Suggestion to organize this?
 

This only one section. I have much more on other side in cupboards. How best to tackle this so it is not so overwhelming.

Just jump in!LOL My DH says just send it all to us for safe keeping.

W e l l.....first you can get pants hangers for your hanging quilt tops.....many tops will hang on just 1 hanger & at Walmart they are 2 for $2 something!!
That is the easy part....but a good start!!
I would start separate piles for all that fabric....one pile for each color. This is going to take time so do it is small bunches of time!! Just piles, sorted will give you such a great idea of what you really have!!!
Then.....fold each pile neatly (I ruler fold all my larger pcs,). Now you have stacks of fabric where the piles were!!! Accomplishment feels soooo good at every step!!!!
You can then store them according to color or style in tubs,dresser drawer, bookcases or what I have done is watch craigslist for curio cabinets and as my stash grows I squeeze in another cabinet!!!! (have totally run out of space for another!!!)
Good luck with your organization...mine took about 3 weeks 3 years ago and I am so happy I did it!!!

I would take a deep breath and then set the timer for 30 minutes after getting these items. Some items I would need are the following: 2 Gallon and 1 Gallon ZipLock bags, clear shoe boxes, velvet flocked pant hangers (I use a flocked 4 pant hanger for completed tops waiting to go to quilter), index cards, pens or pencils and a few larger totes or even brown paper bags (I like sorting in them because they stand on their own and even if you leave them out- they still look organized if labeled). Once done with the paper bags, fold flat and use for patterns or another sorting session. Next hang all finished tops with binding/backing on a hanger. The flocked hangers or even wooden pant hangers are strong enough to hold the top and binding fabric. Label index card and poke hole so you can put on top of the hanger. Next stand up a few brown paper bags and label "scraps", "patterns", "misc", "quilt for XXX", "DONATE or SHARE" ... Then empty just one of your bag/box and sort (if you need to label more brown paper bags, do so). Do this until timer goes off then take a 10 minute break and head back in for another 30 minute session. For fabric pieces, I ruler fold and sort by color, batiks, or by holiday/civil war/1930s and even by line. Over the course of a few weeks, you can conquer this. Please keep us posted.

What clear containers you already have scraps/material in set off to the side. Use an industrial marker to label contents. I see batting, fold, roll, and use sticky notes or scraps of paper to label type of batting and approx. size. If any empty cardboard boxes toss aside. Any quilted material like in the upper left corner on the pile, put that in a separate pile. You can use one of the empty cardboard boxes (if big enough) to throw your books and magazines in (mark it mags & books). Another thing mark the boxes so you can read it! You can start by making piles, 1 for novelty, containers for holidays, then separate colors. Don't just toss to this pile and that pile. Fold as you go. Also TAKE A BREAK! You don't have to do this all in one day, That would be nerve racking. Watching some of the YouTube videos may help on organization. You don't have to spend a lot of money on organization just be sure you are able to see what you have. A friend of mine uses shoebags to hang on her door. She keeps many of her quilting patterns in them. Any dresser drawers you don't use are good for what you don't use too often. Good luck!

You can also go through some of the past video on organization on the board and see what works for you.

Just tackle one thing at a time. When my girls were little, their room looked like this. Yikes! I would start by throwing all the clothes on a made bed.then made piles of toys, stuffed toys etc, in your room, i would sort by colors, then sub- sort(is that a word?) into scraps, yardage, FQ etc. then you could finish one color at a time. Have containers nearby for different things, hang everything you can. Break it up into smaller jobs and it won't seem so overwhelming. Good luck.

Oh, QuilterMomma, I would LOVE to be there to help you. I really like to organize things, especially sewing rooms! You asked how to start.

First, get a big glass of water and then set a timer for 15 minutes.

Looking at just that area pictured, take everything out and put it in the hall or spare bed --somewhere close that you're not tripping over and it. Don't try to organize anything, just pull it out and empty that space for now. Seeing a huge expanse of free space will make you SMILE and start helping you feel NOT overwhelmed. It will also force you not to keep anything/put anything back that you don't need or love.

After 15 minutes, set your timer for 5 minutes and gather 4 things: 1 BIG trash can , biggest you can find. 1 for giveaway/sell, 1 for keep, 1 for CAN'T decide (unless you are very decisive). The idea is to make quick decisions, don't overthink.

Set your timer for 25 more minutes. Sort your fabrics into color piles. Do it FAST. Don't pet your fabric, don't wax nostalgic, don't plan your next quilt, don't overthink, don't grab fabric from the other side of the room. Focus on this area we see in the picture, It's enough for now. Just sort fabric by color as fast as you can.

In the time remaining, fold in a ROYGBIV'ly way. Reds, Oranges, Yellows, etc. I love the ruler method I saw on youtube. Makes everything look as neat as quilt shop stash> :) . When you hear the timer, stop! Breathe. Take another big drink of water. Admire your progress.

That was 45 minutes. I am only good for 45 when I'm overwhelme
d. I can ruler fold fabric in front the of the TV because it's mindless. But if you find you're just moving piles around and not getting rid of anything, you need to stop.

