Tips For Quilting

Start the New Year off Right—-Organize that Fabric Stash and Recycle in the Process

       Quilters usually have many things in common and number one on the list is usually a Fabric Stash. This often disorganized collection of fabrics represents our quilting past, present and future. Leftovers from quilts that have been made, yardage for quilts in progress, and pieces of fabric so beautiful they must live with you for future reference.

If you have been quilting for more than a month you have a stash or at least the beginnings of one.

     January 2009 saw a rebirth of enthusiasm for organizing my sewing room. The to do list at a minimum meant

   1. Clear off the cutting surface

   2. Put all the spools of thread back on the holder

   3. Round up all the rulers

   4. Replace books on shelf

   5. Take stock of all unfinished projects and decide which will be finished first

   6. Clean and or service sewing machine

   7. ORGANIZE the FABRIC easily the most daunting task in my quilting life

I then collected all the pins from the floor and gave the carpet a truly good vacuuming.

     The question of the year therefore is “how do I organize the Stash”. In the past I have used, shopping bags, suitcases, dresser drawers, cardboard boxes, plastic totes, crates, shelves and any combination of those afore mentioned methods.  Once sorted and put away  the first thing I wanted was usually on the bottom, or could not see what was actually in the container without emptying it, so what was the use of the organization exercise?

        I have finally found the secret for short yardage pieces —Kitty Litter Buckets. Yes you read it correctly, Kitty Litter Buckets. This is a great way to organize and it is Going Green for the environment as it recycles the buckets.  What a Deal!

    My family has always been a dog family, but circumstances made a cat the best choice for a pet in recent years. Captain Hook is a wonderful companion but his greatest contribution may be the necessity of the cat box. (He is an indoor cat, and must wear a harness when outside weighed down with a wrench so old folks can catch him. We are a bit overprotective). We purchase a brand of litter packaged in wonderful plastic containers that are of course too good to throw away. Meaning I accumulated an empty bucket stash too. At some point in time you really need to find a use for one stash or the other, and what a bonus when the two problems can be solved together.

      Here is the how to. All you need is an electric saw that will cut the plastic and a rasp or wire brush to smooth out the edges after it is cut.

This will give you a container with one opened side, yeah! It allows you to see what is in the container, and you can get the piece on the bottom without emptying the whole thing. Fabrics can be folded to fit your size “fabric storage unit” (FSU) and can be sorted by color, pattern, and theme or however suits your needs.

     Make sure you save the lids as the FSUs can be stacked along a wall, under a table or make a room divider if you so choose the options are many. I have been lucky enough to find shelving with lovely casters so the shelves can be pushed up against the wall most of the time, but pulled out for easy access to both sides. I put the FSUs back to back on the shelves and wow it is great to have doubled the shelf space.  The handle will make each unit easily portable; it is so nice to take a “bucket of blue” to the cutting area when color choices need to be made.

       So if you have a cat start buying litter in buckets, if you don’t have a cat get one,  befriend a cat lover who is not a quilter, or look for things you might normally purchase that come in a plastic bucket i.e. dog food, cat food, detergent who knows just keep an eye out. You may have plastic storage containers already that can have a side removed.

     Large fabric acquisitions can be folded nicely and stacked on shelves, but what about those small things often referred to as scraps. Personally, I know I seldom make scrap quilts, however I often find need of “small treasures”. I keep these folded if possible in a shallow plastic container, about 6” deep, again keep the lids and stack as needed. This allows you to remove the lid and see at a glance what treasures abound.

I hope these suggestions help you I sure like my wall of color. Next time I check in I am sure I will have a quilt pattern for you.(I also have several uses for litter buckets, stay tuned!)