I bought 5 big old doctor bags (the ones that open wide) and have put my little scraps in them. What a mess. Some of the bags won't close. They are a jumble in them. I need to put all my scraps on my couch and do some organizing but I keep thinking that after "this" quilt I'll do it and I've always had a "this" quilt forever. And how would I organize my scraps in my big doctor bags? I think it was a mistake buying those for scraps. I need like a rubbermaid tub or shoe boxes. And I hate the thought of having to cut them down to size. I am so disorganized with my little scraps. With my fat quarters and bigger pieces, I'm very organized. Is there an easy way to organize my little scraps without too much work?

LOL .. I am sure glad someone else has that umm "issue " too !LOL

i am thinking that when i get home next month i'll be spending the two months i'm home before next work assignment making my sewing more quilter friendly. i'm a seamstress as well, so i have shelves of dressmaker fabrics as well as quilting. at one point they were separate but now they seem to be combining. i am quilting a wedding quilt, i signed up for the wonky log cabin exchange and i have two more quilts started. i do wish folks would quit posting the good fabric sales since i've gone to three sites this month. i decided last time i was home that i need to set up a card catalog system for the books, magazines and rulers. i discovered duplicate rulers myself. And since i have daughters that are starting to quilt, i'd like them to be able to use my supplies when i'm gone and still know what i have where.

I got tired of sorting through my wheeled plastic cart of drawers for just the right little scrap. So now when I start work on a quilt I put one of those clear plastic containers that salad greens come in, on my cutting table. Then all the usable scraps go in there. Now I have stacks and stacks of clear plastic containers with triangles, etc. in, basically color coded by the project they were from. It keeps me eating salad, so I am healthy, when it comes time to sort through all those plastic boxes for the right scrap.:D

My stash has been mating for years. I too, do not remember buying all of those fat quarters or big pieces that I thought I would use for quilt backs. This is just what I have in my sewing room. I have another room in the basement where I have other fabrics such as fleece and flannels. They have also multiplied. I don't even think that the fabrics wait until dark. They just wait until no one is in the room. I have also found batting that I didn't know I have. I went to organize my Civil War fabrics and to my surprise I found that I not only had doubles but four of a kind. I can't imagine that I bought that many of one fabric without remembering that I already had some.

Whew...am I glad to know im not the only one wondering about how they mutiplied...thought for sure some friends, the dog even had somehow snuck into my sewing room and left me "gifts" LOL. did tried and sorting some but after looking at 4 totes...gave some away to quilting guild...let them use it & enjoy it !

One of the things I have been doing while organizing is to hand on hangers or clip to handgers that have clothes pins on the and have found it a good way to be able to see everything and it's quite a space saver. The are like $l.00 for WalMart for 10 of them and they are sturdy enough to hold a couple of pieces. I am very pleaed the way they look hanging in the closet.

With the high cost of fabric, I wish my stash would multiply itself.

Organizing, an unending task
 

Glad to hear I am not alone! I am working on my sewing room. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all the pieces I am dealing with. And I don't want to get rid of them because I "might" need them. I don't really have the space to sort by color so I am separating the theme fabric from the quilt fabric. And I think you are right. They do multiply overnight.
Oh well, it will be great when I get done.

Every time I clean my sewing studio I find fabric that I don't remember buying. It's just like Christmas! lol