For months now I’ve been really bad about putting all my fabric away properly. Not really any one excuse (there are many! LOL), but I’ve been a terrible procrastinator. Since our retreat in September I just piled up my bits of fabric and small pieces of yardage that I’ve been fussy-cutting for my English Paper Piecing with a promise to get to them soon. Well, soon is 4 months later.

Not only that, but when we ordered a couple of things from Amazon for Christmas presents they came in these great boxes…one holds my scraps (and other bags of scraps!) and one holds fat quarters and smaller bits of yardage. Each time I cut something out or prepped something, the fabric just got tossed into one of the boxes on the floor.

Patti, organizer extraordinaire, and Gail, have both gotten into the habit of using comic book boards for making mini bolts for their fabric. It keeps their fabric folded neatly and easily seen on the shelves. As much as I loved the look of my piles of neatly folded fabric on my shelves, I didn’t like the mess I made when trying to get one out without disturbing its neighbours.

So, taking a cue from Patti and Gail, I ordered a set of 100…what was I thinking? Once I got to work I quickly realized that 100 wasn’t enough so I ordered more. I will happen to you too, so order 200. LOL! First, the yardage was folded lengthwise placing the selvedge edge next to the fold. Next, one of the boards was placed on the fabric as in the photo below and the beginning end was folded over the cardstock (I showed the board peeking out so you can see how it starts). Then all you have to do is flop the end over itself until all the fabric is folded on the board leaving a small section at the end. I fold this over to neaten the end and then pin it in place. Anything smaller than half a metre doesn’t really work with the boards so the fat quarters and smaller pieces will continue to be put in the plastic containers that I already have from my Costco tomatoes!

This is going to take a while so I don’t have a “done” photo for you yet, but when I do I’ll be sure to let you see my new and improved fabric cupboard. At the top of the page you can see a small pile of fabric that has already been folded and on the boards and I’m almost finished with the first 100. It’s also been a great way to cull through the fabric I have and ask the question “do I still love it and will I really use it?”. I did this a couple of years ago so there’s not much leaving my cupboard because I’ve been very selective over the last while.

Once the fabric is organized I’ll have a chance to go through all the other stuff I’ve been hanging onto for far too long. Now that I’m not teaching that many classes anymore I’ve been relieving myself of supplies that I held onto strictly for teaching purposes and not because they were special to me personally. Luckily I have fellow guild members who can use some of my cast-offs, my niece, Mackenzie, who sews, and Alex’s girlfriend, Lindsay, who works in a daycare and can use my crafty stuff for the kids she works with. The great thing is that even though I’m no longer interested in these items myself, someone else can get some use from them. One quilter’s trash is someone else’s treasure after all.