Organizationally challenged

Wow, Sunny, tall order! First of all do you have a closet you can use? In my closet, I like my shelves to be about 8 in. apart for fabric storage. If you stack fabric any higher it's a bit unwieldy and tends to topple. You can also lay it on it's side and it's easier than vertical stacks when you want to pull a piece out of the bunch.

Fold your fabric selvage to selvage, wrap it gently around a 6 in. wide X 24 in. long ruler which will make all the pieces of fabric in the piles the same size width- wrap it easily around the 6 in. ruler and then slide the ruler out of the wrapped fabric and fold to the depth of your shelves. This is better than just plain ol' folding, because you can unroll as much as you need as opposed to having to unfold the entire piece.

If you don't have a closet, look for used bookcases at thrift stores and yard sales. And you don't have to put the bookshelves on the floor. You can mount shorter ones on the wall.... many folks ignore wall space for storage. Wall shelves are also good. A 1X8 or 1X10 that's painted or clear coated is great for many items. Baskets from the Dollar Store or Big Lots are handy, too.

I sort my print and TOT fabrics by color (prints are in the stack with the dominant color); batiks; landscape fabrics; specialty fabrics- happy faces, butterflies, panels, etc.; hand-dyed; and Christmas. They are sorted by color within the special groups.

I love Joann's 120 spool wood thread racks... I have 6 of them (bought with

Go to the dollar store and get shoe box size plastic tubs with lids for $1 each- I bought 25. Label each one- sm and hand needles, rotary blades and seam rippers, zippers, trims, ribbons, masking tape, etc. Have one shelf in the closet spaced for a stack of three tubs plus 1/2 in. or so. Most of my UFOs will also fit into a plastic tub. Get some larger tubs if that will work for you and space a shelf for the larger size, but the shoebox size is good because you don't have to fill them so full that digging thru them is a chore.

At the top of the closet you can mount a bolt of batting by using 2 closet rod brackets with a metal bar thru the cardboard tube in center of the roll of batting. Then you just unroll the length you need and cut it off. I buy Warm & White at Joann with a 50% off coupon. It's initially expensive (around $180 for the 40 yards X 90 in. wide bolt) but that bolt will last me a year or two, so it's well worth storing it. You can also stand the bolt in a corner of the room, under a tall bed, mount it over your sewing or cutting area, etc.

There are several good books about organizing your sewing space. Maybe check your library for those?

I'll get the last photos of my tiny sewing area and put them on my WebShots. Maybe they will give you some ideas.

Good luck!

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

First, there is no "right" way to organize.

You don't necessarily neat spiffy boxes or fancy shelves. My stash is sorted in plastic bags in clearly labeled copy paper boxes, and the boxes are on cinderblock and wooden board shelves and some closet shelves. It isn't gorgeous, but it does work.

Sort by what makes sense to *you.* I have one or two boxes that have the sorted, needed fabrics for a few specific projects --e.g., one bag is all blueberry prints, another is all Hoffman blue and yellow florals. Other boxes hold washed cotton solids, unwashed cotton solids, or batiks. Most of the rest is just sorted by main color. I also have another small box or two of teeny tiny bits that are useful only for miniatures.

Ask yourself--how do I think of this? As something I bought for a particular project, as a blue, or as a teeny but useful scrap? Then when you go looking, you know that the solid yellow you need is in with the solids and the coordinated fat quarters for the lap quilt are in the box that says "FQ's for lap quilt."

I really don't fuss about whether the fabric is neatly folded in the bags, either. I'm a philistine, I suppose, but I'm going to iron the stuff before I cut it anyway, so I don't care!

I used to worry about storing fabric in plastic bags, but as long as they're printing-side-out, I don't think it's a problem. They're not sealed shut, and cardboard boxes breathe, so I've never had a problem with mildew or mustiness. Nothing gets sunlight, so no fading. Some of this fabric is over 20 years old and still looks and feels brand new.

When deciding whether to keep something, remember that nothing says you have to keep *all* of something. If you kind of like something but don't envision yourself making it a major part of a project, then keep what seems reasonable, whether that is a 10" square so it can be included in a scrap quilt you may someday make or six yards so it could be a backing.

Selling the serger? Don't know, but you could always do an e-bay auction and state that the buyer has to either pay postage or come and pick it up. Is there a local quilt guild where you could put the word out? Also, sometimes quilt shops have bulletin boards for for-sale ads.

Good luck, and don't stress too much about this!

Hugs, Monique in TX

What I do for my appliqué scraps is get Ziploc bags -- at least the gallon size -- and have one for each color. Then I take all of those little bag and toss them in one of those big zipper bags comforters come in. So when I'm appliquéing I just grab the big bag and I have everything at once.

Okay. The first two photos in this album are my re-organized- once AGAIN!- fabric. This is a little over half of my stash. (The rest of it is still being re-washed and re-folded.) Maybe you can get some ideas from my tiny room and closet.

Monique is absolutely correct regarding "don't have to keep *all* of something" -- I did the same thing over the past year or three and the fabric is at a manageable level. Sure, I wouldn't mind having more of XYZ, but there are so many substitues out there...

(pulling on old lady support hose) ... Remember the splotchy moda's that many of us loved? Well, what I liked then when compared with the batiks of today? No comparison. I like the newer better. It's not that I dislike the old -- I use it still, but when the budget has a bit of breathing room, it's fun to treat self to a batik medley.

What I'm suggesting is styles change. Take a look at any Patchwork Quilting book from the 80's and tell me if you can find fabrics you'd even remotely consider a "first choice" today...

However, if you've got a place to store the excess in crates, and it brings you pleasure, keep 'em.

J, minimalist! With one crate of in-progress items, and a second of fabrics. That said, I do scrappy versus matching -- so what works for me may not work for you/your style of stitching.

In any event, send pictures. It is always fun to see other's workspaces!

Ahhhh ... but what about retros? I have such a collection of 30s, feedsacks, and Civil War calicos that I could open up my own fabric shop (but I could never - I'd never let anyone take my "preciouses" home!!!)!! And those fabric styles *are* gaining in popularity! Again!!

Personally, I firmly believe that when it comes to art and medium, what comes around, goes around. What's new today is simply a repurposing of yesterday. Take thos bell-bottom/flare leg pants that my daughter's currently sportin' 'round school ... those are the same britches that I myself wore and they were "kewl" then, too!!

And don't even get me started on "pop art" - that's even more refurbished/repurposed/recycled than anything!!! :)

Hugs!! Connie :) (who's waiting for all-polyester quilts to come back into rage!)