I use 12 X 12 card stock from the scrapbook store. I buy it on sale usually about 10 cents a sheet. I fold it in half and wrap everything around it that fits. I use pins, hair clips, and bobby pins to hold it on. I put mine together the way I will be using it. Anything for a project I keep together. Batiks together, civil war together, lights all together, reds, blues, yellows, greens, Christmas together. When I start a quilt, I assign the pattern and fabric to a 12 X 12 plastic Art tote with a handle. I cut out all the pieces, and organize them in sandwich bags. This I take with me when I go on retreats so everything for each project is in its own carrying case.

I have mine folded by color, theme, & size on bookcases. My problem is that there is no cover on them I thought of using clear shower curtains hung to cover but dont know how it will look.

Your stash organization is terrific! :)

Fabric storage - aarrrrgggggHHHHHHH! I am just enough OCD that it drives me crazy! Should I put it in the blue bin, but oh wait, it has flowers, so should I put it in the floral bin, but oh wait, there's a good bit of yellow in there too, so should I put it in with the yellows? This is always a problem for me, so I love seeing your replies and hoping one will pop out at me saying "This is the way to do it!"

That is one of the problems I have. I look for others answers...

I like your ideas, very organized.

~ Cindy

curtain
 

I have my stash in the cube storage boxes and decided I wanted to cover it so I used the shower rod holdercups and rod to hang a clothe curtain. I'm a Sunbonnet Sue nut so I appliqued them on a plain white shower curtain to "beautify the plain curtain. Already had cafe curtains with Sue on windows so they all went together. The cubes fit in a space that is the size of the closet so the rod was hung across it .

I love the way you sorted your fabrics by color. I try but I think I have too much fabric and can't part with any of it LOL

Has anyone figured this one out??
******************

I have mine stacked by color too.........the problem I see is, when I want a piece and its ALWAYS on the bottom, and it messes the others up, when I go to pull it out..........so how do you figure out some other way? I like the idea about using the boards and stacking sideways like the quilt shop.....but my shelves are deep, so that would be a lot of wasted space........guess I need more shelves, inside each cabinet. Thanks for all your suggestions, makes me want to fix mine better.

Love the Goodwill find!

I'm in the process of putting my fabric on magazine boards purchased at a local comic book store (100/$10). AND they're acid free. I'm still struggling with the whole sorting thing though. Hopefully I'll get some good ideas here.

On one of the other posts people were talking about going to Lowe's and buying canvas painter's tarps. They said that once they're washed they soften up and are pretty cheap. Just a thought.

If you use a magazine or cardboard and slip it in under the piece of fabric you want it will slide right out. You can put it back that way too.

Is magazine board a cardboard? How much do they usually cost?

They're an acid free cardboard. They're really pretty sturdy and cost about $10 for a package of 100. Since they're acid free they won't damage your fabric. I did feel a little silly going into a comic book store - but hey I was on a mission. They have different sizes - comic books, magazines, etc. - so you can get the size that will work best for you. There's also a video on YouTube that shows you how to fold your fabric.

I get the free cardboard bolts from Joann's as they just have to carry thm out to the dumpster anyway. I usually get a big garbage bag full. I then cut them into 4 equal pieces and fold my fabric in half and wrap it around the board. since fabric came on it originally it should still be good. Plus it's FREE!!! I just have to take the time to cut and then fold and wrap.

thanks KSDot for the idea of putting a magazine under / over the piece I am trying to get out.......... I will try that.....boy, what wonderful ideas we can all get from this board.......I LOVE it...............

I'm actually in the process of screening, purging and (re)grouping yardage (including fat quarters), but the system will be the same. Like np3;3094031, I also bundle fabrics for a specific project with a ribbon or ziplock bag (with front-to-back holes punched in it for the fabric to breathe better) if some or most of the pieces are alread cut; I also tuck a COPY of the pattern photo underneath the ribbon tie so I won't forget what I had planned. [I know that's never happened to anyone else....]

Fat quarters and yardage up to 1 yard are stored in my floor-to-ceiling melamine cabinets (no leaching of woods into the fabric), either in drawers (like sock drawers), or pull-out shelves. Fabric types are clustered together (1930's, civil war, batiks, kids, novelty, baby/infant, holiday, solids, etc. I have a separate drawer for precut shapes and appliques (hexagons, diamonds, tumblers, butterflies, etc.) BUT fabrics that can go with any of these fabric types are in the center cluster of drawers.

I have three pull-out shelves for projects that need finishing, mostly queen quilt tops, because the design isn't "done" yet, regardless of the pattern; I'm able to go back to these and knock them off thoughtfully. In one case I had to wait 3 years for the right fabric to use as a broderie perse solution to a not-successful color selection for a Yellow Brick Road quilt top.

What's gotten REALLY out of hand for me have been the scraps, but I finally settled on a system of how to cut them so that I'll actually do something fairly quick and easy; since a lot of the work of any quilt is cutting the fabric into shapes (rectangles, squares, strips), I took a look at what patterns I found attractive and made a master list of those precut components for several types of blocks for scrap quilts. My husband has enthusiastically volunteered (really, he did!) to help me after the first of the year with this scrap-taming task: grab a piece from one of the five copy paper boxes of scraps, cut it into the size and shape of choice (no overthinking!), sort into shapes (then by size) for sorting into fabric types (1930's, batiks, holiday, etc.), then by color. I won't get stuck with overthinking with someone else who loves quilts working beside me; I also like the idea of our doing something together like this. These new precuts will be stored in plastic shoe boxes. Then, using the Leaders & Enders approach, I'll just start knocking off block component construction (9- & 4-patches, half- and quarter- square triangles) to grab-and-go to the design wall to lay out those scrap quilts.

