I don't have any Ohio Star quilts in my history, but I do have a few blog posts where I've made an attempt at organizing my stash. It's an ongoing battle, but I've had some luck at taming bits and pieces of my stash. Back in the December of 2011, I finally got around to buying shelving for my closet so I could stack my fabrics rather than have it hidden in a bunch of plastic totes. I wrap my yardage around a 8.5" ruler, then fold it in half and stick it on the shelves. It makes it a lot easier to find and makes pretty good use of my storage space. I first blogged about that here. I don't see where I ever linked back to the tutorial where I first saw that fabric folding technique. If you are interested in it, you can find that here.
I do have one new tip if you have wire shelves. I found that the weight of the piles were causing the bottom fabric pieces to end up with creases from the shelving wire. Last month I found rolls of plastic shelf liner at Lowe's.
I've started adding that to the shelving units and it seems to be eliminating the creases in the bottom fabric pieces.
The other tip in that June 2013 post is to use file folders and a file cabinet to "file" your fat quarters and half yard cuts. I cut the hanging file folders in half and add a piece of acid free tissue paper between the fabric and the file folder. It's a great way to see what you have at a glance. Plus it seems to make the most of the space available in the file cabinet.
Based on what I could find online, the file folders are acid free, but the box doesn't say that, so the acid free tissue paper was added as insurance. You can buy large sheets of acid free tissue paper through archival supply sites such as Familyarchives.com and Archivalmethods.com.
For more of the Tuesday Archives check out Val's Quilting Studio.
Great idea with the shelf liner. I didn't know about that stuff. I have wire shelves in my pantry, and some of the smaller items want to fall over. The shelf liner would solve that problem.
ReplyDeleteMakes for a really pretty drawer and filing cabinet too! Good tip.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had a spare file drawer so I could do that; it does look very nice.
ReplyDeleteLooks like your fabric organization is making progress -- I love how nicely fabric looks when it is all aligned on the edge. Truth to tell, I need to work on my stacks a bit more. I think I have about 6 more to clean up!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips Kate
ReplyDeleteAwesome tip Kate!!! THANK YOU!!!!
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm back for my like, third time (LOL!) I like the file folder tip! I like how neat it keeps the fabric, yet you can still see eachother....and not as many folds! I think this method would work in my bookcase. Thanks for creating this post with great links and ideas! It helps!
DeleteI like the fabric folding on the shelves. The file cabinet idea is good for organizing but I prefer to see everything out in the open... even though that means it'll get cat hair on it. :) www.quiltartbymegan.com
ReplyDeleteI like your file idea Kate. I know that for me when my fabrics are stacked in piles I am less likely to put fabrics away... but the ones that are wrapped are so much easier to maintain.
ReplyDelete