Time to Quilt

1904 yards and 16″

I’ll round up/down the inches but here’s how it breaks down:

1418 yardage

I’m a little surprised myself. It certainly doesn’t look like that much. But, it includes 12 hidden bolts of wide backing, with three bolts on each sides of the closet, top and bottom. Calculations were made to convert square inches from a yard of 108″ width to one yard of 42″ width to be able to include them in the count. I know it’s crazy but I like to take inventory every year and last time, I didn’t include backing.

I deviated a bit from my original idea and decided to put yardage that was 3 yards or more on the very top and bottom of the closet. It opened up more space on the other shelves to make it easier to put away the fabrics I’ll pull more often. Maybe I’ll be able to keep them neater now.

107 yards pre-cuts

They’re now stored in the top drawer of my toolbox / cutting table, placing FQs on the left, skinny quarters on the right, and precuts in the middle. They fit well. The drawers are designed for heavier tools so they roll out easily, making access simpler compared to the bins I had in my laundry room.

I previously stored some works in progress and random string supplies in the drawer but found locations for those items that made more sense too.

84 yards scraps

Note: For me, a scrap is anything less that 1/4 yard.

I rarely use white or black little scraps so it’s just not a good idea to dedicate a place to keep them. I’ll use the two bins they were in for 2 1/2″ strips. I have more strips in one of the string drawers I’ll add to these. Low volume neutrals do come in handy so I’ll keep saving those. They’re with grey scraps since I didn’t have much of the grey or the low volume.

Focus print scraps had me stumped but, I finally decided it might be easier for me to USE and organize them if I cut for specific pre-chosen patterns. I’m going to give it a try for awhile and see how things go.

81 yards strings

The wood box on top of one the little carts is to toss strings into as I create them. I’ve been doing this for a while now and it works pretty well. Definitely better than having to open drawers for every little sliver. As long as I don’t pile other fabric on top but I’m hoping that my less crowded shelves will help me avoid making a “for now” pile here.

When the wood box gets pretty full, I’ll sit on the couch and sort them while watching TV like I did last night. 😉

215 yards kits

I took advantage of the shelf my husband installed for me on the backside of my long arm frame back in November to store my crates of kits. The little crates from Target were in the bottom of the closet but since I don’t need to access them until I’m looking for a specific kit to make, this location seemed like a better option. Out of the way but, no so far away that they’re out of mind too!

Some are actually quilt shop purchased kits with patterns I’ve procrastinated in making. Most are fabric groupings I put together as I came across fabric I know I wanted to use for a specific pattern.

These zippered bags I purchased on Amazon really come in handy for this. The price works out to 70 cents each for the size I wanted. I have them numbered and logged so they’ll be easy to retrieve. The journal will make also make it handy to look through the list and chose a project to work on.

No more scrap baskets! Quilt designer Trudie Hughes once told me that she always cuts her scraps as she goes for specific patterns. She was the most prolific quilter I’ve ever known and we kept in touch for quite a while. I should have listened to her back then but, I’ remember her advice and will try it now.
There’s a reason I put off going through that basket of scraps until the end. I didn’t want to do it. That tells me, “don’t make this mistake again!”.

I have a small bin left to pre-cut for three pattern ideas. One is for bits of leftover 2 1/4″ binding, which will take some time, but I can start making blocks as I collect pieces.

I also finished my frankenbatts today. The top one is for a baby quilt I sew on a little at a time when I’m at the quilting bee. The bottom batting is for my bucket list quilt, which just needs borders. I might start quilting it by Tuesday. The middle batting is for my next patriotic quilt, sized at 50″ x 70″. I only have a small strip of batting left over and I’m happy to be caught up again.

I think I need to post a list of habits I want to work on where I’ll see it often. I just reread the book Atomic Habits by James Clear so I know what I need to do, I only have to get started.

It was a long, tiring week but I’m happy with the results. It was well worth the time and effort.

Having a number to put with the amount of fabric I have is going to stick in my head now. It’s sure to be a pretty good deterrent when I get the urge to go shopping. It also refamiliarized me with what I already own and be able to pair it with new pattern ideas when I see them. (Well, that’s the theory anyway.. lol)

It’s been a busy week, but I finished this quilt and I’m happy with it. It’s based on the Fabric Cafe pattern called Brick Street. You can find the pattern individually or in their book, Fast & Fun 3-Yard Quilts. I added an extra row to lengthen it.

I also made a small wall hanging quilt for my guild’s challenge, but I can’t show it until after the meeting since it will be voted on and some members might read my blog. 🙂

I didn’t take a photo of the back but this is the American flag print I used on it.

After rearranging fabric all week, I definitely need to use my fabric stash instead of stressing over finding the “perfect” backing.

Here’s the before on the left and after on the right.

While organizing, I decided to do my annual inventory, which I usually do in June, my birthday month. Since I took everything off the shelves, it felt right to do it now.

Here’s a preview of the before and after photo. Tomorrow, I’ll show you where I moved my pre-cuts (mostly fat quarters) and kits. The majority of my kits are just fabric grouped by project but a couple of them were purchased from my local quilt shop. I’ve numbered them and created a list for quick reference so I can easily pull them out and sew when I’m ready.

I really hope there’s something good on T.V. tonight because I’m too tired to do much else than lay on the couch! 🙂

If you quilt, you create fabric scraps, and eventually, storing them can become complicated. Accumulation often outpaces use. This leads to the question: Save or toss? Most of us would hesitate to discard a half yard piece of leftover backing fabric, but what about smaller pieces? What size, type do you keep and why? It’s easier to use yardage, pre-cuts or even newly purchased fabric, and that means scraps pile up.

Every quilter has their own threshold for what to keep versus what goes in the trash. Last night I was texting with a friend who’s planning to move in a few months. She was taking a good hard look at her stash and making tough decisions about what to keep.

You can spend hours, if not days on end, watching YouTube videos and reading blog posts about how to sort your scraps, but space is finite. Eventually, you run out of room to store them no matter how much thought, and work, you’ve put into organizing. That realization smacked me in the face this morning when I walked into my sewing room and was thinking about my friend facing her own stash decisions..

Once again it’s messy! 🙄 It gets messy because it’s harder than it should be to put stuff away. It’s harder to put stuff away because there’s too much of it.
So, I’ll start with the two areas that only need a quick rearrangement to look better and then slowly make the hard decisions about things that need to go.

I need to make sure I’m only keeping what I’ll actually use and let go of the “maybe” and “some day” fabrics among them.

It’s better to have a clean organized space that I enjoy, compared to one where I’m hoarding so much fabric that there simply isn’t room to “put things away”.