Notwendy

There are so many ways to sort. It gets overwhelming quickly and sometimes there isn't a clear "best" way, only what ends up working for you personally.

That said, I often try different methods (ruler fold vs comic board vs etc) to see if one works better for me. So far I haven't settled on one that makes me feel really organized.

I keep fqs folded as purchased, ruler fold 1/2 yds, wrap anything 1-6 yds on comic book boards, and keep anything more than 6 yards on bolts. Odd sizes (partial fqs, 3/4 yds, long 1/4 yds, etc give me problems). I'm nothing if not inconsistent. : )

While I have my solids generally grouped by color, I haven't tried to sort my prints by color because many of my fabrics are multi-colored and it gives me hives just thinking about choosing the prominent color. I know the selvage dots are a guide but it wouldn't be very apparent on the shelf.

I was in a color wheel club for a year that sent 12 print fat quarters a month of a certain color. Those are about the only print fat quarters I have in color order (out of 500+/-). I seriously didn't know I had that many until I did an inventory. Yikes! They're like pieces of candy and I have a sweet tooth.

I often purchase the same print fabric in various colorways and like to keep them together. I tend to group by designer as well. Holiday/novelty is a bit slapdash.

For those that do something similar, (I can't be the only one, right?) if you have fat quarters & yardage of the same fabric, do you keep them together or separate? Right now I have all the fat quarters in one area and yardage elsewhere. It looks better that way but I'm afraid of overlooking the additional fabric if I run short.

What works if color sorting isn't desired/easily doable?

Ha! Sorry - I've added to the confusion instead of offering a solution. So definitely ruler fold everything and sort light to dark. : )

toogie

This is how I store my larger pieces/yardages. These are Christmas yardages. Fortunately I have a sewing room.

Jordan

I try and organize by color and then I have bins of seasonal fabrics like Christmas and Halloween. I too go rooting thru fabrics and never put them back in the right bin. This makes me crazy when I am looking for a certain fabric. I will learn to put it where it belongs I hope.

alikigirl

Even though you didn't ask for scrap quilt ideas, here is a link to a great site with lots of free patterns.
https://www.azblankets4kids.com/patterns.htm

just janet

Every piece of fabric less than fat quarter size I keep just about the same way you keep yours. I have them by color, it works for me. I don't use a ruler to fold them, I just try to keep them all about the same size.

oksewglad

Good ideas, to consider. Figure out what works for you. I'm in for organizing by color. When you do use those pieces, think of pulling out fabrics of similar intensities..like brights with brights; country shades with country shades...just be consistent and you will sew up a good looking quilt.

This is a simple quilt I made from scraps, but you can use with longer pieces, too. In this case I used homespun plaids.

The Tale of a Simiple Strip Quilt

Good luck with your sorting and your quilt making!

QuiltingVagabond

Spend some time looking at Bonnie Hunters blog Quiltville.blogspot.com to see how she very effectively combines a multitude of fabrics in similar shades to make a cohesive design.

Watson

I sort my prints by main colour and stack them on a shelving unit if they are under a yard. I keep all my solids and all my batiks together, again in folded stacks on shelves.
Anything over a yard, I fold and they go on lower shelves.
Backings or larger amounts, I have hanging "boot bags" that are like shoe bags only bigger and hang from a rod in my closet and have 6 spots in which to keep my large pieces of fabric. I got these for cheap at the Goodwill. I also have a couple of the shoe bags and one of them is perfect for keeping all my 2 1/2" strips separated by colour.
Anything that I think is too small too be of use, I cut into strings right away and it goes into a drawer near my sewing machine so I can make string blocks whenever I feel like it.
Any little bits too small for that I'll either toss or keep in one of two plastic boxes to use for collage. One box is cool colours and one box is warm colours.

Watson

rryder

I store my fabric in drawers like what Toogie showed. The only difference is that I cut comic book boards to fit the drawers and wrap my fabrics around the. I use one of the 3 drawer chests to store quilting fabric yardage - one drawer for darks, one for mediums and one for lights. Within those categories they are loosley grouped by color. I use another 3 drawer chest to store pieces of quilting fabric that are bigger than a fat quarter but smaller than a yard, also separated the same way as my yardage. Fat quarters are stored in their own unit. Smaller scraps have their own sets of shallow drawers and are sorted by color and size.
I also have drawer units for the home dec fabrics that I inherited from my grandmother.

Different storage methods work for different people, it just depends on your situation and how you use your fabrics.

Rob

Rff1010

I've been keeping most of the stuff in color order but making some sets where the fabrics obviously go together.

But I've been wrapping the pieces around 5x5 squares of cereal box cardboard so they stand upright and I can see the edge...and I'm out of cardboard! Quick kids! Eat more!