It’s very easy for storage of our quilting stash to become over-whelming. No matter how much fabric we have, every time we go to a quilt store the fabric just begs us to take some home.   There has to be an easy way to organize all this fabric!

Storing full yardage  and fabric that  is a half yard or less requires different methods.  What is the smallest cut I should keep?  And how do I store all these different sizes?

Since I began quilting 10 years ago, I’ve used Nancy Johnson-Srebro’s storage method  for storing yardage (from her book Rotary Magic). It’s actually pretty easy: just fold the fabric selvage to salvage; fold the cut edge into a tube (about 6-inches width. Use your 6×24-inch ruler as a guide).

Continue folding until all yardage is rolled into a tube.

Then fold tube in half.

All yardage can then be stored neatly in plastic bins or stacked on a shelf.  I like to organize my stash by color in plastic bins. These bins are placed on shelves stacked no more than two high so I never move more than one bin to get the fabric I need.

I have recently found drawer type bins that I really like. No moving bins around at all.  Just pull open the drawer.

With either stack-able bins or drawer bins, I can easily pick out the fabric I need or bring the bins to my sewing area and design wall as needed.

This method also makes for easy strip cutting:  just unroll the amount needed for cutting.  The rest stays together for easy storage.How easy is that?

(Next post: Those pesky scraps.  How to store leftovers smaller than 1/2 yd.)

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There's always time to quilt!