Ok Ladies. I have been spending the last few hours trying to start ordering my sewing room,(soon to be) and as I have gone through the stash I now have...another thought came to me... I apparently packed the stuff up by color...mostly...but as I am re-arranging things, I find myself altering the way they are stocked. It is giving me a whole new look at the stuff and creating new possibilities.... ok...to the question....do you ever just rearrange your stashes just to open the door to new options ? Or....how do you stash yours?

most of mine is arranged by color. over time it gets rearranged by potential projects. right now i'm rearranging it again - primarily in color groups again - because it ate half my house. i'm making quilts in my head as i go, so some of it will be re-rearranged by all new project ideas.

i don't dare keep my PIGS in the poke. i have to keep them where i can see them or they never get to graduate to UFOs.

I guess mine is mostly organized by size.....scrap bins here, fat quarters there, then there are pieces big enuf for a binding or backing.... not by color at all...the last time I tried that I couldn't find anything I was looking for... I still have to go thru each box each time I am looking for something I KNOW I have but I only have 6 or 7 bins for larger pieces....1 for fat quarters and then 3 scrap bins. OH....and 3 polyester bins.....I need to get busy!


PS....and a newly started bin for pre-cut squares!

Mine is pretty much by color, however, I keep the following separate:

Christmas, kids/whimsical, plains, batiks, homespuns and 30's.

There is a box under my table where I toss scraps (too big for the trash but could be used for paperpiecing) which my 4Hers think is "pure gold". They love to dig and take home.

Suzanne

I'm pretty much like Suz. I organize by large categories first; i.e., batiks, Christmas, Halloween, Easter, religious, flowers, trees, water, skies, animals, geometrics, stars, children's, wilderness, patriotic, etc. Then within each category, I subdivide into smaller groups if necessary; i.e., children's are divided into sports, toys, cars, etc. Each group and/or subgroup are organized by color.

I cut my scraps into 2" or 2-1/2" squares and segregate them in three bags: light, medium or dark. My 1-1/2" or 2" strips are stored in a bin

I can usually find everything as long as I don't let my stash get out of control and I put everything back after finishing a project. It also helps to keep my quilt room neat if I cut my squares and strips as soon as possible before my scrap pile becomes the 800-pound gorilla in the room.

Well, the last time I organized (about 6 months ago?? maybe, definitely before broken wrist.) I did the sorting by type, ie, flannel, cotton solid, cotton print, then I did the sub sort by color, my scraps and FQs are by size and color, but with the fun and wonderful BOMs, and swaps.............well, :roll: I have to re reorganize. What IS wrong with me, why can't I just KEEP it organized?? Oh, no, I need to find another set of colors for the baby quilt, here I am off to save the block!!

:oops:

Mine has already become an ape. I work 45-50 hrs a week and try to stay organized but its a struggle. I inherited a large chest of drawers from my grandmother, and started out with things organized by colors. Ran out of room in that so up on the closet shelf it went--ran out ofroom there, so on hangers it went in the closet. I have amesh shoe bags for scraps and one of those hanging canvas shelf things full too--so you see my gorilla is big and pretty much out of control. It might get organized when I have to pack it up in 2009 to move, but I wouldn't guarantee that either :!: :lol:

After having moved to Oregon and just now getting the chance to organize.....I would encourage you to presort as you pack. Then the beast is a little more manageable. Key word....Little! :lol: Glad to know that I am in there with the rest of the gang....though I still have 4 trunks and 4 large 50gallon garbage cans to go through yet. I should have taken the downstairs room. :? Most of it will still have to be stowed for searches and with my stash....that can be fun too.

I think most of us organize our stash the same - by color. I wish my favorite fabric store would do that - its so much easier to find what I am looking for. But they claim that most of their customers are looking for lines: Moda, RJR, etc, so they keep them that way.

My stash, and I know I am very lucky to have a large closet with coated wire racks for shelving, is organized mostly by color. But I have large rubbermaid storage boxes with future projects set aside, Christmas prints, Halloween fabrics, kiddie prints, patriotic fabrics, and the bin for my only client's projects. Since my kids are grown I took all the solid oranges and yellows out of the Halloween fabrics and put them back into the stash piles.

I have one shoe box for scraps, and one for all the log cabin strips leftover from my Leaving California quilt. (These are new to my sorting habits. I spent most of a Saturday in April reorganizing the sewing closet.) I throw leftover strips in there so I can make a Log Cabin from those someday. I don't hardly ever buy quarters, but when I do it's for an immediate need. Anything left over is in the stash pile of that color.

