Quilting Fabric Organization: How I Do It
Click HERE or on the image above to see the video!
Over the years, I’ve changed my quilt fabric organization system several times. No matter what I tried, I kept running into the same issues. One of the biggest problems was not knowing where certain fabrics were. This often led to spending far too much time digging through piles to find that perfect print—or worse, buying a fabric I already had because I couldn’t find it.
Another challenge was that I couldn’t easily see my entire fabric collection. I’ve learned that if I can’t see it, I won’t use it.
After a lot of thought, reflection, and some brand-new bookshelves built by my wonderful husband, I finally created a system that works for me. I love how it looks! In this blog post, and in the accompanying video you can watch HERE, I’ll show you how I organize, fold, and roll (yes, roll!) my yardage, fat quarters, larger scraps, and small scraps into one cohesive system.
My goal was to create an approach that’s easy to maintain (keep reading to see why that’s so important!) and allows me to see everything I have at a glance. Both of these elements help me use my fabric stash more effectively and inspire me to make more projects with what I already own.
Before we get started, I just want to give a big shout out to Nicki from The Ruffled Purse. Her video helped me see the wonderful benefits to rolling my fabric scraps. Although I don’t do it exactly as she did, I did take inspiration from her video. Side note: Her newsletter is fantastic! Make sure to check that out, too!
Organizing Yardage
For fabric that is one or more yards, I wrap the fabric around comic book boards. Now, this isn’t a new concept, by any means. It isn’t even a new concept for me. I have been doing this for a few years now, and am happy I could integrate this into my new system. I love the way it looks when they are all on my shelves. It is like my own little quilt shop!
Here’s how to do it:
Lay the fabric on a flat surface like a table. Start by laying the fabric out just like it came off of the bolt, with the selvages together. Next, fold down the selvage edges to just about meet the folded edge. This should be 10.5”, which is the height of the comic book board.
Start at one end and wrap the fabric around the board. Once you get to the other end, fold under the edge and clip it with plastic alligator clips at the top and bottom to secure it.
Organizing Half-Yard Cuts
I really love keeping my half-yard cuts on separate piles. Half-yard cuts don’t stay on a full-size comic book board as well, and I also love the look of these on the shelves, too. They are like mini-mini bolts of fabric. :)
Here’s how to do it:
First, cut a comic book board in half lengthwise so you have two units. Each will measure 5.25” x 6.75”. Set these aside until Step 5.
Lay your half-yard cuts of fabric on a flat surface with the selvage ended on the right and left sides.
Fold up the bottom cut side to meet the top cut size.
Next, fold the two cut sides down to meet the fold side. The width should measure just under 6.75”.
Just like in Step 2 in the yardage section of this blog, lay one of the comic book board halves at the end of the folded half-yard fabric and wrap the fabric around the half-comic book board. Once you get to the other end, fold under the edge and clip with plastic alligator clips at the top and bottom to secure it.
Fat Quarters
I love keeping my fat quarter cuts separate, too, especially since we have fat quarter swaps at our guild. I can grab them and go! Perfect! For this method, I don’t use comic book boards, but you certainly can! You can cut them into quarters and they work beautifully. For me, I wanted them rolled, however, and here’s how I do it.
Lay the fat quarter out on a flat surface.
Fold the fat quarter in half so that the short edges (18” sides) are together. Use your hand to press the folded edge.
Next, turn the folded fabric so the fold is at the top and the raw edges are at the bottom. Fold in the right and left sides to the middle, and then fold it in half.
Next, we roll! Starting at the raw-edge end, fold the edge about an inch in and start rolling. When you get close to the other end, I like to fold that in, too, before finishing the roll.
Once I have it rolled, I secure it with Clear Elastic Hair Rubber Bands. They work great for this process! Please note: I do not know the long-term effect these will have on fabric.
Once I have a bunch rolled, I store them standing upright in a plastic container. These containers come with lids but for this, I do not use the lid. I do, however, use it in the next step.
Large Scraps
I used to keep all of my scrap pieces together in a plastic bin separated by color. It worked out well, but there were a few issues. Although they were organized, they were also out of sight and out of mind. Like I mentioned before, if I don’t see it, I don’t use it. Another issue was that I would have to dig to find the scraps I wanted to use. This was both messy and frustrating. Sooooo, just like with the fat quarters, rolling the scraps it is! It allows me to see what I have and to find it easily, without the mess.
Here’s how I do it:
Because larger scraps are not uniform, it takes a bit of creativity with the rolling process and each piece is usually different. My biggest concern is making sure the raw edges are not exposed as best as possible.
I lay the fabric flat on a flat surface to assess the size and how best to fold it.
Then I fold the fabric edges in and roll. After that, I secure the roll with an elastic hair band.
To store these, I put them into a container with the lid and place them under the fat quarter container on a shelf. Now, here’s the issue: I have WAY more scraps than what will fit in these! To store my “overflow” fabric scraps, I use big clear bins. The goal is to use up those overflow fabric scraps. Do you think I will achieve this goal? :)
Small Scraps
Ahhh, those smaller scraps. What do you do with them? First, let me tell you what I don’t do.
I do not cut them into sizes. I know, I know—this is such an unpopular opinion! And honestly, I USED to do this way! I did! BUT it didn’t work for me. Want to know why?
It took maintenance, and a lot of it! I would finish cutting the pieces for a project, and I would put the scraps in a pile. That pile grew and grew. I would look at it and DREAD cutting it down into pieces. It would mock me. It was work. And worse, it took time away from quilting and the fun stuff!
I didn’t use them. When I needed a chunk of something, I wouldn’t use my precut scraps because, well, they were precut! They took work!
I could never figure out the right way to store them.
So what do I do now, you ask? Well, I put them into these mesh bags sorted by color. So far, they are working great, and honestly, I am not sure how these will work in the long run. We will just have to see. I will be sure to give you an update in my 2025 Habit Video Series. Make sure to follow along!
Happy Quilting,
Kris