And the fabric rehoming continues.
And it likely will for a good long time – but there is no better time than NOW, is there?
What I’ve set aside here are half-yard cuts of neutrals that may need a different system than sticking them in with the yardage due to limited shelf space. The jury is still out on whether they should be relocated and kept in with the neutral fat-quarter boxes.
Neutrals are my favorites – they always have been! And I need a great variety, so if I find myself purchasing anything…..this girl always gravitates toward the neutrals.
And then there are those “not quite neutral, not quite a color….” kinds of fabrics that I am finding myself pulling into a subcategory of their own.
These are the pieces with quite a bit of color to them that could read as neutral, but are more on the lighter side of medium. I tend to overlook these when pulling backgrounds for blocks -
I love this print – and it is so fun when you come across friend’s names along the selvage. Isn’t this a pretty piece?
In your world, do you classify this as a neutral or a color? I know it depends on what I pair it with, so I start looking at it as a value, and it reads “medium intensity” to me.
What about this one? The background is cream, the very pretty print is on the medium side – if I pair it with something really DARK it will read as light – but I don’t really classify this piece in the same “neutral” realm of others I use more.
My mind is wide open for something to make with these pretty prints that are neither really light nor really dark. Light mediums. The challenge is on!
And this is where I am so far. There are still empty shelves as I have not finished with the neutrals, and the blacks and greys still need a place to go. There may be shuffling and re-arranging of color order.
I have been asked many times how I am folding my fabrics, so I flipped back to the blog post I wrote in 2012, the last time I went through everything. (Once a decade is good enough, don’t you think?!) You can find that original post HERE.
This is what works for me, and I know there are many other ways to do things to fit your own situation.
My cabinets are 20 years old. They came from Home Depot. I doubt I could find the same ones out there any longer. The shelves are 15’’ deep. I fold my fabric to take up the full depth of the shelf so there is no wasted space, no stacks in front of stacks blocking my view of what is in there. I love that there are full doors on these cabinets so no light will fade my fabrics, and no dust can get in there either.
Fabric wrapped on comic boards and left on open shelves looks pretty - but light WILL fade your fabrics. Dust WILL settle on your fabrics if they are left in the open.
Find what works for you – and go with it! And then, if it no longer works for you, allow yourself to try something new. Don’t just stick with it because it is the way you have always done something.
Blacks & greys and some random stuff are pretty much all that is left to tackle. There are some yardage pieces coming from the cabin that will be added back to the cabinet stash as well. And then there is some stuff that will remain in tubs – Christmas and other holidays, novelties, etc.
All in good time. I'm going through it ALL and reevaluating.
There is no SPACE for my legs. Ivy was stretched out, Zoey was on there too, her head on top of Ivy just looking like SHE couldn’t believe that Ivy was taking up all of the room as well. SO funny.
I am 3/4 the way done on the binding for this one. It’s getting there, but slowly. My eyes were closing while sitting upright in my chair, I was that exhausted.
Today I’m a bit stiff and sore so will be taking it a bit easier.
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
Look for the good in every day and you will find it. There is so much good!
En Provence quilt was an earlier Quiltville Winter Mystery and is available as a PDF download booklet in the digital pattern section of the Quiltville Store.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
29 comments:
Love the pic of Ivy and Zoey!!!!
So precious.....:)
You are getting SO organized. It will be even more inspiring to create when you are finished! Really enjoy seeing pictures of Ivy & Zoey. Who knew they would become BFFs! Thank you, Bonnie.
Susan
You are making excellent progress. I was thinking that Pepper Cory fabric would go great on the back of one of your red, white and blue creations. perhaps a table runner that could be reversible?
Keeping it clean! What a lesson I learned when I chose what I thought were good storage boxes. They were good sized plastic drawer type boxes but didn't close tightly. I thought this was a good thing for air circulation.
Stacked near a south facing door, dust was blown about every time the door was opened and found it's way in through gaps. Although not directly in the sun they did suffer from the reflecting light. Many pieces have been discolored on the folds. Now I have tall cabinets similar to yours where they all live happily and clean. Pretty? Sure! Just open those big doors for the panorama of color!♥
Gosh! Has it been a decade already? Time to reorganize my stash too. Great post Bonnie. You opened the door for me and now you'll be opening the door for some of your newbies😁. Have a wonderful day.
Love what you are doing with your stash, so pretty and fun to see. Its also helping me with my endeavors of reorginzing. Ivy and Zoey always brings a smile. What good timing for those two to come into your life and ours too. Thanks for your blog. It's such a delight to read every day, goes so well with my cup of coffee.
