BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Quilting Your Fabric Stash. How do you manage it?

My latest article talks about Fabric collecting and stashing and how we can get the most from our rather large investment.

I'm keen to hear how other quilters manage their fabric stores. We can all share the ideas, as quilters do so well.

Cheerio for now

I don't quilt but I picked up the habit of buying fabric here and there from my Mother and Grandmother who were quilters. I have mine put away in storage containers which is not helpful at all. I use the fabric for all kinds of crafts from making blankets for my daughter to embroidering on it.

I have always wanted to dedicate a bookshelf to it, fold the fabric in such a way that a little edge of each kind of fabric can be seen.

My Mom has hers in an old china cabinet, folded that way. It being behind glass doors keeps it clean as well. Its right there in her sewing room and it convenient but also pretty.

Hi Lisa, isn't it lovely just to have beautiful fabric? I have fluorescent lights in my quilt space and I find if I didn't shut the pantry doors to my stash, the lighting fades my fabrics. A number of times, I've opened up a piece only to see a fade line where it's been folded and exposed to the light. I agree that it would be good to be able to see every piece at a glance. I have a friend who has a small 2" sample of every fabric she owns on a large round Key Ring. It's enormous, but she finds it very useful when shopping or trying to match fabric.
Cheerio for now

A great topic, Judie. I have a shelving unit in my closet on which I have fabric sorted by color. I also have a few special piles of fabric that covers the name of specialty fabric, eg. Landscape fabric, Christmas fabric, or I Spy fabric. Then I have plastic see through plastic containers which hold fabric collected for a specific project, eg. French Braid quilts or purchased kits. In my sewing room I also have a computer desk and computer in the corner, two sewing machines and a serger, each on their own tables. Then I have a large table on which I place two large cutting boards. Under these tables I have four drawer plastic units in which I store sewing things such as elastics, needles, measuring tapes, patterns, etc. My husband made me two thread racks, one for all my quilting threads, and another very large one that holds over 80 embroidery threads and my serger threads. He then put a long peg board on another wall where I hang scissors, rotary cutters, bias tape makers, various embroidery stabilizers, embroidery hoops, quilting templates and hoops and other quilting/sewing/embroidery notions. I have containers under my cutting table where I keep containers to put smaller peices of fabric such as triangles,strips and fabric for paper piecing. I have four shelves above my quilting table where I keep all my embroidery/quilting/sewing and knitting books.

I know this is more than "managing my fabric stash' but this is how I can stay organized enough to find everything that is needed when I need it.

The only way I have for myself to manage my stash is to use hanging shoe cubbies. They would hold 10 prs of shoes. I have 3 of them in the quilting room closet. I can sort my stash by colors. I tried a bookself unit in there but I couldn't keep it straightened out. This seems to work great for me.
Happy quilting all!

Another good idea Holly's Mom. How do you find the dust? I don't have much of a dust problem, I got a draft sticky tape that you put around your outside/inside doors and it seems to keep the dust out.

cheerio for now

My own material stash is kind of all over the place as I like doing crazy quilting and part of the materials I need for that are in my beading stuff.

My mom had a room actually built in her home for her quilting. This was in 1986. She has huge built-in cabinets where the material is all color coded. Also a big counter for cutting and a nice place for her sewing machine. She's been quilting for years but is kind of slowing down on it now. She has some beautiful ones tho and all the kids and grandkids have at least one, if not more, of her quilts.

No real dust problem since I have a filter system in place.

i can't and i don't even try anymore! it manages me. when there's too much, i go elsewhere.

I wanna come play at your house butterflywing! ---Connie

I have fabric all over the house. I probably have as much fabric as some quilt shops do. I have it sorted by color and most of it is in the floor of my sewing room lined up against the wall. I have bins for all the small pieces. I rarely buy fat quarters. If I like a fabric I buy at least 2 yards and sometimes more.

I have a dresser drawer full of stabilizers (I have embroidery machines). I have my rulers hung on a peg board as well as patterns and embroidery frames.

All my notions like needles and marking pens and such are in those storage drawers that you find in the hardware dept for screws and nails.

Sybil