When you buy a fabric for a specific project, when you get it home, use your basting gun and an index card to label it before putting it away. If you don't have a basting gun, you can use safety pins and index cards, but be aware the pins can rust over time. Use cardstock weight paper or index cards as they hold up well to shuffling fabrics around without ripping loose. Often a 3x2.5" (half an index card) is enough area for a label. Remember to keep a project label consistent for all fabrics involved. For example, '3-D Bowtie for Sue' rather than one that says 'Sue's Quilt', one that says 'Bowtie for Sue' etc.

Keep all 'designated fabrics' labeled, and in a specific location or container so you don't accidentally use it for something else, and so you can find it easily.

When you have several fabrics for a given project, consider putting them in zip-type bags (one and two gallon sizes are ideal), and label with an index card (taped if you prefer) inside the bag. It is especially helpful to use neon colored index cards and a medium point marker for the project label, as they are very easy to spot against fabric and easy to read. If you don't write directly on the zip bag, you can reuse it several times.

An alternative to a written label is to copy the project photo (not the entire directions or pattern, jut a reference photo) and slip it into the zip bag. If your project requires the use of more than one of the largest zip bags, use another photocopy of the project, and mark the bags '1 of 2', '2 of 2', etc.

If you prefer not to use zip bags, you can attach the label or photo directly to the fabric with a basting gun or safety pin (safety pins can rust and stain the fabric though). Reduced size copies will give you several on a page in most cases.

(Notes: do not put the photocopy ink side against any of your fabric, as it may transfer to the fabric. Make two copies of the project photo and use the second copy as suggested below).

Project Binder or File:
Keep a Binder or Project File to help you remember *which* project something is slated for, make a photocopy of the reference photo. Label this copy with the following information:

The magazine, book, or pattern info, including the pattern's location
The name you use for labeling the fabrics (i.e. 'Sue's Bowtie')
Any special notes about the pattern or project you will want to remember later. (Including where you've stored any specific fabric for the project).

Place these reference pages in a binder or file folder (fasten the pages into the file if possible). Use the same binder or file folder for ALL the reference photocopies, so you only have one place to refer to. Some quilters keep this file/binder in the same cabinet, shelf, or location as the designated fabrics for quick retrieval and reference.

Reserve Your Binding & Emergency Fix Fabrics:
Binding:
Once the quilt top is made, and borders are on it, choose your binding fabric, and make your binding. (I press mine and wrap them around a piece of cardboard, then place them in a sandwich size zip bag). Label the binding with the project name and set it aside. Keep all these bindings in one drawer or location. That way if you don't get it basted and quilted for a while, you don't accidentally use up the perfect binding fabric in the interim.

Fix-It Kit:
Once the top is pieced, and the binding made, cut two six inch squares of each fabric used in the quilt. One set is for emergency repairs you might need to make in final construction. The other is to include in a fabric envelope attached to the quilt for repairs in the years ahead. If you don't need the first set of six inch squares during final construction of the quilt, you can put them in a shoe box for a charm quilt!

Dealing with Small Scraps:
When your project is pieced or completed, or as you cut the fabrics to the correct size and shape, you will invariably have odd size trimmings and leftovers. For all pieces that are small and odd sized, put them all in one container. At some regular interval, or while doing something that allows you to do so (talking on the phone, watching TV, etc.), cut these bits into squares, or some other shape or size for a quick quilt. Keep all like size shapes in a zip bag or other container, and label it for quick reference.

Note: You will find this works best if you go ahead and cut these as you gather them up and after piecing of your original project is done. If you fill a tub or large container and don't cut the scraps into usable shapes, all those small bits can be overwhelming!

At the beginning of each year, choose a scrappy pattern and then cut that shape and size from these trimmings all through the year. Keep all of these in one zip bag or container, which is labeled, and includes a reference photo as discussed above. Then at the end of the year, sit down and make the quilt. In my mind it's sort of a 'freebie', because I did it as part of making other projects, so the energy used is negligible in cutting, and the fabric is 'leftover'. It feels great to get it done and see the final result. I've done this with several one patch quilts, Railroad Crossing, Nana's Garden, Rail Fence, and Nine Patch patterns.

An easy variation is to make string blocks by sewing the trimmings onto a paper or fabric foundation already cut for a given pattern. Bonnie of Quiltville Custom Quilting has several wonderful free scrap patterns on her site to share.

Set a minimum size for the trimmings and scrap pieces. If you do paper piecing, small, or mini quilts, you can use almost any little tidbit. If you don't, give yourself a guideline like strips no less than 1 inch wide, or pieces that you can cut a 2 inch shape from. Anything smaller than these minimums goes into a tub, box, or trashbag, until you have enough to fill a throw pillow. They are heavy, but they are very firm and squishy. For a lighter pillow, you can add yarn trimmings to the fabric trimmings.