Anyone who visits and sees this closet asks when I am opening my own fabric store. LOL :wink:

My stash looks like someone's worst nightmare most of the time. I decided that my summer project is to get most of it organized, but haven't been able to figure out how to start. I'm afraid I will have to completely empty the area, put in new shelves (my old ones broke) and then organize. I did get some clear drawers and started trying to put stuff by groups, but can't figure out what those are! I did put backings together, along with whimsicals and the fabric for my butterfly quilt(I now have enough to make 3 or 4 at least). I have discovered stuff I have had for at least 15years that I had totally forgotten about. Some of that is going into lap robes (pictures later), and some to my sister who does other stuff than quilts.
I feel better knowing I'm not the only one :mrgreen:

I received a wonderful book for Mother's day called "Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space" by Lois Hallock. This book is awesome because the author is an engineer and uses principles of ergonomics and work flow and applies them to quilting needs. Then she demonstrates her principles in 6 different room makeovers. Not all of them are expensive either, includes many budget ideas, and uses rooms of different sizes.

She advocates having your fabric visible. Mostly accomplished by putting it on shelves and then sorted by rainbow color.

I have a lot of small pieces of material, leftovers from sewing that where given to me so I put them in those small pullout drawers,sorted by color, folded and set on edge so I can see each piece when I open the drawer.
Being a new quilter, only have one UFO and one PIG and about a dozen lg pieces of fabric but I am sure that will change in time
:lol: especially with the wonderful encouragement of my fellow quilters

Marybeth

Sounds like you girls have much more fabric than I do. I am in the process of organizing :cry: folding by colors and stacking on my closet shelf, don't have much room to keep alot. :D

We all have to be vert careful. We have the same disease. Sounds like a lot of gorillas are in the making. Didn't we just witness a 780# one that sold on eBay for pennies?

When I spoke of my organizing, I didn't mention my wool (from Woolrich) for braiding rugs, dressmaking fabrics, polartech, and decorating fabrics which are much less organized. I know my gorilla weighs over 780#. Fortunately, my daughter also sews and has her own stash of wools and quilting fabrics but somehow will make room for my leftovers when the time comes. She also has a stash of knitting yarns.

Now then, should we speak about our cache of quilting books and magazines? Unending . . . . I'm awaiting a copy of "Flower Pounding", like I need another idea book . . . .

Suzanne

Pulease lets not talk about magazines :!: :lol: There is a gorilla lurking there too. But in all honesty, some magazines that I have reread years later are often looked at from a different perspective than were originally and I find new ideas and wondered how come I never noticed that before.
So I hate to say it, but quilting mags are here to stay and it will be up to my daughter to donate them to Goodwill when the time comes, cause I sure can't part with them :!: :lol:

Solids, then large prints, then medium prints, then small prints. That is, until my daughters-in-law went thru it and didn't put it back in the proper places...

And, to store them I found some shoe racks at the Dollar Tree. The fabric fits really great in them. They have 6 sections and hold a lot of fabric. They look like little cubes one on top of the other. Right now I have them laying on their sides two deep until I get my spare closet back. Then, I will hang them - they velcro to the closet rod.

I have one of those shoe racks, never thought of putting fabric in it, but what a good idea, since I don't have loads of stash. I do store my extra
iron in one pouch. :)

Oh dear, I am so embarrassed :oops: :lol: My stash is an out of control gorrilla. I do try, and have such good intentions (sigh).

This is how things are meant to be, Generally sort by colours, but keep seperate, things like Christmas fabric, Multicoloured, Lights and Lrg pieces suitable for backing and backgrounds. Sadly things are very rarely how they're meant to be :lol:

But I was very good last year, over the years people (often non Quilting)trying to be helpful had given me bags of stuff for my quilt work, and although most of it wasn't really suitable I didn't want to seem ungrateful or impolite by refusing and then I wouldn't have the heart to throw it away.

So over the years the monster grew :lol:. In the end I decided I had to be really ruthless. I wanted my quilting Room back and wanted to Be able to find my fabrics I could use. Got a giant skip bin in and filled it up, Wasn't all fabric rubbish but a good portion of it was. So things are a bit better than they used to be, but only a bit :)

Wow...I have no order. I hate to say this, but my stash is two very large white garbage bags with everything just thrown in. I have 0 room in the house. I have a small corner behind an open door that I keep a box of supplies (from when we moved) my mat and ruler hang on the wall, my machine is back there, and the two bags of fabric. Someday I'll have a house large enough to accomodate my 3 kids and some space for my stuff.....(looking in the distance forlornly). All my PIGS are thrown on top. It's awful.

