Let me start by saying I LOVE GADGETS. Last year I was lucky enough to go to The International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas. Gadgets were on my list and I bought a number of them. Almost six months later and many are still sitting unused. But not my Swatch Buddies… not only have I used them but I have ordered more!
Swatch Buddies are little plastic cards on a steel ring that can be used to help you store and organise your fabric. Each plastic card has a label on which you can record the amount of a particular fabric in your stash, the designer and range and also the shop from which you bought it. On the other side you stick a little sample of the fabric, cut with pinking shears to avoid fraying. I learnt this the hard way; I was so keen to use them I couldn’t wait for my new Gingher Pinking Shears to arrive.
I now have four plastic storage containers with my large pieces of fabric. At first I had it all in there randomly but last weekend I sorted it by colour and then by length. Since I started using the Swatch Buddies I have used so much more of my ‘yardage’. It is now so easy to find pieces to throw together a backing without having to rummage through loads of fabric.
This is a must have gadget for those who love to be organised. Also if you are trying to match fabric for a project you can just take the swatches with you and they take up less room in your suitcase or handbag. The cards come in bundles of 12, 24 or 48, and you can also buy refill packs with stickers only. Visit www.swatchbuddies.com for more information.
I have three sample packs to give away – if you would like to win one, leave a comment on this article about how you store your fabric and you will go in the draw . All comments up to and including the 31st of October 2013 will entered into the draw.
I sort my fabrics by colour in piles on shelves and vow and declare that I won’t buy any more fabric but the use of it doesn’t balance the acquiring habit . I fossick at second hand shops and the material peices are all bargains.I keep hoping that the time to quilt increases.
Ann
This could be the answer. I go looking for mixers with a heap of fabrics in a ahopping bag in order to get the right colourway. Now all I would need is a sandwich bag!
I have a wall cupboard with glass doors for all those lovely fat quarters and small sizes. In colour groups of course! They make for a colourful display, although the cupboard is on loan only and needs to go back to the real owner soon. My big pieces are hanging on skirt hangers in the wardrobe. The Swatch Buddies seems great to take along to shops to ensure you keep your stash balanced and do not buy the same fabric twice.
My stash is sorted in several ways – hand dyed in a separate cupboard in colours and by shade. Commerical fabric a wardrobe in bins by colour and seperate bin for multicolour and separate bins for scraps by size. One day I will take the measurements of the wardrobe and go to the wardrobe organising people to order a designer system for fabric. Watch this space. Upcycled fabrics in plasic sacks in a storage hut with each sack labeled e.g – plaid from Burt Munro. mens dressing gowns, mens sports jackets. Following the filming of the Burt Munto Movie I was lucky to be asked to sort all the wardrobe and props ready for gifting and sale. What a treasure trove that was and what a lot of money was spent on old fabrics.
I have two sets of drawers (made for me by my husband) to hold my fabric.
I am not very orderly with the fabric. They are not sorted by colour or size. I have great plans about what I would like to do about it but it never happens. I’m too busy quilting.
I have a huge cupboard that has my stacks of cotton quilting weight fabric in colour order. Then one shelf has really big bits that I’m holding for backings, my handpainted/dyed silk organzas and a pile of hand-printed fabrics. My hand dyed cottons have migrated into my cotton stacks mixing in with my commercial prints. Oh, and then I have a few piles of fabrics destined for projects – like my indigos and taupes. Then I have a solids pile. Umm and I have a few piles of different fabrics, like knits, wools. Ok, I admit it…I’m not very organised, but I love rummaging through my piles to see what serendipity happens!