Last week I shared some mini video tutorials for common quilting techniques. One that I shared was how to square your fabric before you start cutting out pieces for a project. This week, I am going to talk about fabric stash building for scrap quilting and how to store fabric as you accumulate it. Before I had a system, I would often come home from the quilt shop with fabric I already owned. Now we all know how expensive quilt fabric is, so I don’t like to make that mistake… unless I really like the fabric. I also have another mini video tutorial this week. So, let’s get started!
Fabric – Wash or not?
Once you get your fabric home, the first decision is …. do I wash it or not? There are some pros and cons to both schools of thought. I do not pre-wash my fabrics because I think the fabric is easier to cut because of it’s “crispness” from the sizing. Here are some pros & cons to help you decide what is best for you:
Pre-washing Pros:
• All the fabrics that are going to shrink will shrink so the finished quilt pattern is not ruined by fabrics shrinking differently.
• Certain fabrics might bleed, like purples and reds, and transfer to other parts of a quilt when the finished item is washed.
• Chemicals used in the processing of the fabric are removed in pre-washing. Some people are allergic to these chemicals so this is a benefit to them.
Pre-washing Cons:
• It takes time. The extra steps of washing and ironing adds time to the prep when getting ready to make a quilt.
• It washes out the sizing. Some quilters like this sizing which tends to make the fabric easier to cut. I like the “stiffer” fabric that, for me, seems to cut easier.
• Most of the quality fabrics today do not shrink much and the fabric dyes are much more stable to prevent bleeding. There’s also laundry products, like Shout® Color Catchers, that prevent color transfer.
• Fabric edges fray which can distort the fabric. This will require you to waste more fabric when squaring up.
If you decide to pre-wash your fabric, you can prevent most of the fraying by cutting a corner off the fabric or cutting the non-selvedge edges with pinking shears.
This also works well for fat quarters and fat eighths. For these smaller pieces of fabric, in addition to above, I put them in lingerie bags. This keeps them from getting tangled up with each other.
Be sure to separate lights from darks and wash on a gentle cycle in cold water. I toss the fabrics in the dryer on “air fluff” only for about 10 minutes and then hang the pieces on a drying rack to finish the drying. This cuts down on the wrinkles a bit, that way you can save ironing for when you are ready to cut.
Building the Stash
Tip#1 – Cutting up Fabric:
One of the fun parts about scrap quilting is building a stash. Since scrap quilting can require fabrics from 1/2 yards down to fat eighths and strips, building the stash also requires you to find a good way to store it!
First I’ll share my stash building secret: If I like a piece of fabric, I buy a yard of that fabric and cut it into the smaller pieces so I have that fabric in every size! Here’s a mini video tutorial I filmed to demonstrate how I do this:
See how easy it is?
Tip #2 – Storing the Stash:
So now I have these stacks of fabric and rolled fat eights and maybe some strips. So how do I store these? For the half yards and fat quarters, I use plastic tubs and separate the fabrics by colors. Here are some of my tubs:
And here is how I label the tubs and store them:
Now what do I do with all of these?
Well, you can store them in the tubs I use above. Or you can store them in drawers like I do. I found some old card catalog drawers at an antique store and that’s where I store mine. If you are using something like I do, make sure to line the drawers with acid free paper or fabric so the fat eighths are not damaged.
Finally onto the strips. I like to save 1 1/2 and 2 1/2″ strips because I use them the most. I used to just throw them into a basket and try to fish out the ones I wanted from there, but I ended up with a jumbled, frayed mess. So now, here is how I store them:
These are the same tubs I use for the 1/2 yards and fat quarters, but I fashioned separators using acid free cardboard. I simply cut the cardboard into strips that fit inside the tubs and secure them with packing tape. Now I have separate slots to put colored strips. It’s so easy to make a log cabin block now!
Now you are ready to scrap quilt, right? That’s all for this week. Leave me a comment below and ask any questions you have. I will draw a winner from the comments for my scrappy quilt, Seaside Cottage, that will put your stash to good use!
The drawing will be on Monday, January 25th. **We have a winner! Congrats, Kathy Brown!**
Happy Quilting & Stash Building!
Deanne
Great to see how you cut and store your fabric. I mostly buy fat quarters because I like scrappy and make mostly small quilts. My only question would be “How do you keep your stash so neat?!” Mine always looks like the aftermath of a tornado!
My stash isn’t always that neat. LOL! I try to go through it on a regular basis and straighten things up. The added benefit is I take inventory at that time to see if I need a particular color.
