toverly

Well, you eat an elephant one fork at a time. I would just sit down to whatever is close and start folding. Once the larger pieces are folded, they will be easier to sort into colors. Or, another method may come to you as you work on it. But, be forewarned, if grandmother doesn't want it organized, it will end right back up to the way it is now. It happens so quick. It always reminds me of the line in the poem that goes, "something there is that doesn't love a wall". It doesn't love organized fabric either.

lindaschipper

Oh my gosh!! I would invest in large totes or laundry baskets to store a lot of that in....you can always label the totes as to color, or fabric type. Like the rest of us, she has more material than she will ever use....maybe a charity tote can be done also. Would love to help you with this, but I'm in Iowa.

quiltmom04

Oh, my! I'm sure it took a while to get in this state, but if you keep yourself focused ( Don't stop and match fabrics, etc.etc!) you'll get through it. I sort by colors and by size. Smaller than 1/4 yd gets put in the scrap section. Just fold and move on. If you get yourself all tied up in prefect folding or pressing (NO!) it will make the process longer, and you have to refold and press anyway when you use the fabric. Take pictures of the fabric along the way, so you know what's there, but don't waste too much time organizing them until you're done. Have fun! It will go faster than you think!

Quiltngolfer

I think I disagree with most here. If Grandma is still quilting, it will get just like this again. I think I would start like sorting clothes for laundry. Separate into piles of like colors. Separate quilting fabric from home dec fabric and others. Then make a white bin, red bin, blue bin, Christmas bin, Halloween bin, etc. Don't bother with folding it. This would make it easier for her to find what she has. The yardage I would fold and stack on those bookshelves by color. I bet Grandma would help and you could enjoy being together. You may run across some that she would be willing to get rid of. It would be sad to see you work so hard folding and go back 6 months later to the same scene. Good luck to you. You are a good granddaughter to help her with this.

Suz

Be careful of those teapots. They look to be more valuable than the stash. Otherwise, good luck. Show us pictures when you are finished. I am sure your grammy will appreciate your help.

Auntie V

If it was me I would first move as many of the cart type organizers out of the room just as they are for now. Then I would make a place on the floor to pile everything from those white wood shelf cubbies Once they are empty assign each one a color and start folding/sorting to them. Use the cubbies as your control center. If one fills up then move the full contents of that cubbie to another area even if you need to move it to a spare bed. Once you have that pile on the floor under control move to the wire cubbies and empty them the same way but now you have an area to place the folded fabric back into the room.

You might want to get a large box(es) to toss notions and goodies in till the fabric is tamed. Then you can empty and sort the notions. I would empty all of the cart things together then sort once.

Good luck and happy hunting

nunnyJo

my goodness, have fun

Wanabee Quiltin

I'm SO sorry for what I am about to say, but thank you for showing me how nice my sewing stash is ! You have such a big job ahead of you. I would sort by fabric content: cotton etc. Then I would sort by color. Empty several of the containers and put the fabric in them by color if they are cotton. I am wondering if you do all this work, will your grandmother maintain it ? I hate to see you do this work and then in a year, it looks just like it did this year. My own mother was not a cleaner/neat person and I am exactly the opposite. Each year when I visited her, I would work the whole time cleaning and getting rid of junk and come back the next year and all this new stuff would be there. She just wasn't into cleaning and having a neat house. Maybe Grandma is like my Mom ? Good Luck.

diamondee

I started with boards, then to save space I ruler folded with a 6 inch ruler width. Easy to count how much fabric is there by counting the folds, 6 folds is 1 yard of fabric.

Treasureit

Just wondering if your Grandma is overwhelmed or does she just not want you touching her stuff? The only reason I ask this is because of 2 experiences I have had.

One...my sister decided my parents needed things rearranged and made more available because they were in their 80s...she brought stuff up from the basement and found homes for it upstairs - however....since she is tall she put it on high shelves in the kitchen. My parents couldn't climb up to get it.

And my daughters and I decided to help my husband with a very very messy dirty garage for his birthday one year. He went on a weeks trip with our son and we spent every minute of it cleaning, organizing and rearranging the garage. Bought new cupboards, painted the floor, did everything we could....all the nails nuts and bolts had homes....you get the picture....today - it looks just like it used too.

My lesson learned is that - sometimes people are comfortable with it the way they have it.