Are you stuck on the 6" ruler fold?
 

I was. Yesterday I came home with 12 yards of fabric, carefully folded it on my 6" ruler, and took it to my storage shelves. There was no way I could squeeze it in where it belonged! Do you really think I was going to get rid of some fabric? No way! LOL What to do now? Looking at my shelves I realized that they are 15" deep. So I spent the day fondling fabric while I refolded it all using my 8 1/2" ruler. Now I have room to spare. Maybe next time I'll refold it with my 12 1/2" ruler.

I have never folded my fabric using a ruler, cardboard, or any other method. I fold it lengthwise 3 times, keeping the selvedges parallel with the folds, then I fold it width-wise. That way every fabric is the same width and fits nicely on the shelf. If it's a very long cut, then I'll fold it width-wise to shorten it, then lengthwise again.

I usually ask for the cardboard, when I buy what's left on a bolt. I use them to store the longer lengths of fabric. Some folks use those corrugated (plastic?) boards, also. My "bolted" fabric is stored on a big plastic shelving unit, from Home Depot. :)

My smaller pieces are ruler folded, my mid size are on the smaller homemade bolts and my pieces larger than 3 yds are on the bolts from the fabric store. Works best for me.

I forgot to mention that the 12 yards was in 7 different fabrics, 5 pieces 2 yds each, 2 pieces 1 yd each. I don't use cardboard (cockroach food) or plastic to wrap my fabric on because it takes up space. I fold my fabric lengthwise (center to selvedge), wrap it on the ruler, remove the ruler, and stand the fabric on the shelf. When I buy any where near a full bolt I just store it on the bolt even though I hate having cardboard in my house.

I just mention this because we have so many posts about ruler folding fabric, and we always talk about using the 6" ruler. This board is where I learned it. Of course there are many ways of doing just about everything, and the ruler fold is what works for me. I don't know why it took me so long to realize I could use my wider ruler. 6" worked great when I kept my fabric in dresser drawers, but using the wider ruler I can put more fabric on my shelves and not have any that I can't see.

[QUOTE=ShirlinAZ;6304713]I forgot to mention that the 12 yards was in 7 different fabrics, 5 pieces 2 yds each, 2 pieces 1 yd each.
..../QUOTE]

That makes a huge difference! I was picturing 12 yards wound around a ruler . . . and what I was "seeing" was a roundish ball of fabric! :D

Good advice - been using the 6" ruler and am running out of shelf space. Thanks.

One can get plexiglass cut into wider widths.

When I started folding my fabric to stand up, I used my 8.5"x24" ruler. I don't use anything (like comic book boards) in the center, and it stands up just fine as long as there's enough fabric supporting it on both sides. So the goal is never to run out of fabric. ;)

I'm happy with the comic book boards and vertical mini-bolt style storage. And the extra boards have also come in handy for other projects. (extra boards? I clearly need more fabric).