Quiltingboard Forums - How Do You Store Your Fabric?

Quiltingboard Forums (https://www.quiltingboard.com/)

- Mission: Organization (https://www.quiltingboard.com/mission-organization-f23/)

- - How Do You Store Your Fabric? (https://www.quiltingboard.com/mission-organization-f23/how-do-you-store-your-fabric-t118252.html)

It's important to note that the comic book boards are only treated to be acid free on one side - and there is no way to tell which side that is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beckyj (Post 7833887)

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

This is a very good suggestion.

However, I ran out of shelf space - not willing to part with fabric yet -

I have stuff stacked - I try to keep it in semi-darkness to minimize light damage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna.425 (Post 4727297)

I no longer stash in the formal sense of the notion. I used to be an Assistant Manager at Fabricland and of course had a stash that would rival any stash in the world. Then DH and I moved. I teased him about moving all of his fans (the man does not do heat well) and he teased me about my fabric boxes. After the move for some reason I realized a few things. 1) that if I got hit by a bus DH would be saddled (lovingly so) with a dog and 3 cats that he never wanted but had supportively accepted in his life; and 2) he would also be left with a hoarder's collection of fun stuff in my sewing room. Now I am not planning on going anywhere but I am married to the most wonderful DH and apparently I needed a brick to hit me in the head to realize how my habits and life would affect him. So, my solution....

I sewed up my stash and since then I only purchase fabric for specific projects. I do have several projects in the bullpen and I organize my fabrics by project. I have a series of plastic tubs that each project goes into for seasoning. When I finish one project and if I have yardage left I recycle the yardage into other projects that I might not have all the fabric for yet. If I have scraps left over I trim them into either squares, strips or triangles for inclusion in scrappy projects. I only allow myself two scrappy bins before they have to be made and emptied.

Thank you for sharing. I am feeling convicted of getting organized and cleaning up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna.425 (Post 4727297)

I sewed up my stash and since then I only purchase fabric for specific projects. I do have several projects in the bullpen and I organize my fabrics by project. I have a series of plastic tubs that each project goes into for seasoning. When I finish one project and if I have yardage left I recycle the yardage into other projects that I might not have all the fabric for yet. If I have scraps left over I trim them into either squares, strips or triangles for inclusion in scrappy projects. I only allow myself two scrappy bins before they have to be made and emptied.

I'm new to quilting and was lucky enough to be able to buy a stash from a lady downsizing to get me started. This is now my goal. Sew up the stash and then only get what I need. I want to downsize so it fits in one cabinet. I'd love to get into fabric dyeing for two reasons: It's gorgeous and for me it would be cheaper than buying quilting fabric at the LQS. In the meantime, I need an appropriate storage solution and I'm appreciating seeing everyone's ideas.

How Do You Store Your Fabric

I store mine folded on comic book boards mostly and then ruler folded when I ran out of the boards. If I have more than 5 yds, then I folded them on bolt boards. All are organized by color and then if they're from a collection they are put together. All are on new laminated shelving. Have one more sets of shelves in the other room for cotton batiks and 2 more units for dress fabrics but you get the idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by butterjoy (Post 4641916)

Using the ruler method? I am not sure what you mean. Was it hard and time consuming? I am still learning :)

There is a tutorial on the site that will show you how to ruler fold. Basically fold the fabric selvedge to fold (it will be 18-20 inches wider x however long your piece is) place a 6" ruler at one end and fold the fabric around the ruler. That is how all my fabric is folded - you don't need the boards - they just take up room on your shelves. No it is not hard - it can be time consuming if you have a lot of fabric.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]577742[/ATTACH]

I use cardboard to organize my silks. It's light weight and free but sturdy enough to hold the silks in any occasions. I put them under-bed-container to protect them from UV and use it like a file drawer.