What a great post. I have a pretty good stash of fabrics, but 99% are just the yardage. I’m almost embarrassed to admit I’ve never thought about cutting a yard down into these different, easy-to-store sizes. My next project will be to start taking a yard of everything I have and cutting it down. I’m so pleased at the thought of all the scrappy goodness I’ll have. I love scrap quilts but don’t really make them because it seems so daunting to go through yardage and cut bits and pieces. Did that make sense? Anyway, thanks for the helpful post!
That makes sense! I started doing this myself because it seemed like I had a lot of yardage that just sat in my cupboard. Once I started cutting it down, it got used in my scrap quilts.
Like how you cut into different sizes. Great idea for fat 1/8th’s. Another larger storage idea: I bought wire closet drawer system, put them all the way across my room width & then had a counter top cut to put on top of the drawers to use as a cutting table.
I like that storage system!
Great ideas to build my stash. Never was sure if I should leave as one piece or cut up. This makes perfect sense. Thank you. Love the storage tips also.
Thank you for these terrific tips. I like the one about cutting the corner of yardage to prevent fraying. I have always thought that cutting my yardage like this takes up more storage space than I have. I will look at this method again as space is so limited.
Grateful for your wonderful tips. Really looking forward to putting them to use. Been enjoying your Blog and free pattern.
The world needs more people like you,
Please stay safe and well,
Kathy from Ontario, Canada
I have a good size stash. Lots of yardage and fat quarters. I think I need to start making smaller cuts so to give me a bigger selection of fabrics for scrappy quilts. Thank you Deanne for the video and storage tips.
Love your system. I have many fat quarter bundles or smaller bundles from monthly programs or the random patterne, super pretty fabrics I couldn’t pass up. I just wonder how you would suggest I store them-I feel like they should be kept together but most people do separate by color….appreciate any suggestions – thanks!
I like to separate them not only by size but by color too. That way I have all the purple fat 1/4s together, all the blue fat 1/4s together, etc. With the tubs labeled that way, I know exactly which ones to pull out of my cupboard.
That’s a great idea – THANK YOU! I never thought of cutting up yardage to have various size pieces of fabrics at the ready…..I thought a ‘scrap’ quilt was one you should make using your scraps! 😂
Must be a ‘slow learner’ in my thinking about quilting processes & possibilities. I absolutely love your pattern Seaside Cottage. One of the prettiest scrappy quilts I’ve seen!
Thank you for sharing your ideas, etc with newbies and seasoned quilters alike!
I have many containers full of fat quarters mostly sorted by color of type of fabric.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Thanks for the great tutorial. Do you ever cut your smallest pieces up into squares, i.e., 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2, 1.5? That is what I do with mine. I just hate throwing anything away so I cut up squares and then I use them when I need those sizes. The drawback to this storage method is that you cannot strip piece many fabrics so I can really get quite a chain of squares trailing down the back of my machine.
Then, those scraps that are left are put into a bag and then our quilt guild uses those scraps to stuff dog and cat beds for the local humane society. Nothing wasted!
Hi! That’s a good idea to cut the small pieces into squares if you will use them. I do that with some leftovers and I also store scraps separated by color for applique. I love to use every thing up too, especially since fabric is so expensive.
That’s not a fabric stash ! That’s a few bits! And cutting it all into smaller pieces when you first buy it renders it more useless..you never know what size pieces you might need later for a quilt….
I agree. it’s just as easy to leave as yardage and cut what you need as needed
This is specifically for scrap quilting, which often uses fabrics that are 1/4 yard or less. If you are not a scrap quilter, then don’t do it.
Thank you for the great storage tips. By using your ideas, making choices & getting started is not so overwhelming. I am wondering if you have any suggestions for what to do with sewing machines that most stitches work but not all & it needs to go? Thanks
It depends on what you are using the machine for. If just straight stitching seams together still works, hang on to it as a back-up machine when you need it. If you often use the specialty stitches that do not work anymore and you really need them, it might be time to replace it.
Thank you so much, I never cut my material down to size. Your way allows yoy to see all the colors much better. I better get to work.
Thank you. This was helpful at just the right time! I have been working up the courage to attack my completely out-of-control pile of fabric left-overs from projects. You have given me a plan and made it look half-way possible!
I use CD towers from Ikea they are tall and adjustable shelves I used to store fat quarters and smaller in boxes piled on top of each other now I can see them as I walk into the room and use them.
Great ideas for efficient storage! This is way better then the boxes I currently use, thanks!
Before I cut my fabrics and irregular scrappy pieces into usable sizes I always cut off the selvages. I try to leave about 1/2″ of the fabric color attached. That way I have lots of colorful selvedge strips for many useful projects. I only separate the strips into a bin of christmasy colors and a bin of everything else. All of my selvedge projects are random so I just pull out a strip and start putting them together. Just an idea.