I don't have but 3 or 4 magazines either. I refuse to buy any until I have room for my things. Enough of my friends have subscriptions that I can look through theirs.

And I have two books ABC's of quilting (excellent for a beginner) and Courthouse Steps from Quilt in a Day.

Suz mentioned the books and magazines...well gals.....yeah that is a whole other beasty... but I have found too that quilting isn' the only "hobby' we may have....What about those yarns and hooks and needles and.....I think I maybe ought to build a smaller house with the room needed for my stash and equipment. :cry: I am packing it as tight as I can and there "jes ain' enough room!" :!:

Nina,

You say "little cubes". What are the measurements? Sounds like something I should be looking at.

My quilting magazines are here to stay, also. I often bring a stack upstairs and drool over them as I did several years back. It's like getting a new issue in each one. The quilt I will be making for one grandson is from a 2000 issue.

Suz

Magazines are another nightmare in the making. I subscribe to so many and at one point kept so many, I was developing a hernia whenever I had to go through them looking for ideas. Now, I only save a couple of my favorite mags in their entirety. The rest, I periodically go through when my stack exceeds 24" high. I remove patterns and articles that I want to retain, put them in transparent binder pages or group them in manila folders and file them away for future reference. The rest of the magazine I toss, which seems wasteful but it's necessary to "cut the cord" or else I wouldn't have room for more fabric and notions.

This is just from memory as I am at work and supposed to be working (it's a slow day for a change!)

Each cube is Approx. 6-7" wide, 7" high, and 12-13" deep. There are six per rack. I already had my material folded in about those shapes so they would fit in a drawer. I really like being able to see all of it. I am still keeping the fat quarters in a wicker basket until I find something better.

mpete -

A word of caution about those white plastic bags, especially those that are a little stiff and somewhat fluorescent. This plastic will leach the color right out of your fabrics. I'd rather see you use cardboard boxes and shove them under the bed. Fabric needs to breath and even those large plastic bins need to have holes in the sides and tops for breathing.

Suz

Hmmm..I'll have to get some cardboard boxes then. If florescent means shining...then no they aren't florescent. And I don't close the bags, I just leave them open on top of the pile cause I go through them every now and again. I'll have to get boxes..

Thanks,

Melissa

Another method is using muslin to make pillowslips...'course you have to mark whats inside...or you are still hunting.

Fabric does need to breathe, especially here in the humid South. I started hoarding the packets of silica gel that come in shoe boxes and setting them in the plastic storage bins and on the shelves with my fabrics. I use the shoe boxes to keep scraps organized, so that's my part for recycling.

Hope this is helpful!

My style is a little by color. I have one metal shelf' There are bags lurking under the cutting table......sale days and coupons. there is a large closet, but extra blankets have to go there as well as quilts. I hang large fabric and quilt tops on pant hangers. My scrap bin is a large laundry basket. I have three extra sewing machines under cutting table also. These are for when grand daughters sew.
I bought a supply of shelf brakets but haven't put them up yet, I think there is some wood down cellar.
I think I want to arrange some fabric, the way I bought it. Several cuts that would make a quilt
The worst thing I have done is put a bunch of nails in the back of the closet and put stuff in plastic bags and hang them. I can't find half the stuff I know I have.
Ok . now here is the truth, my kitchen is the same way, and so is my dresser and bedroom. I clean the middle and stack the edges
Boo Hoo I am a lost cause, but it it is fun going through the fabric to attempt to sort it better :lol:

I have another caution about using those plastic bags for storage. When I was teaching I had a big white bag full of wool given to the class. I stuck it under a table for later use. Alas, the custodian, being ever so efficient, threw the whole bag away. Now I know that we all 'know' what's in our bags but do the other helpful members in the household? Scary thought that we might lose a whole bag full of wonderful fabrics!

I think I'm like so many others here. I'm always searching for the perfect method of storage and sewing room arrangement. I've got a pretty good idea of what I want to do so now all I need are the $$$ to do it! Ha! Taking away fabric money to make the perfect storage space for the fabrics I already have. What's wrong with this picture? When I do discover the perfect solution I'll let you all know! :mrgreen:

Ruth, thanks for you frankness. You are not the only "lost cause". My kitchen, living room, bedroom and closet are past disorganized. It used to be organized chaos...not it's much worse. It's only organized on the edges, the middle is a mess!!

