I’m drowning in fabric!

This is what my studio looks like at the moment…organized chaos with bins everywhere!  Help!

A couple of days ago I decided that enough was enough and that it was time to take the bull fabric by the horns selvage and to do something about the disorganization that existed in my fabric bins.

I’ve done a lot so far and this is what I accomplished yesterday.

A sort while ago my friend Mary from Quilt Hollow gifted me with a wonderful collection of homespuns, both new yardage and some off cuts from her own stash.  At that time I just placed them as they were into a bin of their own and in no semblance of order. 

After sorting and folding each and every piece, I can now see and appreciate all the gorgeous homespun fabric at a glance which will make my choices so much easier when it comes time to use them.

Next up was an eclectic array of larger pieces of yardage.  It’s easy to see the two fabrics that are on top of the pile but what lies below remains a mystery.  Because there is an assortment of different fabrics stored in this bin, I would have to take everything out just to see what was in there.

After folding and sorting, I can now see at a glance the treasures that can be found inside.

Aaah!  Frankie’s favorite…Civil War and reproduction fabric…so naturally he had to be there to supervise.

First the fat quarters that were just languishing at the bottom of the container, buried by the yardage on top.  I folded and sorted them by color…

and found a new home for them as well as most of my other miscellaneous fat quarters.  The cart was gathering dust in the storage area under one of the dormer windows, just waiting to be put to good use.

Then I folded and stacked the yardage…

and labeled the bin appropriately.

Just recently I made a granny squares quilt using 1930’s feedsack fabric from my stash that was stored in this bin.  This is how it looked after tearing it apart while looking for ‘just the right’ fabrics for the quilt.

And here it is now with the yardage on the bottom and the fat quarters on top.  Because the bins that I use are clear, all the contents are clearly visible, especially now that everything is folded and organized.

I had enough of folding and organizing and desperately needed a break.   I just couldn’t face the four remaining bins, so Mr. Painted Quilt and I headed up the road to a coin laundry to wash my Dresden plate quilt, simply because it’s too large to fit into our standard size washer.

I made this quilt in 2008 and had only been quilting for about a year and a half at the time.  I was so naiive when I decided that I wanted to make a large quilt and hand quilt it.

Well, at 108” x 108”, it is definitely large…

and I did complete all the quilting by hand. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience but now have all my large quilts machine quilted.  One was enough!

It was such a beautiful day here in the Annapolis Valley so when we got home, I hung it outside on the line to dry.

Moral of the story…

• Stay organized…so I don’t have to do this again.
• Shop entirely from my stash until at least the end of the year…unless I run out of something during a project in progress.
• Donate fabric that I know I will never use in this lifetime.
• Keep on having fun!