Foundation piece them. Keep foundation squares of muslin or paper (six or eight inch are good sizes) near your machine, and sew trimmings to it for string quilt squares or scrappy crazy pieced type squares. After several months, (depending on how much sewing you do) you'll have enough for a quilt. These make especially nice charity quilts. (It's also a nice annual record of the fabrics and projects you made at the end of the year).

As a companion piece, consider piecing the odd ball trimmings you use for foundation pieced blocks on strips of muslin for a matching scrappy border. (I cut my muslin strips 5"x45", and can trim them down narrower later if I want).

Dealing with Medium Size Scraps:
When you get to yardage from 1/2 to one yard lengths, remember that you can often get enough for either a binding or a narrow border for most size quilts from a piece this size, and keep them all in one location or container for quick retrieval when you need one.

Make fat quarters (FQ). Even if you aren't starting with a half yard piece, you can often get a 22x18 cut for a FQ out of a scrap piece. Before you cut it into usable shapes, check to see if you can trim it to a FQ. If it isn't a candidate for a FQ, put it in the container for your scrap/charm quilts (up to you whether you cut it to size now or later).

Sorting Fabric:
Sort the way YOU think. Not everyone thinks alike, and not all of these suggestions will work for you. Choose the ideas that fit in your logic, and make them work for you. Choosing 'counter-intuitive' methods that go against the grain of how you think, will only make it harder on you all around. The whole point of organizing is putting things into a system where you can find them again, and do so easily and with minimum effort.

Keep designated fabrics in a specific place that is a different place than those that are 'free game' for any project.

Sort by Color all the non-designated fabrics (all one yard min. cuts).

Pieces greater than a half yard, and less than one yard are often good for narrow borders or bindings of most quilts, and can be kept together.

When you use tubs, boxes, or other containers, be sure to put the same label on each end of the container so that no matter how it gets put back in place, you can easily read it.

When you use shelves for storage, fold an index card in half so that it is 3 x 2.5", with the writing on the lower half, and using the upper half as a 'tab' (placing the crease/fold on the top front edge of the shelf, with the wording hanging down). Tape the blank area that will be underneath the stack of fabric directly to the shelf with scotch tape.

If you use the wire cubes sold in many warehouse membership stores (like Sam's Club, Price Club, etc.) you can do a variation by printing the index card vertically, and then cut the upper, blank area to a tab width that will fold down between the wires, then fold it and tape or staple.

Easy, uniform labels: it is much easier to find things quickly if all your labels are uniform, and easy to read from a distance. You can use 3x5 index cards (white or a color of your choice), and tape them with 2 inch wide clear tape to the box or container, or slip them inside the zip bag. For smaller labels, I cut the cards so they are 3x2.5". You can either print them on the computer using a large, bold font, or you can hand print them using a fat permanent marker. Black seems to show up best whether the card is white or colored. Permanent ink will not run if the label gets wet somehow, safeguarding your fabric. The wide tip markers are easy to read when printed.

Remember: Although most of us sort our fabric by it's overall color, every fabric collection is different, and each of us has our own way of relating to our fabric and projects.

It is important to choose sorting methods and topics that work best for you, and to put fabric in the first category that comes to mind when you look at any given fabric, as that is most likely how your mind will think of it when you want to find it again.

There are several categories that you might consider using to sort the fabrics not yet designated to a project, instead of, or before, sorting them by color.

FABRIC CATEGORIES:

Animals Baby Prints Background Fabrics Balis, Batiks Bugs Cats/Animal Specific Christmas Prints Civil War Era Prints Flannels

Food Prints Geometrics I-Spy Prints Hand Dyed Fabrics Miniature Prints Multi-Color Florals Multi-Color Non-Florals Novelty Prints Oriental Fabrics

Panel Prints Patriotic Prints Plaids & Stripes Repros by Era   Solids by Color Specialty Fabrics* Sports Theme Prints by Theme Tone-on-Tone Prints

* In this example, a specialty fabric is something you collect i.e.: a theme print you love (watermelon prints maybe?), purples, black and white fabrics, watercolor prints, a specific designer, etc..

---

When All Else Fails, Pass it On!
Finally, if you are cleaning up and run across a project, fabric, or a collection of blocks that makes knots in your stomach and has other negative effects on you and your creativity, pack it up and send it to the UFO-rphanage for Quilters!

---

©Copyright 1996-2003 Laura Starr
©Copyright 2004, 2005 Niki Roberts

All Rights Reserved