organizing stash
 

I have been told we spend too much time on organizing we should just use it..

[QUOTE=sahm4605;4663117]I would look at getting those core boards that a member on here was selling a bit ago. not sure if they are still for sale. you can wrap the fabric and then organize them that way. I like to go by type and color and "theme" like I mostly have batiks and they are almost all able to fit in a large photo box i got from wall mart and the same with my non batik fabrics. the fq's all fit into two disk holder things and are sorted by color and theme. batiks in one the rest in the other. i really would look into maybe getting more shelves so everything in only having to be one deep.[/QUOTE

If you decide to fold your fabrics around a board, you might consider getting comic boards. You can buy them at any comic book store and they are cheaper than any of the other boards I have found. They are packaged like compter paper is (100+/package) and are acid free. I cut one size in half to wrap my FQs around.

But for some of us, the organizing is part of the fun!!! Vicarious fabric petting - can that ever really be a bad thing??
I have a teeny stash as I buy for projects and the occasional must-have. Don't really have them too organized, just folded (very poorly I might add) in plastic bins by color (novelty by themselves). I recently discovered a shopping bag of scraps so that is fun - going through them and remembering the quilts they came from. Whoops, I digress...

Some good suggestions here, I think the best advice was how do you think of your fabrics when you are coordinating? That gave me pause and made me realize, I need to reorganize MY little stash too! ;) Have fun and post a pic when you are done!

I thought you were going to say if you ever get it all sorted and refolded you would pass out!lolhehehe, maybe that is what I am thinking about my stash.

When I first setup my storage area, I put the fabric together by coordinating lines and then by colour. The next time I reorganized, I put the fabric in colour and theme groupings. This time when I was cleaning and reorganizing, I put the fabric back into their coordinating lines, blenders and then colour groups. I wonder why I switched them back and forth. Maybe, there is no right or wrong way to organize your stash...just whatever strikes your mood at the time and whatever works.

I started putting my fabric on core boards. There is a tutorial by Alaskansunshine that is great. Also on the same tutorial someone gave a place to buy the boards really cheap. I keep my fat quarters folded in a drawer so when I pull the drawer out I see all of the fqs. They are organized by color. I have 3 sizes of the core boards small for up to 2 yds. , med for 2 yds - 6/7 yds., lg. 7+ yds (mostly for backing fabric.) These I arrange by color but in orgainizing I put projects or fabrics that I want to find a pattern for on a seperate shelf - so I'm not tempted to use that fabric for something else. Enjoy your space!!! and enjoy organizing.

How one organizes one's stash also depends on how much stash one has.

Mine is on shelves (shorter pieces), stacked on a bed (long pieces), in totes according to theme (birds, black and whites, cats, novelties, bugs and butterflies), and scraps in totes.

I try to keep a group of coordinates together and bundled - either in a tote or bag - otherwise one piece will wander off and go missing.

And another category: unwashed pieces in totes

And then there is this category: I thought I had it and now I can't find it!

Where I sometimes get perplexed is when a piece can be classified any number of ways or doesn't fit in any particular category.

Examples: black and white cat prints
Multicolor prints that do not have one dominant color




Where I someti

My stash is working out well but Im running out of room.
I fold my fabrics to fit standing up in plastic bins by color, background, backings, batiks, christmas, flannel,children.
Coordinating fabrics are in a drawer under future projects.
My bins are stacked in a metal cubes that I bought at Target.

My fabric is organized in different ways....actually probably like ALL of those listed above.
If I purchase 'just some great fabric' with no real project in mind...it gets sorted by color into totes.
If I purchase 'for a specific project', the project parts get put into a separate tote.
My 'Collections' each get their own tote...HST, 4patches, charms and bricks, etc.
FQ are in their own area, as are scraps I've been saving.
Tools are together and put away within easy access.

Here's how I figure out if I'm organized.
if I keep like with like....if I know where things are...if the room looks tidy....:) I'm organized :)

I've given up on the thought that my sewing area will ever make a quilting magazine cover and people will not come over and go "ooooohhhhh your room is sooooo beautiful"...but that's ok - I know where things are at and the room is tidy...therefore I AM Organized! :)

Well I like the comic board idea, amazon has them! Right now I have all the material folded and stacked on a shelf and it is no fun digging thru it. I had sorted mine as following
Christmas material together and to the left of my closet
Baby material, one stack, then minkee has it owns shelve along with fleece.
Flannel one stack for use for baby
Have my fat quarters stacked in baskets
I have a lot of material & all is marked with the fabric -swatch tags
my scrappies go into a plastic tub for "scrappies" quilt