A major fabric management crises from weeks of neglecting to return fabric to stash in an orderly fashion came to a head this week when I could not find my Clover Wonder Clips (for binding) nor my scissors .... really frustrating.
And so I spent almost 2 days hauling fabric, ironing, folding, and stacking. I like to arrange my fabric stash by color but this time I also separately stashed the low volume - light/white background - fabrics. Pictured above are all low volume fabrics; fat quarters or smaller and most have been cut into. It's quite a task ironing and folding irregular pieces of fabric into a the same size format.
Before and After
Of course in the process of tidying I found several great hoarded hidden treasures which I am now committed to using rather stashing. A tidy stash also means there is room for more fabric!
Inside Voices II - Low Volume bundle from Westwood Acres (Etsy)
Clockwise (above) starting with the large scale yellow floral fabric:
Indie Chic - Main in Yellow - by Riley Blake
Serenity - Luck in Blue by Riley Blake
Avignon - Dots in Green by Riley Blake
Love Notes - Font in Gray by Echo Park (Andover)
Tiny Dot from Spot On by Robert Kaufman
Bungle Jungle - Crosswords by Tim and Beck for Moda Fabrics
Posy by Aneela Hoey for Moda
Mixmasters Dot in Silver by from Robert Kaufman
Cherry Christmas from Aneela Hoey
Love Notes - Life in Multi by Echo Park (Andover)
Little Apples - Button Stripe in White by Aneela Hoey for Moda
Arriving just in time to be added to stash is a low volume FQ bundle from Westwood Acres. Amanda has cleverly been collating low volume fabrics and this is the second installment in a series of Inside Voices fabric bundles.
Both the first and second installment of Westwood Acres ~ Inside Voices have not surprisingly sold out quickly. Inside Voices III is expected to be available early April 2013.
Enjoy Sunday!Rita
PS By the way, after two days of tidying I did find my Clover Wonder Clips - just where I always keep them ~ right there in the container with Basting Pins. So crazy.
your neat shelves are a motivation to do something about "that room" at my house. Also would be nice to find the light box.
ReplyDeletePretty, Pretty, Pretty!!!! I can't wait to see what you do with them!
ReplyDeleteI love your before and after photos! I sorted my stash this week, it felt good, and made it easier to start a new project!!
ReplyDeleteHow visually appealing your clean up is.
ReplyDeleteSmall suggestion. I struggled with the small folded pieces stacking nicely. I started to roll the fabric and tie it with little string or selvage, they way my quilting store sells their fat quarters. They can stack horizontal or vertical. An additional benefit is the fabric is less wrinkly when I decide to use it.
You have such a talent for mixing pieces from different collections, gorgeous! Can't wait to see what you do with this stack.
ReplyDeleteI "sew" needed some inspiration to clean up my stash. Thank you, Rita. :)
ReplyDeleteI always know when I can't put my hands on my favorite scissors that I have reached the tipping point and must stop everything and organize! It's a great feeling of relief to have everything in its place even if its just for a few minutes!
ReplyDeleteI just bought some of the Mixmasters in that color from my LQS. I really thought it would be versatile!
ReplyDeleteI have such a mess of fabrics...not sure how to organize, due to lack of space....I will start by folding and ironing, and see where that takes me. Thanks for the push!!! Your fabric shelves look wonderful!
ReplyDeleteUmmm we have a cold snowy day here in the UK - perfect weather for ironing and organising my stash :) Can I ask a question - When using low volume do you worry about mixing creamy backgrounds with starker white backgrounds? x
ReplyDeleteHow much better the after shot looks. Great to have such a productive space. TFS. Glad you found your clips - have ordered some of those waiting for them to arrive.
ReplyDeleteI've often struggled to fold my odd pieces of fabric into something that looks 'nice'!!!
ReplyDeleteI just did the same thing (though my stash is a lot smaller then yours *lol*) and you feel like you can breathe again don't you? And inspiration just starts flowing to use all those lovely fabrics that you finally can see again =)
ReplyDeleteLovely bundle too!
I need to do my Spring cleaning/sorting/organizing as well. I fear that, if I start in my sewing room, I won't get any farther, though. I'll be too busy starting another ten new projects, inspired by all those tidy stacks. LOL!
ReplyDeleteIf the promise of more fabric buys isn't a great incentive to clear up the stash, I don't know what is!! It's looking fab and I'm sure your creative juices have started to flow like "mad".
ReplyDeleteI'm going through the same thing. I can't find my Clover binding clips any where in my craft room. Geeze. I know they are probably under my nose. I looked every where last night and still no luck. I'm headed out there this morning to look again. Drives me crazy. I did some cleaning and re-arranging recently and that is the problem. I know I moved them. Now I need them. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteYour room is awesome and so organized. Great job and breautiful.
Thanks for sharing.
Debbie
I know what you mean by how frustrating it is looking for something that's hiding in plain sight! Happens to me all the time.
ReplyDeleteLove how your shelves look.
My sewing room is so bad that I have had to move my sewing machine to the kitchen table to sew. every time I try to clean it, I get depressed, leave and shut the door behind me!
ReplyDeleteLooks like we're all on a roll. Spring maybe, or just getting ready for shorter days in other parts of the world. What ever it is it's a good feeling to have everything in it's place and a place for everything, although I can't say that everyday if you know what I mean. LOL
ReplyDeleteBeautiful stash of fabrics ~ love how you've got them stored.
ReplyDeleteI just straightened out my cabinet full of fabrics the other day and it's looking nice and neat ~ have another place I keep all my fabrics that still needs some attention also ~ I always swear I'm going to keep it all straight ~
Your dresser looks amazing! I would love to have space for a piece of furniture like that. It's so much more inspirational to have you fabrics on show too.
ReplyDeleteIf you are not being messy you are not being creative, that's what I say. :o) Although it feels soooo good to get it all cleaned up and organized. I've been sorting my scraps by color also but always struggle with the ones that have a lot of white and then color. I think your low volume organization may help me with this.
ReplyDelete