I keep mine in big rubbermaid totes. Quilting calicos are divided by color, style (yarn dyed plaids, batiks, colorwash, Depression era), and season (Christmas, baby). Battings are in totes according to fiber content. I have smaller totes for current projects. Dressmaking fabrics are in totes, not very neatly categorized. Notions are in smaller totes. I keep them all in the attic.

I have a LOT of Rubbermaid totes.

heck. every time i get organized two things happen:
(1) i wake up from the dream; and
(2) i don't know. i told you ... i woke up before it happened.

:mrgreen:

Not the quilty party from Ebay by any chance ? : :lol: :wink: He he he, just teasing, nice to meet you.

I should be in bed asleep but I started reading this and couldn't stop til the end. I have truly enjoyed this discussion and am so glad to know that I'm not the only one with this dilemma. I don't have any tips on sorting or storing but...
My mom's philosophy was "She who dies with the most fabric wins!" Well, bless her heart she may have won the first round but since I inherited her "stash" to put with mine (when she died), I think I have a very good chance of breaking her record and from the sound of the others here, I'll be in good company and definitely not alone. :wink:

It's just way too much fun to find that next "gotta have" fabric to add to the "collection". (A much classier sounding name for a"stash",wouldn't you agree?) 8)

Sis I have to agree it is a collection at this stage of the game....I am finding fabrics I had forgot I had and am pretty sure are no longer out there, except in someone elses collection. :roll: But I have to admit, the way I have put these things up and away.....it was more of a stashing than collecting. :lol:

Well, I just had a ton of supplies dropped on me from my mother in law... she went into a nursing home last monday and my sister has been cleaning her house and delivering things to people that MIL wanted to give them to... I am the only daughter in law that sews so I got her machine, all her fabrics, thread, batting, etc etc.....she is the one who got me into quilting..... so for the past few days I have been trying to sort thru the stuff and fit it into my little storage room where I keep my stuff...

It is a spare bedroom and we only use the bed once a year so I am thinking of tearing down the bed (double size) and then for that one week of the year when I need the extra bed I have two folding beds and I could set one of them up for my deer season guest instead ....that way all year round I can have the space I need!

but organizing .........I doubt it! It will probably be just shoved in a corner for now!

While sorry for the way your stash increased, I know it must really be nice to have such shared joy be passed on to you. To have received from the one who started you on this journey says a lot about how she views your work and how she knew you would use it as well. I agree ....the bed needs to go.... :D

Country quilter...

While sometimes it's sad to receive the stash of someone else in that way, I'm glad that you could share those things with her. It was my mil as well that got me into my addiction. Could I call her my drug dealer??? HA!! While we don't see eye to eye on many things, I love the fact that we have this we can share together. It has brought our relationship closer. I am also the only daughter in law that quilts and she has no daughters. Whenever anything happens to her (hopefully not for decades cause there's so much she has left to teach me) I would feel honored if I could receive her things.

And I agree with Sandra....that bed has to go!!!

Well, now I just have to convince my husband! He grimaced when i told him I decided to tear it down! LOL He probably thinks I will need his help! But I won't...I've torn it down myself before...I will do it tomorrow while he is at work! LOL

yes, it is kind of sad when the elderly go into nursing homes but she actually made the decision herself...she took a fall a couple weeks ago and told my sister "maybe I should just go in the nursing home now" ...she is 85 and has a bad hip and we were constantly worrying that she would fall and break it so this is really a good thing.

She had four boys.... two from her first marraige (one of which I married) and two from a second marraige (one of which my sister married) ...she lived alone the past 8 years.... my FIL passed away 3 years ago but was in the nursing home for the 5 years prior.... he had a stroke many years ago and altho he recovered very well from that, his health went down hill long before hers did.

We have been fortunate to receive many of her quilts as gifts so my plan is to quilt a top I've had done for a few months and take it over to her to have in her room. Maybe it will give her a little comfort!

Sorry I rambled! LOL

Rambling is welcome...especially here.

I always think it's neat when siblings marry siblings. It used to happen all the time, now not so much. My mom's been in a home for 15 years. When my father died 7 years ago (before I met quilting) I insisted on taking her machine and "stash". Most of the stuff was so old I had to throw it away, but I have a singer buttonholer I will probably never use and a beautiful little feather weight.

She sewed, not quilted, but I remember her making a lot of my clothes on that machine. Someday I'll get it in proper working order and I'll be all set.

How wonderful an idea! Will you be able to put in any of her fabric? Do they allow for sewing items there? Maybe you two can do some piecing together on your visits? Even if you have to take it home with you, it would be something the two of you could still share. just a thought. :)