I sort by color except for children's,flannel,sateens, and baby. I use clear totes also and label them so it's easier to find.

God bless, Dee

I pretty much go by color. I keep my fat quarters seperate.

One of the things I've discovered about my stash is that my favorite combinations are tied with a pretty ribbon and are on a shelf in my sewing room (while the rest are stashed in bins in garage) BUT I hate to use the prettiest ones and look for something else they're just too pretty to mess with. I'm hopeless.

You're not alone! I have some of those too! Some of the most beautiful fabrics I've had for years on my shelf. I enjoy just looking at them and remarking to them and to myself just how beautiful they are. :D

I do the same. I have a box for all the colors and plastic drawers for special patterned fabrics.

I used to keep my fabrics sorted by color in separate clear containers, but the system broke down, mostly due to my general flightiness. Now I stack them in no particular order in plastic drawers so that they're easy to spot and easy to get at, and quick to put back. I usually do scrappy quilts, and I find the odd mixture more inspiring. I'm sure my "system" would drive most organized people bonkers. When I get some particular thing in my head and can't find it, that does get annoying, but it doesn't happen very often. I don't keep a very big stash these days. It's more useful to me to shop when I know what I'm looking for and how much I need, and anyway, I've reached the end of my available space. Quiltville.com has some valuable pointers about the stash.

If no one has shared with you yet, I would point you in the direction of one of my favorite quilting sites:

http//www.quiltville.com

Inspiration and encouragement galore on this site <wave>

I started using this cubicles, only the black ones, black does not distract from the color of the fabric. You can get them at Target and add several pieces together. I used cable ties instead of the plastic things they come with to join the panels. They are 15" square and I love them. They do get messy but not like shelves. I also got the wire file drawers for those odd bits of stuff I want to see.
There are so many things

I used those types of cubes too. I like that they can be dismantled and rearranged in a different way. Also easy to store the ones you are not using.

They are wonderful

I've been sorting mine out too...really must be catching...but feeling slightly smug...after being in my room nearly all weekend I now have wonderful boxes of olour organised fabric...what I really wished I had done though is labelled each from where it was bought...am really going to try that for 2011 so am now armed with a box of small stickers.I have spent the weekend thinking....which shop did I get that from !

AH sew instead color coordinated is good enough, yes?

I sort by color for the main part, but do have Childrens themed prints, western prints, batiks, Christmas separated out. I am in the process of trying to find the space to sort fat quarters into the main stacks which means I have to move everything around.

I kinda sorta sort by color and by size and type -

For example: Smallish blues ( 2 yards or less) are together

I Spy are sort of together - but grouped within the totes (sometimes - frogs are grouped, sports are grouped, etc)

Black and whites are together

Batiks - of which I have very few - are together

The "unwashed" are in a separate stack of totes


Next time I have to unfold a piece, I am going to try to remember to measure it and attach a tag to the fabric telling me the dimensions so I will know what they are the next time - -

The "Large/Long Washed" are stacked on a bed.

And then there are the dreaded scraps and UFOs.

Click "search" from the categories at the top of this page. Type "Fabric Stash, Pictures". You will get all kinds of ideas from members who have posted .

I don't have a stash, so I don't need to organize. I just get everything I need for a project at one time and keep it together. . . then if I don't get to it right away, I put it in a drawer in the spare bedroom. Then, if I see fabric I really love, or is on sale, I just buy it for later, and I put it on the shelf in the closet. . . . then when I inherit a bunch of fabric, I can put it in plastic bins under the bed . . . then when Wal-Mart has batting at half-price, of course, I stock up, and put it in the closet where my husband's fishing gear is - was (he won't mind if I move that junk to the garage, right?). . . then . . . Oh! *groan* I have a stash! Can anyone help me organize this mess?

My sorting is a little odd, or at least compared to what some people do. All of my fabrics go in a big rubbermaid tub because I don't have a sewing room :( But first they all go into piles, florals, solids, holiday, large prints and small prints. Then they all get organized by color after that. And any piece that's smaller than a piece of paper goes in my scrap box. Anything that's part of a project gets put in a gift bag which is kept on my bookshelf so that I can just grab the bag and don't have to worry about accidentally using that material. Good luck!