Organizing the "stash"
 

When my son moved out, I immediately took over his room as my "she cave". My stacks/piles of fabric--1-2 yds of
each fabric--is stacked so deep on the shelves, I cannot see what is all there. I usually buy 3-6 coordinating fabrics to
use on a future project. How is it best to organize? Do I separate the coordinating fabrics and organize by basic colors? Or do I leave the coordinating fabrics together? Any suggestions?

I do a variety of stash organizing. Yes, I do keep some groupings together because they are enough for a project .... these I label so I won't forget, like I used to do.

Then I bread down the fabrics into categories: batiks. cats, Christmas, florals, and other themes.

I tend to fold my fabrics differently so I can tell at a glance how much is there. FQ's are folded differently than 1/2 yds, 1 yd, and 2 yds. If needed I can attach a label as to how much I have. Generally the folding is more than enough.

I bought IKEA Antonius system with the non-rusting wire baskets to store my stash. I have 2 sets, one on top of the other. They easily roll out of my closet if needed. Usually all I do is pull out a drawer and I can see what I have without any problem.

With my arthritis pulling out material off shelves would be most uncomfortable. The baskets help me preserve my hand function.

I have a separate Antonius system that fits under my embroidery machine table to put upcoming projects.

At least it looks organized.

ali

I fight with this question all the time!!! And in fact, just had a post on it not long ago. That being said, I do keep anything that is grouped for a project together in a clear plastic container. Everything else I sort by color the best way I can. (Everything is in clear containers on a shelf that goes around the top of my room - reachable.) Prints and florals, I agonize over where to put them. So, I just put them in the best place I can. Beats leaving them all over the dining room table while I'm trying to decide! LOL Sorry, I'm not much help!

How you organize your stash depends on how you think when you are developing your ideas. I sort everything by color or theme. Others keep the coordinating fabrics together because that is how they would assemble the piece. You want to fold your fabrics so they are only ONE deep. That may mean a narrow fold. That way, you see all the fabrics instead of having to pull and push fabric around.

The hardest part of organizing stash is simply starting. Since you like to buy coordinating fabrics together, start by doing that. Fold them to fit the space you have. Keep them together. If it doesn't work, you can always change your organization. Everybody has different stash - mine is primarily novelties, so sorting by theme is more beneficial for me because that is how I select.

Suggest you keep your coordinating family collections together - in a separate area

I have been trying to organize everything according to color. All is folded more or less the same way. FQ's are all in one place. This is a very difficult thing to do especially if you want to keep coordinating fabrics together.

Congratulations on your "she cave'. I will be watching this thread for members' ideas. Thanks for posting the questions.

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.

My problem is all the left overs...I tend to over buy for my projects and end up with lots...also when I see a sale on flannel or theme prints I tend to buy a lot...I have been trying to be good and use what I have. Ha..LOL.

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

I ordered the fabric boards from M.I.Late here and they are the only thing that keeps me having any idea what I have!! Not really organized in a great way yet, but these things are great!!! I definately recommend them!!! :o

Congratulations on your 'she cave'. I also took over my sons room when he moved out. LOL
I sort my stash in wire baskets, hubby bought them from Lowes, instaled them in the closet.
I sort by color, a separate basket for crib/childrens prints. All my solids in another bin.
When I purchase fabric for a specific quilt I keep this fabric in its own stack with the pattern on top. Then when I'm ready to start this quilt top, all the fabric is in one place, keeping the fabric from accidentally being used in another quilt.. Every one organizes their stash differently.
Just keep in mind you want the fabric away from sunlight, and do not store fabric in plastic bins, fabric needs to breath.
Have fun, when organizing you get to see all your beautiful fabric. :0)

I am real new to quilting but my stash seems to be growing. I organize my stash on cardboard and then sort by amount and color. All the 2 yards one place, etc. Then when I know a project needs so much I can go to that area first. Fat quarters are organized in shoe boxes by general color or theme. If I have a complete project all set up, I keep it all together so I can find the thing when I am ready. I use plastic food storage boxes from Dollar store to organize projects and then label the outside. I use to use baskets but sometimes they fall over and everything falls out. Plastic boxes have lids and the clear box makes it easy to see inside.

I mainly have FQ and charms etc so I use plastic boxes from the dollar store. We live near a stone crushing plant so we always have dust so I keep my fabric in boxes for protection. Larger pieces are store in copier paper boxes I get from work. My scraps also go in copier boxes or if cut to a particular size into the cheap zip lock baggies.

I have my fq sorted in 3 grps, light, dark and the odd that don't fit in either grp, stacked on two shelves. All Christmas fabric on a shelf, cat fabric on another, and solids shared between those two shelves. All fabric 1 yd or over has been wrapped on foam core boards, then sorted by light and dark. Have some rolling 3 drawer cabinets that I have all scrap pieces in. This works for me most of the time.

I love the idea of folding different amounts of faric in different ways so you can tell at a glance how much you have, Thank you!!!!

"DITTO" I keep all the fabrics together for a project in one of those vinyl zipper bags that you use to buy at your LQS or a small plastic storage box LABELED !! Then I have my fabric sorted by type to in the Ikea Wire Baskets which supports my cutting table. I sort my tonals by colors which are stored in the Iris large stackable drawers I bought @ JAF when they had 50% off storage items.

