One of the best quilt hacks I ever came across was from Angela Pingel at Cut to Pieces. She uses comic book boards to store her fabric like mini bolts. Brilliant! Up until then, I was storing my fabric horizontally and having a hard time keeping the stacks neat and tidy. I'm not a neat and tidy person so I love easy storage ideas.
The 8.5" by 11" boards come in 100-board packs and can be purchased at comic book stores (or at Amazon.com) for about $10/pack of 100. Because they are made for the long-term storage of comic books, they are acid-free and of archival quality -- perfect for storing fabric too. :) Here's the thing though, once you start folding all your stash onto the boards, you start to realize exactly how much fabric you actually have. Ahem!
I store any fabric that's a 1/2 yard or larger on my boards. I fold the fabric in quarters along the selvage edge, which is handy because that's how I cut fabric too.
I wrap the fabric around it.
Then, I tuck in the raw edge, and secure it with a pin. Done!
Have a quilt hack you'd like to share? Let me know (quiltmatters{at}gmail{dot}com) and I may feature it here.
What a great tip! Moving also tells you how much fabric one has! What are you using to store the smaller pieces on your shelves?
ReplyDeleteinstead of the comic book boards, I've been getting empty bolts for my LQS (just the thin ones) and cutting them down and wrapping my fabric. I was truly amazed at how much I have. To celebrate, I went and bought more :)
ReplyDeleteI use heavy card stock, folded in half. For fat quarters I cut the folded card stock in half again. Works for me and I love the way my fabrics look on the shelf.... just like my own quilt shop!
ReplyDeletesuch a great idea!
ReplyDeleteSooooo..... what I really want to know is, how many packs of 100 did you need to buy for your stash?
ReplyDeleteLove this idea! (Also love your new blog look - I usually read you in a reader and never see your blog. Looks great!)
ReplyDeleteLove the organization. I may have to investigate this.
ReplyDeleteyumminess! I wish I could do that, lol.
ReplyDeleteFabulous idea! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI love the way this looks. I think I'd be shocked to see how much fabric I actually have, stuffed in bins. At least, this way, you don't forget about it. Of course, I've never forgotten about fabric I've bought (yah right!) I'm just saying for those you, who have......it might help.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like most about your fabric is that you have the new bolts and the smaller cuts all together. I was trying to figure out if I wanted to do the mini-bolt thing but I have a lot of 1/4 yard and fat quarter cuts and did not want all the larger cuts in one place and the smaller cuts in another. Your fabric organization has shown I can organize by color and within color, organize by size. Thanks!
ReplyDelete