BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Quilting Organizing Tips for the Quilter

Oh help me, please :wall: I have SO MUCH quilting "stuff"! I would love to hear any suggestions as to how to organize it all. Notions, fabric, books, patterns, rulers, templates.... Thanks in Advance :)

Welcome quilter00 to Bellaonline and to our world!! We all have storage issues, both great and small. I can start the ball rolling with rulers. I don't have a huge amount of space to store rulers, so I got hold of an empty wine cask cardboard box (my husband emptied it for me!) and I put masking tape over the hole and glued pretty fabric to the outside. It now holds all my rulers, and they don't get knocked onto the floor anymore. Hope this helps. Come on Bellaonline Quilters - what are your tips for storage?

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Hi I have a bookcase with deeper than normal shelves bought from a secondhand store and I have bought baskets to fit in the shelves I have all my fat quarters color co ordinated in the baskets so its simply a matter of pulling the basket to get a particular color, works well for me and the larger pieces of fabric are folded around acid free card and stand up on the top shelf I don't worry too much about dust gathering as I seem to be moving fabric a lot but you could cover with a curtain if it bothers you Good luck with trying to keep tidy!!!

I keep all my fabrics sorted by colour in a variety of 11"x11" fabric bins which fit into my set of cubbies. I just need to pull out the "pink" bin and all the fabrics, folded and stacked vertically, can be seen at a glance. My best advice is to label everything, every box, tin, basket, and bin. And try to develop the habit of returning items to their designated spot after using, in other words, do as I say not as I do!!LOL

I have a hutch/breakfront with glass doors in which I store larger pieces of fabric (more than 1/2 yd). I pin a label on the folded front edge so I know how large a piece is without taking it out. I sort by collection if I have a collection. The drawers & doors at the bottom store interfacing, ribbons, binding, etc. I also have a shelf of sorts my dad made for me. It is 36" x 36" with 36 - 6" x 6" cubbies. (These measurements do not account for thickness of the wood - it's actually about 38" wide.) It sits at the back of my cutting table against the wall & stores all my fat quarters & 1/2 yd cuts by color.

I have recently re-re-organized. I moved into a much smaller place and so had to keep trying till I found something that worked for me. You may have to do the trial and error too. I have two small pantry's that are only 15" deep. Small but they fit perfectly under a shelf in an open closet. One holds my folded and sorted cottons. These are mostly sorted by collection for a project. The other has my batiks and flannels. These are sorted mostly by amount. I now keep my mag. and patterns in there too, well , most of them anyways. He!He!He! I also have 2 of those plastic bin towers. One for craft supplies and thread and the other for fabric scraps sorted by color. And I also have a DVD stand(from a used-a-bit shop) for my fat-quarters. I also have found those large plastic tubs that I get lettuce, etc. in, are really good for small bits......like squares or strips that I have cut from scraps.

Hi Sewshort, I love your idea of using DVD stands for your fat quarters. PERFECT!! It never occured to me, but it's a great idea. I'm always amazed at how ingenious we quilters are when nesting with our hobby.

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I have an idea that works for me. I have an abundance of sewing threads. Hand applique, quilting, machine sewing etc. I purchased a five drawer plastic shelf cupboard. The top four shelves are the same height and they store all my smaller threads, and the bottom draw is double size, so great for standing up my machine threads and quilting threads. I just pull out a draw and find the thread I need. It makes me put the thread away PROPERLY by setting the thread into the screw top section, but it works well and my threads don't get tangled. Hope this helps you out there.

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I hear you. I have a terrible habit of dropping stuff into my room on the floor, on the cutting table, on the sewing machine...well, you get the picture! Then I can't possibly walk in there, much less work in there, because it's chaos...so I stitch at the kitchen table or only when I go out to meet with quilting friends or I just THINK about quilting. This year I have decided to tidy up a bit each evening...minimum 15 minutes. I started a few days ago...it's amazing what I have found! I sort fabric by colour, type (batiks, kids, reproduction) or project.I keep all my rulers together leaning against the wall in a big bin, or they are in my travel "tool" box or bag. That way I never lose them! I have a drawer in a plastic tower than I keep patterns in. I don't have all that many. My cutting tools and misc small notions are either in a basket beside my cutting table, in my travel tool kit or sewing machine cabinet drawer. Depends what the item is. I do have doubles (or more!)of some things like measuring tapes, boxes or pins, needles, etc. So my theory is just start organizing in a way that works for you and keep at it!