Think how much fun we, your QB friends, will have looking at your progress (DO take pictures as you go!) and then at shopping your stash when (not if) you decide to offer it up to us!!

You can do this. 45 minutes. 4 Boxes. Attitude and clothes on. GO!

I meant your "giveaway/sell" pile as "stash" for us:)

I easily get overwhelmed with where & how to start. What works for me is take one pile, bag or bin at a time. Put like things with like (notions, fabric, scraps, blocks quilt tops, books). If you have time - do another one.

Once everything is sorted and grouped then it's time to start making decisions as to how it will work best to organize and store each group. Where to put it, how to organize it and what to put it in? I find this to be the fun part. Again work on it in sections time & energy permitting. Fabric takes a long time to organize but having it done is a wonderful thing!

You can do it!

Get a book case, cut out cardboard pieces so they will fit the verticle and depth dimensions of the bookcase. Use on piece of cardboard for each piece of fabric big enough to fit around the cardboard and pin the fabric in place after wrapping it up. Put small pieces in a plastic tub container. All your fabrics will be visible, you can arrange them by color so it looks like a rainbow. It sounds fun I want to come over and help you. Also you can get those hanging shelves made of thick fabric at Walmart, meant to put sweaters in, well I would fold up your quilts and batting and put in those pockets, they come in several sizes. Make sure you get a bookcase big enough for all your fabrics. I don't have a place for a bookcase so I have one of those plastic drawer rolling carts in the closet. I don't like it because it leans from the weight of the fabric and the drawers are super hard to get back in, my husband has to do it for me, and I can't move the closet sliding door to open the other side of the closet until the drawers have been pushed back in. Those hanging shelves might not be too hard to make??? they velcro to a hanger rod. The biggest expense will be the bookcase, but I would get a nice quality one and bolt it to the wall to be safe because the fabric is very heavy. I would get a tall one if possible with large space shelves, a tall one definitely needs to be screwed into the wall. My husband made a hole on the top shelf, on the back against the wall, try and find a stud to bolt into. Good luck and God bless you.

Just ...... s.t.a.r.t!
Set the timer for 15 minutes, and allow yourself to stop after that if you wish.

Keep up the timer setting ... soon you will find that you will take less breaks as you will be anxious to continue to see more progress.

MY advice--it's simple. Just one piece at a time. Put like things together, then determine what kind of storage will work best for those objects. I've been working on mine for the last few days. Thankfully, I'm almost done. Good Luck. You can do it. Vonda

Plastic bins are a wonderful thing. They stack and some you can see through to see what is in them.
Separate out the need to be quilted finished tops to one (along with the backings, bought all project fabrics that are ready to be done together with the pattern in a bag together and in a plastic bin, organize small pieces of fabric by color in a three drawer plastic container (walmart) , large pieces together by color.

This is great advice for any major organizing task! Thank-you for providing some structure to achieve success!

All of the above hints are great, especially the timer. But I like to have music that I can sing along with. And please be careful with the fabric on the floor, there may be spiders.

HOLY MOLEY THATS ALOT OF FABS.! Well if it were me, take advice from some of the experts on this site. There are some great ideas. I would just dig in and start at one corner and work my way thru. Good luck.

Zozee, great ideas! I bought some big clear plastic bins to dump everything into to 'get out' of my sewing room. I can't think inside all of the clutter. I need that room empty, including wrong type and size of furniture and a broken chair. Now... to begin!

If I knew how to organize it, my room wouldn't look the same as yours! And it does!!!!!!

get your bestest girlfriend and a bottle of wine ......jump right in ....

Yep, that is what my sewing room looks like! This is my reason for sewing on the dinning room table.

Sorry, I don't have ideas for you but I do have empathy.

Turn the fan on ??!! Or maybe that's what you already did----sorry, only joking,my room often looks like that ! Love Letty

This sounds like a excellent plan!!!

If you have the space I would take everything to another room. Maybe set up a few tables or use a bed to put the stuff on. Then you will have an empty room, that will help when you put the stuff back in. Then sort into piles by colors and/or size. Fold the larger pieces, roll up or fold the batting. The completed projects or WIP's could either be folded or hung on sturdy hangers. After the sorting, folding and hanging is completed then go out and buy the appropriate size bins and hangers for your stuff. Also shelving or storage units that fit the room if you need those. Get plastic bins that you can stack and see thru. Put a strip of blue painters tape on the ends of the bins and label them. Then put it all back in the room so it is accessible to you. If you can reach it, and see what's inside the bins you are likely to keep things organized and put stuff away.

I had a pile that looked very much like that. I sorts first into sizes. Anything under a half yard was considered a " scrap " and went into one pile. Then I sorted the rest by color. I know that lots of people use the boards to wrap fabric, but to me that's a waste of time to refold and wrap, and money for the board. Just fold it. Then put the sorted colors in the storage of your choice - I use clear bins, but you could use shelves, bags or whatever, depending on how much you have. I have a container for WIP's ( works in progress ) and sets of fabric that is already coordinated, so I don't accidentally use a key piece of fabric in another project that in one project that I was already part of a set. Just pick away at it and it will eventually get organized!

