World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of March 10, 2003:
Our question this week comes Julie K from Michigan:
How does everyone store their fabric - what organization do you use?
Annette :
Just wanted to relate a sad story about stored fabric. My friend stored all her fabric in big plastic bins. As we were going through it, we found several pieces that had rotted away. Please remember that cotton fabric needs to "breathe," or it will rot. If you store it in plastic, you might want to leave the lid off.
Danece :
I use small plastic shoe boxes for my fat quaters and keep them cordinated by color, one (or two) boxes for each color range. My larger pieces are washed, pressed, folded, then a hang tag with yardage, where purchased and all pertinant information is pinned to the selvage and layed on a shelf in a closed cabinet for easier viewing, these are also grouped with like colors for ease of comparison
Linda Bates :
I went to Staples and bought a tall bookcase wih 7 shelves. I organize mine by type - batik, light, medium, dark then by predominant color. the book case is great for seeing all you have at a glance. I haven't yet done it but I am going t make a curtain fot it and attach it with those velcro strips that have glue on one side..
J. Ruff :
Good question, I've just started quilting and don't have many to store. At the present I have fabric that was a gift boxed away.
Charlotte :
I am very fortunate to have one wall of nothing but shelves in my sewing room (in our finished basement). I bought 12 plastic "crates" at Wal-Mart (they have all colors, but I bought white), and have sorted my fabric by color. I can easily see at a glance which color I'm looking for. I'm not a "fabricholic" so this gives me plenty of room to store the fabrics - 3 crates on each shelf. I hate to admit that with my left-over scraps, 3" strips and smaller, are thrown in a drawer.
Sue :
Our wedding anniversary and V Day was in February and husband got me something really neat from Menards it's a utility cabinet which measures 24" X 24" x 84". It comes from the Kitchen Kompact line of kitchen cabinets entitled Chadwood. It's made of oak-ply panel and is oak hue. You can order shelves to go with it or if you have a Do-it-yourself, like my husband they can make the shelves for you. This is a quilter's dream cabinet. It is excellent for quilts and quilt fabric storage. I had been searching high and love for a better storage system as we live on a farm and I have to keep my fabrics and quilts "put away" in a sealed off storage area (anyone who has ever lived on a farm knows why.)Plastic tubs are okay for short term storage, but I don't like them for look term storage as the plastic boxes can eventually ruin fabric and quilts if they are used for long-term permanent storage. This cabinet was around $238.00, but it is absolutely the neatest storage unit for a sewing room. It's better quality than the pressed board furniture you see everywhere these days too. In fact, I love this one so much I'm going to ask for another one for my birthday/mother's day in May. Hopes this helps. Excellent for someone who is looking for something a little larger to store your fabric or quilts in where they will be safe from light, dust, and critters of all kinds.
anita :
My linen closet is full of fabric folded and stacked by color. Some stacks are actually groups that I intend to use together - unless I don't , I have been known to change my mind.
I have a sweater size storage box that has half yard pieces , two that have fat quarters , a shoe size box of 4" square pieces, one of 6" pieces and one of 2 1/2 " x 5". For scraps,to be cut to the sizes I already mentioned, I have a large rubbermaid container. I also keep leftover bias strips to bind scrap quilts - they have just about outgrown their sweater box.
Hope this helps. I have found that with time my collection grows. I am now not allowed to buy any fabric unless it is necessary to complete a top made mostly from my stash.
Louise :
I'm lucky to have a sewing room with two old chest of drawers and another smaller chest. I sort my fabrics by color--reds in one (large) drawer, two drawers for blues because that's my favorite color. Some drawers have two colors that I don't have much of--such as orange and turquoise. When I'm looking looking for a certain color fabric, I just pull out the drawer and flip through the fabrics--they're all ironed and folded. I also have a method of organizing scraps. I have a big see-through Rubbermaid container with small scraps--they are just stuck in there and I dig through if I want a small piece. the see-through container helps find the right color because you can look through the container from the sides. Last of all, I have a big bag of leftover strips from strip piecing. Very handy if you want to do a log cabin, pineapple, or anything else that needs strips. Here's something else I use--for cutting I have a big wooden door that my husband mounted on saw horses at the right height for me--no more aching back! Underneath I have a big box that I put my batting in.
World Wide Quilting Page * Question of the Week