Fabric storage new and easy

Yesterday was a cold, rainy, dreary Sunday. So I took a day off from machine quilting to do more organizing. For a long time it has bothered me that when I had my fabrics all stacked and neat; the very one I needed for a project would always be at the bottom. I would then pull out fabrics to get at the one I wanted; making a mess all over the place while searching. The resulting mess then required me to find the time to put everything away or live with the mess. I’m normally very frugal with my time as well as my money. To me both time and money is the same thing.

Stacking fabrics on shelves is also very limiting visually. All that I can see in a stack is the edge of the fabric. If I want red flowered fabric; then, which red edge is the right fabric in the stack? I have the same problem when I go to a local quilt shop. I can see rows and rows of colored fabric edges. Searching for the right fabric requires me to pull out the bolt to see what else is in the fabric. Sometimes the pulling out of one bolt causes the whole bunch to start falling to the floor. How embarrassing!

Remember these open shelf units I had in the kitchen before I painted? Someone asked me what I was going to do with them?


Ummm…I’m too frugal to just get rid of them. It’s in my nature to reuse many things in the same way I will reuse clothing for quilts. So just look at what those shelves are doing now!




I accomplished two things at once. I reused the shelves and I found a better way to store my fabric stash. Isn’t it neat! Now when I want to find a certain fabric all I have to do is move them back and forth to look. I am making hang tags for yardage and other information about the fabric but that will wait for another day.


Oh! I just thought about it. Hanging the fabric will also help me with my no buy pledge. I won’t be buying fabrics because I couldn’t find the piece I already had.

These shelf units are in a very small bedroom, only 7 ft by 8.5 ft. I figure if I must use that room for storage instead of a guest bedroom then by golly it is going to store my things, not everyone else’s STUFF.
Why didn’t I use the closet in the room for hanging fabrics? Well right now it is still holding things I don’t have a storage place for yet. Seasonal clothing, nick knacks, canning jars, and things like that. I can only do so much at one time and each small step brings me closer to having a home again instead of just a house.

By the way, I got through the guild meeting last Sunday at the local quilt shop without buying a single piece of fabric. Woo hoo! I did bring fabric home with me though. Free fabric. The owner had a small box of strings she was getting ready to throw away. I rescued and adopted them.
Ok, now I have to think about what to do with these. The top one has leftover t-shirt backs that I use for making rugs. The next two are loaded with neckties I had intended to make into quilt tops. I could leave these like this but I don't like it. I'll have to give it more thought.