Monday 12 August 2013

My stash - what's in it and organisation

Sarah from Sarah Quilts is hosting a linky party so that we can all satisfy our curiosity about other people's stashes.  The linky is open until Thursday 15 August so you have time if you want to join in too.  I'm currently on a self-imposed fabric buying ban for the month of August so this is a good way to get a free fabric fix.

 
I was a little hesitant about sharing my stash - not just because I have an embarrassingly large amount of fabric, but also because I know how it feels to have major fabric envy (not fun!). 

In this post I thought I'd share photos of my stash and a little about how I organise it (because it's taken me a while to get it organised in a way that works for me).  If people are interested, next week I thought I might share some thoughts about stashing strategies, because I have quite deliberately built up my stash over the course of the last two and a half years.
      
First up a little about organisation - I keep my stash organised in four sets of plastic drawers (three drawers in each set) which live in my sparefabric room.  It just so happens that the drawers fit three rows of folded fabric perfectly.  I like storing my stash like this because I can see all the fabric in a drawer at once, it's easy to take some fabric out without disturbing the whole system, and each drawer is light enough for me to lift comfortably, even when full.  Together, these things mean that I actually use my stash.

My stash 

Most of my fabric is organised by colour.  The colour organised drawers hold cuts of fabric between a fat eighth and a metre.  Smaller pieces go in my scrap bin, and larger cuts have their own set of drawers.  These are all my red and pink fabrics.

My stash 

These are the yellow and orange fabrics.  I need more orange.

My stash 

Navy, purple and mid to dark greys.

My stash 

Aqua, turquoise, light and medium blues.  I don't need any more of these!

My stash 

White, cream, light grey and other light neutrals.  Looking at this photo, I can see that I could really move some of the greys to the mid/dark greys section - that's useful and I hadn't really spotted it looking at this drawer in person.

My stash 

Black (this part of my stash is looking healthy after I made a concerted effort to stock up), and green.

My stash 

The fabrics on the left are all for one quilt, the ones in the middle are pulled for another quilt, and the ones on the right are my brown fabrics (these get used surprisingly often).

My stash

These multi-coloured fabrics don't fit neatly into any of the other colour categories so I keep them together in their own drawer.

My stash 

Solids on the left - I've found it useful to keep them all together while the Simply Solids Bee is underway.  In the middle are a couple of fat quarter bundles I decided to keep together - Timber and Leaf and Heaven and Helsinki.  On the right is Anna Maria Horner's latest collection - Hand Drawn Garden, and a selection of co-ordinating solids.

My stash 

These are my large cuts of fabric - more than 1 metre.  Sometimes these are for quilt backs and sometimes they are for borders and sashing (or just things I think I'll use a lot of like neutral solids).

My stash 

More large cuts.

My stash

And the last of the large cuts.

By the way, my stash is looking super organised at the moment because I just tidied my spare room and put away a bunch of fabric that had overflowed off the bed and onto the floor.  If you follow me on instagram you'll know what I mean.  It definitely does not always look like this and the rest of my house is nowhere this tidy or organised (gotta have priorities!).

So what do you reckon about my stash?  Are you interested in my thoughts on stashing strategies? And do you think I will make right through the month of August without buying any fabric?

25 comments:

Tanyia said...

I would love to hear your strategies, your stash looks lovely, I want to come over and play! I will check out the linky party and play along I think!

P.S. I am not sure you can last a whole month without buying some fabric though! I know I couldn't!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you decided to share. Thank you!

I do feel a tiny bit envious but fabric envy hurts in a good way! It's something to aspire to.

I absolutely would love to hear more about your stash strategies. I'm working on developing more of a system myself and it's so helpful to hear how others approach this.

Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts said...

I love reading about and seeing how people store and organise their stash! Especially if they have more than me so I don't feel so bad, haha!

Rachel said...

Love your stash photos! And I'd love to hear more about your stash strategies, I love reading about other people's fabric habits! I'm sure you can do your August fabric fast, it's not long till September and you can make up for it then!! ;)

Jess @ Elven Garden Quilts said...

