Fabric Sorting
 

I am in the process of setting up my new quilting studio. I have a pretty large stash of fabrics. I now have plenty of cabinet space to organize it. I can't decide how to set up the space. Should I sort by color, type of fabric, collections etc.

I like to keep my collections together. Everything else is sorted by colour mostly. Theme fabric like Christmas is together regardless of colour. I also store yardage separate from pieces. Pieces are fair game for any project but I try to save yardage for a big project or backing. A new studio, how exciting!

Oh, I am so excited!!! I'll have to post pics when I'm done. That's pretty much the way I was thinking of doing it.

Congrats on the new space. Need pics!

I do the same. Collections together then sorted by color. I use the boards sold by one of our board members. Saves so much space.

I made my own boards. I just picked up the bolt cardboard they throw away at JoAnn's and cut into 4 even size pieces and fold fabric in 1/2 clamp to my cutting table and fold it around it. Then it can stand in a bookshelf or as of right now in tubs that I can see in.

Thanks Amy,

I like that idea.

Whatever you do in your organization of your fabrics, be consistant. I know first hand what not doing that looks like-------still a mess!! Good Luck!!

I sort my fabric by length/size, fat quarters, less than 1/2 yd, 1/2 yd, 1 yd, 1.5 yd, 2 yd, etc. I sort by color within that size. I don't have the size stash that some have, a a 5 shelf book case 3 feet wide and a couple of shelves on another book case. Thats for quilts. I have a tub of doll and bear makings, a tub of fancy fabrics for Crazy quilts, and a tub of clothing fabrics, from when I made all my own clothes. Then there are the cross stitch fabrics, floss, beads, and on and on. No wonder I moved all the quilting material ( both sane and crazy) to my studio, and the rest is out in the shed.

LOL. It's amazing what we accumulate. Sure as the world we get rid of it, we'll need it next week.

I keep collections together, then by yardage (under 1, 1 to 2, 2+, then big enough for a backing), I then fold to a set size that will fit the drawer or shelf,, then sort colors. This way when I am putting fabric together for a quilt, I have some idea of how big each piece is. This has been working for me, although I still have several totes to unpack ans add in.

I'm in the process of organizing my fabrics as well. I found this tutorial about folding and storing fabric. The blogger uses comic book backing boards. Here is the link:

http://cuttopieces.blogspot.com/2011...-tutorial.html

I tried this and it works really well. The backing board is archival safe so it won't damage your fabric. I tend to sort all my fabrics by color unless it is themed like X-Mas or Halloween fabrics.

I don't have a vast stash, but I organise it by keeping themes (e.g. childrens, Christmas) together and otherwise by colour.

:thumbup: I also use Comic Backing Board. Instead of using pins, I use Large Plastic Paper Clips. I use the small curve of the Clip to go over the back of the board between the fabric and the board, and the large end goes over the front of the board over the fabric. I cut my backing board 4 x 6 1/2 (Fat Quarters) and 7 x 11 1/2 for yardage. I don't have a different room for sewing and my space is small. My fabric is in tubs. This fits in the tubs well. When I get (HA HA) my sewing room and get a bookshelf I can then transfer the boards to the shelves. I sort by theme, color. When I am working on a special project (BOM Houses) I put all the different fabrics together that I will be using. BrendaK

This is EXACTLY how I do it, and I have more time to sew since I didn't have to type it all out!

recently had to move mine so did some sorting. Have bags with checks, stripes and plaids, containers with themed fabrics, solids and small print floral. smaller pieces in two 4 drawer plastic stands by color. Big stuff on boards stacked where I can see them. seems to be working so far.

you're funny....smile

that was for RugosaB smile

I sort mine by color also. Then by size. I try to keep all the smaller pieces and scraps by color, but that gets hard sometimes. Seasonal by holiday or whatever no matter what the color.

I do the same thing! BTW - is that a Maltese in your avatar? See my avatar, and you'll know why I ask! :)

I'm working on putting mine on mat board from a local frame shop. This one gives away scrap that is too small. It's acid free and stiff enough. I cut it too the size I need for the container or shelf and presto! I now can use some fabric storage things that wouldn't stand up before

This is how my room is organized..

These are in 30 gal tubs no matter what size pieces they are:
Holiday- each holiday (xmas, 4th, halloweenie, easter, etc) have its own tub
Flannel
Vintage fabric (35in xWOF)- all goes in one tub
Authentic 30's feedsacks

All my Bolts (3+yards) are on the bookcase and in walk in closet.
All my 1-2 yards cuts are ruler folded, then separated by theme (floral, kids prins, asian, etc) and solids, blenders, and the rest are seperated by color on bookcases

Batiks are in a see thru sterilite three drawer separated by light med dark..
Fqs are separated by color, floral, novelty in it's own sections on wall cd racks, closet maid 24/36 bin shoe organizers.. Each area has its own 'theme' so i can find what I'm looking for.

My scraps are in specific see- thru bins, tubs and drawers depending on size..

Each Accuquilt Die cut shapes have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own- I do have most if not all the dies already.. lol..
strips less than10 inches but longer than 5 inches of has a a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
Strips longer than 10 inches but less than WOF has a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
2 inch strips are hanging on the back of the door
1.5 x wof has a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
2.5 x WOF strips has a a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
3x WOF strips have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
5x WOF strips have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
all other strips x WOF are separated by colors and has a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
Crumbs have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
Scraps less than a fq but larger than 6x6 has a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own- these are waiting to be cut with my Accuquilt
2 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
2.5 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
3 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
3.5 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
4 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
4.5 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
5 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own


And that's how my room is organized..

I followed Bonnies method.. www.quiltville.com.

