Sunday, January 6, 2019

Fabric, fabric, everywhere and somewhere

     The first thing I decided to tackle was to rearrange/organize my fabrics. All fabric under a yard were in plastic shoe box sides with locking lids. I took some fabrics out and folded it so it could beput in a cupboard I emptied. I like being able to see all the selection at once, much better than folded and/or stuffed in the plastic boxes. 
     Then I decided to empty more boxes and put the fabric directly on the shelving the boxes were stacked on. I will have to get some other kind of unit, as the shelving has no sides and the bottoms aren't flat, but the fabric is so much more retrievable and visible. The plastic boxes were not the solution as I thought.
The fabric stacks are much more useable than the ones in the boxes, right?
The bigger boxes hold up to 2 yard pieces. I emptied out the black,
whites and gray which look better. Over two yards are piled in a closet waiting for some rods to hang them on.

So now I have all these plastic boxes to contend with plus the others not emptied.
This is how all my batiks are stored, and they need to be freed also I think, but where?
      Now, these are my scrap piece batik baskets by color, yikes, a mess unto themselves, what to do?



9 comments:

Debbie said...

I can offer some help to solve the problem with the uneven shelf base. I have open grid shelving in my closet, and I cut up some saved campaign signs to size I needed for the base. Foam core boards from the dollar store works too.
For the open end on mine, I cut the sign to fit the end and wedged it to be a stop guard on the open end. Less expensive than replacing shelves.
I wrap yardage on foam core board and make mini bolts. The show boxes became my project boxes and I use them to hold my 2'' floral strips. Though I can't say I have as many as you do.
Good clean up job :)

Quiltdivajulie said...

I stopped keeping my batiks separated and folded/stored them in with the cottons - saved having to have two sets of storage space. Debbie's idea is a great one to help with the metal shelves. You could also use flattened Amazon shipping boxes or something similar. I hang potential backing yardage on hangers in the closet since they don't fold well (too thick) - also helps me keep an eye on the supply at a glance. As far as those scrap batik boxes, make some liberated log cabin blocks like Wanda does -- mindless sewing that could turn into a gorgeous quilt (or wall hanging or journal cover or mug mat or placemat or ???).

Mystic Quilter said...

You could come visit me and tidy my storage for me!! Julie makes a good point about storing her batiks with the cottons.

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

Why don't you just put the batiks back on those same shelves, minus the boxes. My batik scraps that are sorted by color are in plastic bags right now and if I'm going to work with just one color like the red crazy pieced quilt I just made, I just dump that one bag on my sewing table to choose pieces from. You could go through each color scrap bin and pull out the larger pieces and cut them into a shape you use a lot and then put the smaller left over scraps back in.

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

I have open shelves as well. I use a ruler to roll the fabrics on, slide ruler out and fold to fit the shelf. I keep the cottons and the Batiks separate. Anything that won't fold to fit the shelves is folded to fit in a box, that is larger than a scrap but smaller than a FQ. I keep the small scraps in plastic bins, also separated by cotton or batik. I stack the fabric so a fold is visible, gives a larger view of the fabric, (sort of like a book spine). What I like best is I can run my thump up the pile and sort of view the fabrics... It took a lot of work, but so worth it, I used to keep my fabric in tubs, but it took so long to find what I wanted when exploring for selections and twice as long to put away!!! Good luck with whatever method you choose!!!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

You are doing a great job with organizing your stash in a way that works for you. I have my fabric in plastic boxes so I no good for any kind of advice.

Dre in PA said...

Looks like what you need are the equivalent of sock drawer dividers turned vertically.
But I suspect if you maintain the same sorting order you've not gained anything by removing them from the boxes. They're no longer protected from moisture, light or dust, and you can't grab a stack to rifle through at waist height.
I'd suggest removing those giant labels and leaving the boxes, at least for the smaller pieces that are more apt to roam around.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I'm good at storing yardage, but not scraps or fat quarters. I have a cabinet with scraps, stuck in plastic shoe boxes (no lids). I did find some scraps to use for a project in that cabinet, last weekend. Good luck with your organizing.

The Joyful Quilter said...

SEW many beautiful fabrics!! Have you been able to complete your stash overhaul? It looks much more usable.