Organizing Fat Quarters

[Anne B.]

Jan.... I just have to say I LOVE your quilts!! You've inspired me today.
I also do the folding technique with my yardage just like Margo shows ... except...I fold in 9 inch folds around a heavy cardboard. When I've finished folding the entire length of fabric I just pull out the cardboard and stack the fab on my shelf in its appropriate color pile.
By folding it this way I can stand in front of my shelves and if I'm needing a certain amount of a fabric all I have to do is count the folds to see at a glance if I have enough. (4 folds - 1 yd) This works great for me cause I hated pulling out a piece of fabric and laying it out to measure only to find that it might be just a half yard to short.

Of course it helps a lot if I just would keep up with the folding. Hummmm....I think I'll spend today folding new fabric that I've let just pile up. And about my FQ's. I'm working very very hard to get a super large stash of them so I can fill up the shelves on the other side of the closet. heehee

[Anne B.]

I love to organize! I used to be a great fabric organizer. I have those wire bins double and triple hung in my sewing closet. I've spend days sorting by color, by amount (regular, fat quarter, bits and pieces), by value. Each system worked well and looked wonderful.

All well and good until I decided to actually make a quilt. I started pulling the fabrics I thought would look good, stuffing the unused ones back in a bin. By the time I finished the quilt, my sorted stash was a mess. Now I keep my fabrics sorted mostly by size/amount and have fun seeing what I have hidden within the piles.

Jan - a chaotic organizer.

[Anne B.]

WWOOWW!! Dana and Margo, I'll take one of each!!

I second that!!!!

[Damaris E.]

WWOOWW!! Dana and Margo, I'll take one of each!!

[Carla G.]

Dana very graciously took pictures of how to fold her FQs and sent them to me. They are great and I can see some real production time while watching a movie refolding all those FQs. Yay
Marylou

[Carla G.]

Margo....

I tried ur method with the ruler for folding my newest fat quarter acquistions and it worked beautifully.... they look so neat and lovely!

Carla

[Judy M.]

You all have things SO beautifully organized!!! Dana, I just organized my quilting area after listening to Alex's podcast--it's so clean that you can tell I haven't been on the sewing machine! At least you've been productive!!! :lol: Now, after reading this thread, I need to get in my fabric closet and get busy :!: :!: :!: :!: Judy in Torrance

[Mary K.]

Wow, Margo and Dana!!! Really impressive how you are organized and great photo instructions on the fabric folding.

[Eileen K.]

Margo, your cabinet looks so great!!! and your instructions are wonderful. All I need is a cabinet and some boxes. :lol: :wink:

Dana, I'll bet your room is a haven for you no matter what it looks like. It's good to read that the inspiration is coming hard and fast my friend.

I'm just going to keep plugging along here.

eileenkny

[Sandy F.]

It's catching. I started folding fabric today but so far I don't have any place to store it so it is still sitting on the table. I started with a plastic bin that I haven't been through for a while. Found some Dear Jane blocks I started a few years ago. Some of the fabric I just shook my head and asked myself what was I thinking.

[Annette R.]

Thank you Margo and Carla....and Miss Ann, the day you came for a visit, I knew you were coming .....but today if you came, you would not be able to walk to the chair and sit down, much less move around very much. The only saving grace of this mess is that I have accomplished so many different things in the past four weeks...so the mess is ok with me. "I have great plans for it this week"....so we will see. :wink:

Dana in Olive Branch, MS

[Annette R.]

Dana's whole quilt room is eye candy for quilters and unless she had really cleaned up (more than she admitted to) it was pretty organized and neat the day I saw it. Miss you my friend. Ann

[Carla G.]

Dana... looks like a cnady store for quilter's!

Carla

[Margo C.]

That is beautiful, Dana!! Yummy fabrics!! I think that the secret to getting the stash under control is finding the right size containers to fit your space then folding the fabric to fit the containers.
Good job! Maybe that knee lifter will turn up soon!!! LOL!!!

[Margo C.]

Margo, your folding instructions are so complete and easy to follow. I use this technique for my fat quarters with a 3" wide ruler and store them in some CD boxes that I got at Wal Mart.. I have put two pictures of them on my profile. As you can see in the pictures, three of the boxes fit perfectly end to end on a 30 inch book case. This really has helped me get them under control. They were EVERYWHERE! Of course, it's very funny to look at those perfectly organized fat quarters and then to look at the rest of the room which looks like it exploded all over the floor :roll: ....looks like two different rooms.

Thanks again Margo for the great instructions!

Dana in Olive Branch, MS