THE BEST PART OF SCRAP TAMING: FIGURING OUT WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE "SHAVINGS" & TRIMMINGS! Our guild is now collecting them from every quilter to use as stuffing for anti-ouch pouches (these go between the upper arm and side of women who have had breat surgery), Paul Newman's turtle pillows, stuffing for the bears our guild gives to charity, stuffing for Me dolls (dolls made for children undergoing surgery), pin cushions and such for fundraisers. Several of us admitted we hate throwing those shavings and trimmings away, so now we have something concrete to do with them, and our collective efforts can really make a difference.

Everyone has their own method of storing, but I think we sort very similar. I sort mine according to color.
Separate stacks for children, Xmas, etc.
So if I am going to need fabric for a childrens quilt, I can go right to this stack.
I want organization so when I need fabric for a quilt I can pull the fabrics with the least amount of time.
I want to spend my time making quilts. Not sorting through stacks of unsorted fabrics.
If I had to do this I would be out of the mood by the time I found the fabrics I was looking for.
When I purchase fabrics for a specific quilt I keep them together with the pattern so I don't pull this fabric from my stash accidentally. This makes it easy to see what fabrics I have and what fabrics I need for this specific quilt. :0)

Several Ways. I have acid-free clear boxes for most of my fabric.

I just got my comic boards in tonite, can't wait to start the process. I hope the boards work good!

Huge wow, to those gorgeous fabric collections....awesome :)

That is my goal! I don't have a large stash and I do not want one.
Sandy

Nice pics, I use book cases as well but the large bolts and now seeing this will make more room with mtl. like this

Everyone has such great ways to store their fabric... I keep mine in plastic seethru tubs, divided by basic colors, novelty, flannel ... fat quarters are folded and put into plastic shoe boxes... but something I do that I don't seem to see anyone else here doing is keeping material in plastic ziploc bags... Is this something I'm doing wrong???????
My house seems to attract dust so try to keep everything sealed... but would so love to display on boards..

Wow. That looks great. I am in stash building mode. I too use the comic book boards. They are affordable even if I need to double up for a large piece of fabric.

I ask the clerks at Joann's for their empties; I can get four mini bolts out of one full size (I cut them no taller than 11" so they will fit in my bookcase. If I have a lot of yardage of one fabric, I fold it as if it were on a full size bolt and then hang in with one of those skirt hangers or put it on a full size bolt at store it on the shelf. Some would say storing it on cardboard is not a good thing but I have had no ill effects. My fabric is sorted first by type, quilting cotton, flannel, fleece, knit, denim, etc. Then sorted by color, whites fad to tans, and on to browns. Greens are together then blues; reds and purples and blacks. Specialties (holidays) are put together in one of those zippered linen bags (I don't have much of that). If I have made a purchase for a special project, I keep those together on the shelf or in a storage box.

I store my fabric in metal bins that pull out. And sort fabric according to color, and I separate childrens fabrics and solids. This makes it easy to pull fabrics for a quilt. When I purchase fabric for a specific quilt I keep this fabric separate with the pattern. I'm usually buying for several quilts at a time, this way I don't use the fabrics for another project.

Ok, Picture time! I have just recently cut my stash in half, but this is what I have left. Anything that is more than 2 yards gets hung in the closet. I use drape hooks with the clips on drip dry (wire), anything that is over 2 yards goes on a bolt and on the shelves, fat quarters and under a yard get the pull out wire drawers and everything else gets put on the shelf or where ever I think it fits at the time I have it in my hands. I purchased the shelves with the wire baskets at Ikea, they are 14 inches deep by 36 inches wide and go almost floor to ceiling with about 2 inches to spare. Enjoy the pictures!
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Looks great! love the organization here!

I found this on organizing on the board from alaskasunshine, it is cool and gives u the measurements, let me know if it helps ok.....Quilted Dogs, Shar
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...om-t43871.html

Been trying to post this for u forever, having trouble, here goes again, alaskasunshine posted this a while ago and I found it on here, so great, u could use the poster board and it will b cheap too, just click on the link below ok, let me know what u think.....Quilted Dogs, Shar

http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...m-t43871.htmld

I have mine sorted this way:
Pastels, brights, black & Whites, Novelty, Floral, Earthy
Hope that helps.

I have mine on tall bookcases , sorted by color or theme.
Have a Blessed day
Ellen

May I see a picture?

Thought; to-nite pull blues, next week pull reds, continue and put back in tubs as you empty them. Ready for shelves when you want. Now I had better take my own advise.

To make it easier to pull a piece out of piles without making a mess, leave 2 inches at top of pile. To pull a piece out, slide in ruler (width of fabric pile) above piece want and lift up. take your piece out, let down and slide ruler out. Still neat. If pile is to tight or heavy, need to find more space,to avoid messing it up. If pile to tall, insert another shelf. Put about 8-10 inches for flat piles

Inspirational organization! Thanks for sharing the pictures!