If you’re like me, you love fabric. Of course we love it, because we’re quilters! There are times when the fabric stash can get a little unruly. Today I am going to share my favorite methods to keep that stash organized so you can see all those beautiful colors, prints or solids. The best way I have found to organize my yardage is by folding them around a ruler to keep everything a standard size. This keeps everything neat and tidy and prevents you from making messy stacks of fabric that will eventually flop around haphazardly.
Quilting fabric can be expensive, so it is important to take care of it. Folding quilting fabric properly helps to prevent it from getting wrinkled, damaged, or forgotten about. Here is a step-by-step guide to folding quilting fabric.
Here are a few tips before you get started:
- Use a flat surface. This will help to prevent the fabric from getting wrinkled.
- Steam any fabrics that have become wrinkled.
- Fold the fabric evenly. This will help to prevent the fabric from getting lopsided.
- You may want to use a cutting mat. This will help to protect your fabric.
- If you are folding fabric that is prone to fraying, you may want to use a fray prevention spray. This will minimize fraying when you are folding it.
Folding Yardage
- Lay out your fabric with the width next to the long side of your ruler.
- Fold the bolt width of the fabric in half about 10 inches wide.
- Bring 4 to 5 inches around the side of the ruler and begin wrapping the yardage around the ruler.
- When you reach the end, slide the ruler out and fold in half again.
Pro- Tip: I fold my fabric this way to use up as much shelf depth as possible.
Folding Fat Quarters
- Start by laying out your fat quarter, with the selvage at the bottom wrong side up.
- Fold it in half, hamburger style by bringing the top of the fat quarter down to the selvage.
- Fold in half again, bring the folded edge to the edge with the selvage (hot dog style).
- Then complete your fat quarter rectangle by bringing the ends to the center and folding it in half.
Once my fat quarters are folded, I like to store them in Ikea Storage Cube or a basket that showcases all their colors.
Storing Scraps
Scraps can be a bit tricky as they are usually all different shapes as sizes. Scraps up to 5 inches get placed in this bin and anything smaller than 2 inches I get rid of.
My goal is to keep the fabric as large as possible without creating a tumbling bin of scraps I forget about.
The great thing is, they’re your scraps, so you can choose the sizes that make the most sense for the projects you gravitate towards. Having them organized by size and then in rainbow order streamlines picking out scraps for that next scrap happy quilt.
Read more about my scrap organization here.
Storing bias tape
For storing bias tape you can purchase these binding spools in my shop. I just simply wrap the bias tape around the spool, pin to secure, and store them lined up in a clear organizing bin.
Use these tips and tricks and you will be folding and storing quilt fabric like a pro. I hope you have a weekend full of happy quilting!