That is a beautifully organised stash!

Elmosmate said...

Your stash is so modern and colourful. I did see some Skulls in there, Nice!
Are you sure that was all of it?

Camilla said...

Great looking stash Adrianne! It's great when you find an organisation strategy that works for you. Hopefully I'll have time to (tidy up to) join this linky too. I'm not sure my strategies are as sorted, but I do have some kind of system. I was trying to work out from your pics whether your standard purchase was fat 1/4 or 1/2 yd?
I'm sure you'll make it through August, you seem like someone who thinks about and sticks to decisions..? Time will tell I guess! The it depends if September's budget includes a contingency for making up for lost fabric!

Liz said...

Love your stash! It doesn't look like *that* much :p. i would also love to hear your stashing strategies since I generally just buy willy-nilly. Thanks for sharing!

MsMidge said...

What a beautiful stash you have! I actually just posted about my stash yesterday, and trying to get organised. My problem is lack of space. I don't have a spare room (seriously, why did i have 4 kids?) so everything is crammed in to my little shoebox sewing room - which is currently doing my head in! Thanks for sharing!

Leanne M said...

That's a huge stash! I'd have absolutely no room to store half of what you have, so jealous! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Erica said...

Oh it is fun to see your stash and it is so pretty! I love seeing how other people organize theirs. I definitely see lots of things to be jealous of . . .

memmens said...

Thanks for sharing this, it is super organised. We have just come to the end of a major building project, my stash has moved a few times this year and is currently in no order whatsoever shoved in a big cupboard. But another cupboard is nearly ready for it, freshly painted with new door catches! I have my stash to sort and then another cupboard rammed full of vintage sheets to sort too!

Jo Jo said...

You have some beautiful fabrics there! Mine are lobbed into a big Ikea box in a completely random fashion! :)

Sarah @ mila+cuatro said...

I like the way you've organised it, it makes it easy to see what you've got. My stash is in big boxes and I have to hunt through things. I'm also envious of how broad your stash is.

Steffi´s Candy Quilts said...

You have a nice stash and I like your storing system.
Would love to hear about your strategies.
Can I ask you a question? There's one fabric in your last picture, middle row, second from the bottom. The aqua with the white triangles and the flowers. I saw it quite often in other bloggers' works and like it a lot. Could you tell me from which collection/manufacturer it is? Maybe I can still find it on etsy. :-)

Lyndy at Stitchbird said...

You must have the tidiest best organised stashes in the history of stashes. Do you want to come around and organise mine? And like Anne I want to know is this all of it? Are you sure there is not more? I think I might be too embarrassed to join this linky party.

Leigh Anne said...

That's a lovely stash and you definitely have it well organized :) I would love to hear about your strategy for building it. It'w something I'm always on the hunt for tips regarding :)

As for your August ban, You certainly don't need any random fabric but you just never know when a project will NEED something to complete it LOL

Martha said...

Your fabric stash is so well organized. I try to keep mine organized by color too, but I don't have quite that much (I'm totally green with fabric envy, lol)

Michelle@factotum-of-arts.com said...

I love it !! I have a similar stash strategy with the color groupings, collections and solid groupings :-)

Molli Sparkles said...

You've inspired me to get some drawers like this! I think it is time for a revamp for myself, so I'd totally follow along on your stashing tips and tricks!

Lisa said...

I have a sewing room in progress with a HUGE closet, so I have my stash building on the shelves. I think I would love to have your stash sitting on my shelves!

Little Island Quilting said...

Compared to me that's just a 'tickling the surface' fabric stash ;-)

Teresa @ Aurea's Kitchen said...

I love your stash, mine is so... inexistent. I hope next months start building one nice stash and use it.

Kelsey said...

I love your drawer system, it shows off the fabric so well! I am excited to see what your plans are for the peach-mulberry fabric pull!

nicole said...

Not sure how i managed to miss this post! Your stash is definitely one of the best i've seen! I could happily live in your fabric room forever!