Thursday, January 10, 2008

Advice and Inspiration

Advice (please):
I've put away the piles and piles of scrapbook paper cluttering my shelves and am moving my fabric stash from totes to the shelves.
I need fabric storage help from those people (you know who you are) who have their fabrics neatly lined up and color-coded in shelves.
1. When is a piece of fabric big enough to go on the shelf?
2. When is a piece of fabric too big to go on the shelf?
3. Do you put all your scraps together or sort them by size too?
4. What about fabrics that really don't have a dominant color?
Help please! I know I'm not the only one with this issue so hopefully this will be a fruitful post for quite a few people.

Inspiration:
As promised, a couple of projects I'd really like to get my hands on once the WIP's are under control.

Felt monogrammed pillows


Basket Style Bag

Marble Magnets

Sheldon

this quilt

and so many more.

15 comments:

  1. Oh my I'm not sure I can give advice since my fabrics are all in bags in the garage right now. not the best place for them. But I did have them in one of those drawer units on castors. I grouped them into fat quarters, then scraps and then bigger than a metre. But I don't have as many fabrics as some folks do so it was fairly easy for me to organise them all. Good luck!

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  2. I folded all my fabric like this http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/?p=124 one time and it stuck for at least 6 months or more. then for the larger pieces like backings and such I just fold them around my 6" ruler and store them like a flat fold. that seems to work pretty well for me. the scraps and such are in one big rubbermaid tote. [and all over the floor at the moment. :) ] that is just for the cottons. all the rest-heavier weight stuff for pursemaking and vinyl are in another tub. it seems to work out pretty well for me. I am looking forward to seeing how others store their fabric.

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  3. I just moved my scrapping supplies to the basement and made this into a sewing room. I love it this way! However... ever so slowly I'm bringing up a few scrapping supplies here and there. They are now filling several file drawers. But that's a drop in the bucket compared to what was up here. I'm working on our Christmas album at the moment but have a sewing project going too. What's a girl supposed to do??
    Hugs,
    Joni

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  4. 1. I bought Snack drawers from Ikea, three layers, wheels under the first. I can move them around the room/floor/house/garden.
    2. Fabric pieces have to be at least 1 fat eight if I have them in those drawers divided into colours and traditional/modern ones.
    3. Every piece of fabric bigger than 1 half metre is in a separate drawer and they lay flat. The surprise of walking through those stashes is wonderful time after time... All the ohhs and ahhs and oh yeahhs.. (and projects that still are not accomplished)
    3. Every piece of fabric smaller than 1 fat sixteen is in a big box full of scraps. I did not sort them out, they are all together quarreling about their importance.
    4. I use the Happyzombie way to fold my fabrics.
    Good Luck!

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  5. Thanks for asking this question. I need to get my fabric stash out of boxes in the garage (hard to get to!)and back into the house. I'm watching what is shared here for help, too. ~Adrienne~

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  6. Thanks for posting the marble magnet link!

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  7. I think my minimum size for the shelf is a fat quarter or maybe a fat eighth. I also have my scraps separated into two bins, one for cottons, one for other types. I try to pick a dominant color and for fabrics that are truly multi-colored I just put them all together.

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  8. I love all the projects you have slated for your future!

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  9. Back in college I bought a tall shallow bookshelf for cotton fabric storage at an unfinished furniture store. All of the fabric pieces about an eighth of a yard or larger are folded on this bookshelf. Pieces two yards and over are stored with fewer folds on a bigger shelf (with wools and mixed-content pieces--I don't have a lot of those-- mostly for clothes, etc.). Scraps, regardless of size and content (although so far mine are mostly either all cotton or all wool), are separated into three color families in a large three-compartment laundry bin on castors. The laundry bin has made *such* a difference to me-- I can roll it over to the sofa to rifle through it anytime, and since I usually know what color scrap I'm looking for, I know which pocket to dig in. The only thing I'm worried about is what will I do when these bins fill up?

    Those monogrammed felt pillows look like so much fun!

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  10. my system, although it looks organize, is really random. i just fold them and put them on the shelves. then move them around when i score more fabric or have to clean up the studio some.

    and scraps - i keep one big bin, but i am at the point where that needs to change.

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  11. Sheldon is so cute. :)

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  12. I have my fabric in cubbies sorted by color. Recently I discovered Bonnie Hunter's method for keeping scraps. www.quiltville.com She has an awful lot of good stuff to share on her site.

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  13. we are both in the same mode! how funny! love seeing your folded fabrics...am going to totally steal this method! cheers, and happy new year!

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  14. i know you already got organized, but one thing I do with my WIP fabrics and scraps (if it's a bunch of cut pieces, etc) is sort them in one of those clear vinyl shoe bags (or gift organizers) that are meant to hang in your closet. You can put it in the closet, or hang it right in front of your face. I find it saves me some space on my cutting mat and I can still see everything.

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  15. *gift wrap organizers, i mean!

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