WOW - you are making great progress! Love the pic of Zoey and Ivy - quite the pair. I'm still working scrap management - I know it's never ending, but I am needing it to be better organized and cut into useable sizes. I use a hybrid BH system. This process has told me each and every day "Makes more scrap quilts!".
What an amazing fabric collection, Bonnie!! Thanks for the link to your folding method. It's always good to see how others organize.
It's been so fun seeing glimpses of your stash as you reorganize!
I have the same challenge with light-mediums in recycled shirts. The lighter, brighter, summery-looking shirts usually catch my eye first, rather than darker or more somber ones. They're gorgeous, but they do often fall into that hard-to-place, light-medium category. If you think of a good project for yours, I'll be paying close attention. ;)
Getting ready to move my stash and finally get it organized and work on the scrap saving system. Thanks for the inspiration.
If you use the back side of those “not quite neutral, not quite a color….” fabrics they may fit in your light neutral category.
Quote reminds me! I’ve got to decide on backing for En Provenance. It’s been in the to finish pile, much too long!
Have been working on miniature log cabin blocks with pieces from my crumb box. So much fun picking lights and darks.
I am so glad to see that I’m not crazy, with those “not quite light, not quite dark” neutrals! I thought I was missing something...😂. I have them in a separate stack in my cabinets, and them into quilts that are light vs. dark on a block. That seems to work for me. So glad to see you getting all your fabric up there. It will truly feel like home now! Zoey is so funny! She hasn’t learned yet that cats rule..🤪
Oh you are such an inspiration to me! I was feeling overwhelmed with what J still needed to fit in my space at our new house. I have enough space but it's not all in one room. I can work with that! Thanks for letting us see the real version of life as a quilter! I need to get busy busting my stash!
not the dog and pony show but the dog and cat show...ROFL....thanks for making me feel good about the size of my stash!!
Bonnie you inspired me to get off my duff and get my cabinets of fabric folded, and color separated. I have worked on ITV all day today and hardly made a dent. But a little bit of progress everyday and I too will get it done.
Thank you for everything you do for us and for the fabric sorting & folding inspiration.
Happy Fall🍁🍁
Nice set of neutrals. I'm working on collecting a bunch of "shirtings/neutrals" for a great quilt pattern I saw a while back so I am with you. Never enough.
What a lovely cozy picture of Zoey and Ivy too cute. Love your ideas of fabric storage much better than my shopping bags. But I have been trying to sort my scraps I have 2 bins. 1 dark and the other neutral, once I get this sorted I will start to organise my scrap user system as this chaos is not productive.
Thank you for all your inspirational ideas
Stay safe
Love and quilty hugs
Anne xxx
I have neutral envy. 😆
I use the same type of cupboards and it works for me. Easy to find what you are looking for pretty quickly. Mine are organized by color or by style, reproduction, 30's, etc.
It looks like Zoey and Ivy are becoming good friends! Seeing all that fabric in boxes reminded me of moving my fabric a few years ago! I'm still sorting the scraps! LOL
Scrap sorting must be "in the ether" as I've been doing that also. I'm using new Accuquilt electric cutter to cut various size squares. Usable leftovers are going into large plastic bag. I'll be cutting strips next. This social distancing has its advantages.
The last pic of the two open cabinets looks like a quilt beginning to me! The light mediums, dark browns, and a pop of red would be yummy. I enjoy seeing the antics of Zoey and the kitty cats.
Thanks for sharing how you sort and file more-than-scraps, Bonnie. I had that red/green on cream squiggly print. I had a LOT Of it for a LONG time. I filed it on the green shelf. I had it for so long that I was sick of it. I don't know if I still have any. (Would you like some more?)
P.S. And when you're finished could you come and sort my batiks into the new wire basket units that I installed last Thursday? LOL.
I have mine on the comic boards, I too should rethink and reorganize my humongous fabric stash. I have outgrown one bedroom and things are slowly creeping into the second room! I like neutrals also, but darks darks are my favorite. So many projects, and November is coming ! I must finish so I can concentrate on your mystery. I can’t wait
Dear Bonnie: You are doing a marvelous job at reorganizing your fabrics. Love that you have all those beautiful fabrics! My guest room is filling up fast because I love fabrics too! Enjoy!
When I first saw the picture of Zoey's fun day I thought the pieces of stuffing were little grey mice!! I switched from my phone to my laptop put on my reading classes & starting laughing!! So glad it was stuffing!! It was a good laugh for me anyway!!
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