Congrats on your new space. I am sure you will enjoy it.

Wow! You're are so organized.

Luvtoquilt omg i read her blog and figured her system was doable by anyone who had secret elves helping them but oh my you proved me wrong....unless you make me feel better and say you do have secret elves

Oh wow, talk about a can of worms opened! Here's my method, but keep in mind two things: I'm kooky in my thinking and there's no "one right way" (thank goodness). I store collections together first. Then sort by color. I started out just putting reds together and so on. But, now I'm slowly separating the colors by value.

I agree, be consistent with which ever system you choose. You can do some tweaking later, but it's so much work to start over and completely change the system. (Not doing that again!)

wow thats is organazation.....

I sort by color also, but if it's a particular collection I try to keep it seperate. I used the ruler method of folding (6 x 24), didn't want to use the boards.

Comic Boards - Buffered with 3% calcium carbonate

Is this safe for the fabrics?

Congrats on the sewing space and YES lots of pics please

I've done the same thing and it works well. There is a company who have basically done the same thing with "acid free" cardboard, they were at the Houston quilt festival as well as others, I would imagine, and they claim that the fabric bolts are not acid free and will destroy your fabric, but I've been doing this for almost 2 years now and haven't had a problem to date. Look at this as an encouragement to use your stash that much quicker....and still buy more! Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been working on sorting and refolding all my fabrics, and storing
them in plastic storage bins 58qt size (18x13x17). Anything UNDER 3
yards gets folded.

Separated by color, if fabrics are heavily multi-colored than
I put them into yet another bin. Everything OVER 3 yards is
put onto empty bolts I get from Joann's, Hobby Lobby and
any other store who is willing to let me have them. I also put
collection groups onto the bolts IF there is 2+ yards of each
I put them all together. If the collection group has LESS then
1-1/2 yards each I fold and put them into zipper plastic bags
1 gallon or the 2-1/2 gallon size depending on how much I
have.

IF I have a pattern that I intend to use with fabric I purchased
even if it is not part of a group I put the pattern with the fabric.
I sometimes plan out quilt designs in EQ7 when I print the pattern
I make "notes" and make sure that it gets put with the fabrics and/or
pattern.

All my "holiday" fabrics go into one bin EXCEPT Christmas
since there is so much of that it gets 2+ bins.

ALL my fat quarters are in 2 FULL bins and have a third bin
started. They are NOT separated in no particular way. ALL
my scraps are just a jumble of pieces in 6 FULL bins with #7
in the works.

Since I am not into crumb quilts I have not intension of using
all the scraps. I NEED to separate the scraps into the catagories
100% cotton, Flannel & unknown content.

Now if I could spend 1/4 of the time sewing that I do playing with
the fabric I might actually get some quilts made.

LOL

I organize as you have listed. I have mostly quilting cottons, but also have minkee, flannel, and fleece. I keep this in a different area than I do my cotton quilting fabric. I then sort by collection and everything else is sorted by color. Good luck with oganizing your stash.

By separating into colors I was able to eliminate one large plastic tub and two smaller ones and replace with three ArtBin 12x12x4's color-cordinated with the fabrics inside. These either stand or stack, so I can grab what I need easily. Trouble is, they are full. I can't buy fabric until I use some up.

I'm fairly new at the quilting hobby (started in fall of 2010) and because I have two homes, it's a challenge to adapt each setting in a way that works for me. We spend half the year in CO and half the year in TX. What is working for me right now is to use the clear zippered containers that I recycle from other things I have bought, such as curtains, bed linens, blankets, etc. I try to put the pattern with the chosen fabric into one of these. Then I can put them in drawers or on shelves and easily pull them out when I am ready to work on them. For random materials that I have not a particular project in mind, I group them together by fabric type and color.

Agree totally with Quilty Louise. That works so well for me too. Projects together in a bags or containers with the pattern, western all together, Christmas all together, novelties, other seasonal pieces, batik fat quarters all together, reproductions together, then sort all larger pieces of blenders/batiks as to color, then fat quarters trying to contain them sorted by color. husband and my friend all think they could help me but they just don't understand. Totally 1000% agree that if I did not play so much with the fabric (and the computer) I could get more accomplished. It is a brain thing, and whatever works for your brain...something that makes sense to you.

Our brains don't all work alike. When I worked at the first quilt shop, my boss and I could arrange fabric pretty much the same. The next shop I where I worked I never could figure out their rhyme or reason. One day I did the batiks so they made sense to me....WRONG thing to do. I think I was right, they thought I was all wrong. It might take a while for you to figure out what works best for you. Best of luck and have fun. Part of my stash in in storage now waiting for me to clear out a closet full of STUFF. I can't wait to get out my stored stash and get to arranging it again. Dealing with the 'stuff/junk' in the closet now is dragging me down.

Thanks for the information and links.

I think you have to apply polar notion method to storing fabrics as well. Make the different size of storage bin which makes you easy to select storage bin. Arrane the fabric on shelves as well so you don't have to put on all fabric and arrange them though as it is. Hope you will like my information.

I ruler fold my yardage, and it is sorted by color, kids, holiday, etc. All my fat quarters are in plastic drawers by color, holidays, kids, batiks, etc. and my strips are in clear plastic shoe boxes according to size. I have been quilting for years and have a whole room full of fabric. It changes as you get more fabric. I just like it organized so I am particular about everything being organized. My actual sewing room is usually a mess as I am working on projects and then cutting up whatever is left into squares or strips. It works for me. You will find the way that works for you. My "fabric room" has all the fabric and my long arm. My "sewing room" has my sergers, sewing machines, and embroidery machines, cutting table, and notions. When the kids left home I took over their old bedrooms.