I applaud you for being brave enough to show us what your space looked like at that moment.

Like most tasks...one step at a time. Biggest part of the job is starting. Good luck!

Think about how you are going to use it. Will you be using a group of fabric together? I see some autumn fabrics. Then store it as a group. What are your categories? I see a "to be quilted" and a "batting" and a lot of "to be sorted." For that last category, unless you have something else in mind, I'd sort and store by color. Wind the bigger pieces around your ruler or use mini bolts of cardboard. Did you ever think of using the smaller pieces for a string quilt? It's quick and easy and all the colors go together. If so, you could put all the smaller pieces one container despite color and just pull from that for string or scrap quilts.

I feel for you. I have a 10x12 storage space and did have everything sorted in boxes and on shelves, easily accessible, according to color. Then DH dumped a whole lot of stuff in the middle of the room and now I have a mess. To be fair, I am disabled and couldn't do it myself, but now I have a much bigger mess to clean up than you do. The breezeway is also a mess. A friend and I have given it a lot of thought (I make a lot of quilts for homeless families) to a course of action. What we have decided, since I know I'll be getting a big donation soon, is a threefold approach: 1) sort out and give away locally what we can't use, which I do every autumn; 2) Ruler fold the bigger backing pieces and see if that will make more room in the boxes; and 3) buy a Accuquilt GO with these strip cutters: 2.5, 4.5, and 5". Cut up all the scraps and small yardage. These three sizes will allow any jell roll quilts, and Nickel quilts, and quite a few others. If there is money, also get a 6.5 strip for strip quilts. We figure that if we have the pieces all cut and waiting, a lot more sewing will get done. I am a good rotary cutter and she is a very frustrated rotary cutter, so even though I don't want the expense, as she points out, it will make a bigger impact than any other sewing-related purchase could. But the last time I cut pieces for a quilt, it took 40 hours for just one quilt, and I think that time could be put to better use sewing and quilting.

What do you think of my plan?

First start with a very big glass of wine........

I would start by getting a shelf for folded/finished fabric (if you don't already have one). Then take a garbage bag of fabric to the laundrymat!! Plenty of machines to run multiple loads, and usually good size tables for folding. Take a friend to help!!

Bringing it OUT of the house accomplishes two things: you have a good clear working area in the laundry mat where you are not stepping over things, and you are not "looking at it" thinking about it the whole time and becoming discouraged by the size of the task. Concentrate on that one bag that you brought with you to the laundrymat.

Once it comes out of the dryer, fold it in whatever manner you decide as long as they are uniform sizes.

Then bring that stack of clean finished/folded fabric home and shelve it right away. Put like colors together but don't get too busy with sorting because you'll be re-sorting when you've completed the other bags.

One bag at a time from start to finish.

When you are not cleaning/folding fabric you can work on the other non-fabric stuff in 15-30 minute intervals.

Good luck!

One piece at a time....LOL...

I think Zozee is spot on!

One thing that has helped me in recent years is giving myself permission to get rid of things I'm not likely to use. It might have been a really good deal at the time - or not - but if it's just in the way, it isn't worth whatever the cost was. Anything in good condition is donated appropriately (VoA, local charity, guild, etc.) and anything not, tossed or recycled.

This includes quilt projects that aren't done... If I find I didn't like the technique, fabric or whatever and have tossed it aside, I'm not going to like it more as time goes on. My time is a precious commodity - I work full time, so don't have time to do things I don't enjoy. There are groups, including here on the board, I think, that will take partially finished projects and finish or repurpose them.

Great ideas, all of them! Guess what? Once you get your fabrics organized the way you want them, they will remain this way. They will inspire you, and you will find it fun to "shop" through your stash first before buying more fabrics. Sometimes you will find a forgotten treasure that you bought years ago, smile.

ZoZee,
All great advice, but you forgot Step 1.a - Remove all husbands/children/cats/dogs/ cell phones form premises & then, post QUARANTINED on front door. But, in truth, as I'm in the beginning stages of The End, it truly is worth it! Trust us! :thumbup:

When I have something like this (my walk-in closet for instance) I take a deep breath and dive in. Even though it looks overwhelming at first when you are smack dab in the middle of it you will think it's not so bad after all!

DHMom has a great plan!!! ... you can fire a lot of fabric into a lot of machines, and have it done in no time, if you take it to the laundry mat! Plus if you take a friend, you can have a really good fun time together, getting the task done.

Another tactic that has helped many, here on the QB ... now that you have posted the before pic, you have given yourself some accountability, to make progress. So show progress pics to us, and it will help nudge you to continue on to the finish line!

Oh dear, Let someone else do the work, me, and pay me with material. lol Barb

O M G !! LOL .... This answer is great.

The suggestions to move things of he area, and then to sort and fold are excellent.

Some of us don' t have other temporary areas.

The first thing I would do would be to fold things into uniform sizes and stack things neatly.
In my case, I would have two stacks of fabrics - washed and not washed.
Then you would have some bare spots .

Just having things piled neatly makes the space look less cluttered/ trashed.