I am still building my stash and only have a couple hundred yards of fabric ( sincere thanks to a friend who moved). I try to organize by color, but most of the time I end up dumping it all in the floor, look through it for a few hours and then put it away. I have even been known to take a nap and use the pile as my pillow. Good luck!

I went to Joann Fabrics and asked for their empty cardboard pieces that had the bolts of fabric on them. Hope that makes sense. They gave me as many as I wanted and I didn't have to pay a dime :)

I store my stash in a couple different ways. If I have a series of fabrics that will make a quilt, those go together and I have a notebook with the patterns and colored pictures of the fabrics so I won't forget what kind of quilt I am making with that fabric. Then the "Just have to have this fabric because" I store that by color. I have mine stored on plastic boards that are acid free, but hold the fabric much like it does at the store, except I fold it in half one more time.
You will find that something may work right now, but maybe at a later date, you aren't happy with the way it is stored and you can start again and use a different system. In other words, your storage system will evolve as time goes on. Good luck and be sure to post pictures when you are finished.

Good food for thought, here. I really do need to reorganize so that the fabric I own becomes more appealing than the fabric I find in those brightly lit, appealing fabric shops! If I could only get going on using some up, it would make it so much more pleasurable to keep using it up. Well, using most of it up, I do get the heeby-jeebies when I think of not having a retirement fabric bank. :)

I use small containers for 1/2 yd and smaller pieces and one box per color. I also use these boxes for project boxes. One project per box. Larger fabrics are stored in a large container.
Here is a sample of my boxes:

I too keep my coordinating fabrics together along with the intended pattern. Usually name the intended project as well so that I don't accidentally use any of the fabric in something else.
For the rest of the fabric I fold and sort by theme, colour or range.

Maybe1day

If I buy fabrics to coordinate with a focus fabric...I put them in a zip lock or into a clear plastic box...I thry to keep them together and if possible put the pattern with it, or at least a note telling me what pattern I was planning on at the time. Works well for me!

How you organize depends on how your mind works :) You've come to the right place for suggestions, and will certainly find something that works for you.

I tend to buy with specific projects in mind, so most of my stash is organized per project. Leftovers and "impulse" buys are organized by floral/dominant color, print, or color. It's not really as "organized" as it sounds, but that's my excuse for opening all my tubs and wallowing in my fabrics on occasion. :)

I saw your question about organizing your stash/fabrics. I use fabric boards. My dh & I cut some for my mess and they are so much easier to use than piling it in stacks & piled high. I had checked years ago and they were very expensive and so my fabrics kept building over the 14 yrs. I've been quilting. The boards we sell are 7X10 for 25 boards in a set for 35.00, shipping free. That size I have 6 yards on 1 board, folded and layered each fabric. So that size holds a lot.
The next size we have is the 6X9 for 25 boards for 30.00, free shipping. 1 board I have 8 fat quarters on it, another used for, cut & pressed binding to keep nice, or 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 any of these sizes will go on 1 board and stagger each fabric on 1 board so you can see all that is on that board. I use sticky notes on the top of the boards for yardage amounts, inventory is good for me now. When I couldn't find what I needed I'd go buy more, well, that's not such a good thing either, even though I love to buy more fabrics as the next quilter. These boards are very light weight, Acid free, Archival safe, won't yellow, get moldy, crumble and will not harm your fabrics.
These are great for projects, wrap 1 project on the board and pin the pattern on the front fabric, keeps it safe from using that fabric in another project which I've done many, many times :(
I know your posting is dated last year but just had to send this out to you or others needing organized ideas. PM me if to still need ideas.
take care sweetie,
Shirley

Saw your posting on 11/10/11 about the Foam Core Boards. Better late than never LOL.
My hubby makes them and I have posted many posts about them. He sells them very reasonable too and always free shipping. He will make larger boards for you so just ask. The sizes he has listed here are working just fine for mine.
7X10-25 boards-35.00
6X9-25 boards-30.00
These are Archival/Acid free. won't yellow with age, won't harm your fabrics.
He has 500 cut now and ready for shipping if anyone wants to order just PM me.
Just wrap your fabrics around them & pin to the back, and stagger the fabrics so you see all the fabrics
on each board. I love mine and have 6- yards on the 7X10 size and I use sticky notes on each board to list the amount of yardage it has on it. Great way for my inventory & how much I have left. In fact I found 9 yards of white under all the piles, didn't know I had that & had bought more. My projects are on another board & I pinned the pattern onto the fabric. I'm the worst for getting fabrics lost for my projects and having to decide on something different. Doesn't happen anymore. LOL.
So this is my story & and telling all of you about it.
Bye for now, hope to hear from some of you soon.

Hello Michelehuston, I saw your kudos for the fabric boards that were sold a few months back. My hubby sells them too. He has 500 ready to ship and his prices are. Always free shipping He will also make larger boards on special orders.
7X10-25 boards-35.00
6X9-25 boards-30.00
These are the very same boards that were sold months ago but with a lower price.
Theses are Archival Safe/Acid free/ won't yellow over time, won't harm your fabrics.
I love these boards. I have 6 yards on 7X10 7 stagger the fabrics so you see all on the board. I also have 8 FQ on 1 board. I use a sticky note on the boards with the amount of fabrics on each for an inventory of what I have & also my projects go on 1 board & I pin the pattern on the front of the fabric, so I don't use that fabric by accident on something else. I was great at that.LOL
Anyway members this is what he has if your interested please PM me for more information.