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I work in the industerial construction field. DW and I ware traveling in aand living in a 36' 5th wheel trailer. We moved every 6 months to a year. DW tried to sew some but just no room. We had tubs of fabric in the trailer. Jan 2010 I took a long tearm job I will be done in Jun of 2012 and moving on. We took a 2 bedroom apartment for this job and I started quilting. We still have the bins and it is still a tight space. I do envy y'all that have sewing rooms and storage. On the bright side I think I will take one more job find a house with a sewing room and look forward to retiring. But I do love this life style after retiring from the USAF it has been hard to stay in one place I have tried.
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Originally Posted by QuiltnNan
it can make it difficult and stressful to find the right fabric for the next project, i know. it is soooo worth it to take the time to organize it. i started by piling the fabric by color on the floor. then i folded it around my 6x24 ruler. then i put the fabrics by color into the plastic tubs. like you, i didn't like to dig through that. so, after i moved to a new home, i put plastic utility shelving in the closet. if you have room for the tubs in a closet, you have room for the shelves. my life is so much better for doing this.
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Do you have any quilting friends in the area? Maybe you could have an organizing day. Have some nice treats, fun music, and gab session while three or four of you iron, fold & stack in the bins. I ordered some sturdy comic board backs on ebay, cut some in half, and store my fabric on shelves. But there is no reason you couldn't stack them in the bins. We all have one friend who just loves to organize things... call her!
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BlzzrdQueen...
You share the frustration of many quilters. I'm fairly organized and I'm still forever digging for fabrics which undoes hours of fabric organizing. Izaquilter IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK. Try to sort it by color hues etc. I do keep my Christmas and novelty fabric in a separate stack, but if I get to digging.. it STILL gets messed up. It is my GOAL to reduce my stash in 2012. I finally have enough fabric that I can't find 1/2 of what I need when I need it. Go easy on yourself.. you're just a NORMAL QUILTER...LOL . |
IMHO, those big size bins are the worst to try and store fabric. I had my stash in a dresser but have outgrown the dresser so when I bought bins I bought ones that are the depth of a dresser drawer, only about 8" deep. These store wonderfully under a bed. In my dresser I have one drawer of batiks only, one for planned projects where all the fabs for that project are together, and one drawer for pieces that are 1 yard or more in size. A drawer for orphan blocks, patterns, preprinted labels and a few oddball things, and finally a drawer for just just reds, greens and Christmas prints.
My bins, I have one bin of just Asian prints and one bin of just wide quilt backing fabric and a third for just light neutrals. I also have a couple of those Giant size ziploc bags that you squeeze the air out of for some pieces of fabric that are 5 yards or more and flannels. I have that stored in an antique steamer trunk. Scraps I try to cut down to useable sizes as they accumulate, like 1 1/2 wide strips, rectangles and strips 2" wide, 3" wide, etc. These I store in ziploc baggies according to size and value only. I completely ignore color and just sort light, medium or dark. A seperate ziploc for each size/value marked with a permanent marker so once cut, it is easy to find the right bag and put the scrap in. I try to keep them tidy in the bag so they don't become a wrinkled mess. It isn't too difficult once you have about a dozen units the same size they just nest together. Right now the ziplocs are in bigger shopping bags stored in my sewing room (the infamous PIGS! Projects In Grocery Sacks) destined to become scrap quilts. I think you would benefit from some sort of variation of the presorted cut units system. You should go to Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville sight and study how she precuts and sorts her stash for her wonderful scrap quilts. I think you would benefit from her system or the scrap therepy system which also cuts down to specific sizes and tosses any scraps that do not conform to her predetermined sizes for scraps which are 2" squares, 3 1/2" squares and 5" squares. There are some scrap therepy books you can look through to get the idea for the system. |
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My tubs are 14 inchs wide and about 20 inchs long and clear.
I fold any fabric 1 yard or larger to fit the bin then stand them upright to fill the bin. Works for me and no added bulk from some boards that you wrap fabric on. |
Your not alone! I always say to myself that I should organize my stash but I never do. I applaud all the members here that do! I look through my stash and think of it as an adventurous treasure hunt when I start a new project. Maybe someday I'll get her sorted out and organized?
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Originally Posted by Tartan
Your not alone! I always say to myself that I should organize my stash but I never do. I applaud all the members here that do! I look through my stash and think of it as an adventurous treasure hunt when I start a new project. Maybe someday I'll get her sorted out and organized?
Tartan.. You have the CORRECT ATTITUDE! ...LOL I'm gonna try to adapt my thinking from MESS to ADVENTURE OPPORTUNITY...LOL |
My own head was upside down looking for what I know I have.. stored in my blue plastic tub ! So get this post !
my friend's mom used CD ( like orange crate) holders for her fat quarters.. nailed them on a wood strips on her sewing room wall.. so wonderful as decoration.. BUT , my stash has to be stored when not in use. I too have the same delema. will watch for suggestions. Thanks for the post ! Ell |
Funny to read this. Not 5 mins. ago I said to my husband " I have to get organized but dont know how". Good to read here with all the ideas.
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