I cut something else.
So contrary to many quilters, I don't have a 'scrap bin.' Small pieces of fabric that are leftover get folded neatly and put in the right color bin or shelf.

Blenders, batiks, prints, geometrics, solids, juvenile, seasonal, I Spy, etc... I gave up on sorting by color :roll: Where do you put a piece that has 3 colors all throughout, and they are all promininent LOL I do sort the solids and blenders by color, but that is as far as I go in that direction :D:D:D

I have mine folded on boards. Have about 48 boards per shelf. Most have 1 - 3 yards on each board. I cut Wilton Cake boards, the longest ones, in half. I can get 12 boards per package for $4.50. The comic boards are a great bargain. I didn't know about them until someone posted they work great. I ordered some but they haven't arrived yet. I watched the polar notions reps at their booth in Paducah. They were wrapping up to three different fabrics per board pinning the ends when done. I bought some and they are very nice but too pricey for me to use on all my fabric.

I organize by color, some by theme, the more expensive ones in another tub. If I have a line of fabric, I like to keep them together. I really like the clear tubs bc you can see what you have in them. The better organized you are the easier you can find what you want. Like you didn't know that :lol: :lol: :lol:

I do it that way, also. In addition to the special drawers for "too mixed up to tell" & seasonal/novelty, I have a 30's prints drawer and a batik drawer. My flannel and fleece all have their own spaces, too. Extra-wide backing fabric is also in a separate area. For some reason, when I started hording fabric, blue was an obsession so it takes up 2 drawers--light to medium in one and dark in another. Fat quarters are in yet another drawer.

Not very well, thank you.

I'm a mess, I have 2 rooms and bags everywhere. What I do have organized I have in small to large clear tots by project. But if I buy for a project and never start it I have that fabric tucked away and it may never be used. I need major organizing but too busy sewing.

I just finished my sewing room, here's how I did mine.
Seperate by color, the ones that are multi colored, go according to back ground. Then I have a stack for upholstry & decorator fabric(for crazy quilts). Another stack of wool, flannel, solids, muslin(bleached on the bottom, unbleached on top)and a stack for tone on tone prints. The tone on tone are seperated so I dont mistake them as a solid and screw up a project.Scraps are seperated in a 3 drawer orgainizer, according to dark, medium, and light's, with a plasic bin in top with rulers in it. hope this helps a little.

All these suggestions are very helpful, I also read about comic boards on another thread and wonder if there is a certain type or weight that are better. I do like the idea of mini bolts of my larger pieces.

Mine are roughly organized in sets of what would look good together in a quilt. If I organized mine any other way, I would be quite lost when it came time to pull fabrics together for a quilt. I also have a stack of "loner" fabrics which do not go with anything else that I own (yet). Hidden on the back of a deep shelf is a hodge-podge, mostly stuff that was given to me: fabrics that I dislike for a variety of reasons; fabrics that I cannot visualize in a quilt; a few theme fabrics. From this group is where I pull practice fabric, etc.

I don't have a big enough stash for it to get out of control. I pretty much know what I have and where it is.

love this thread!

Wow! You folks have so many awesome ideas, you are inspiring me...I WILL get this done! I think my main way will be color, but I will keep holiday and coordinates together...beyond that, I haven't decided. Course when I get into it I may change.

Thanks everyone!

If I am buying fabric for a particular project, I use redwell folders (which you can buy at any office supply store). I can put the fabrics, notions, and pattern in the redwell, and it is all there waiting for me to get started. Once I start the project, everything stays in the redwell. That way, I don't misplace the pattern, lose any blocks or use the binding fabric in another project.

The polar notions fabric organizers are pricey at first, but I've had mine for a couple years now and they are still as straight as the day I first used them. Cardboard breaks down, bends, folds and attracts silverfish.