Geri B

Looked at blog as suggested above...way to " pretty"..... I don't ribbon tie my fat quarters...do you? My sewing "room" is the unfinished part of the basement....outer walls are painted butter yellow...inner wall is pegboard for all my "stuff". Cutting table, ironing table, are all those folding type long tables from local box store.......fab stored on industrial shelving...a few pics on wall and lots of " stuff" in nooks and crannies......not pretty, but my world......

KalamaQuilts

don't be surprised if it takes awhile. It took me two weeks and my stash wasn't nearly that big.
I also agree with just doing the ruler fold, that would take 10 thousand boards, which just take up space.
and after the first 4-5 folds you won't need the ruler either.

I did mine about 5 years ago and it is still nice. Key is to put stuff back when finished

Jordan

What I would do is just dig in!! I would empty the whole room out and hopefully she has an empty room close and just put all fabrics, notions and furniture in the empty room and put things back in order. Put fabrics together that are colors the same or themed. It will take some time but it will be worth the time you take and your grandma will feel so less overwhelmed. Good Luck.

mary123

I would ruler fold the fabric also.
I got some comic boards, and some other boards to fold my fabric on.
I was happier with the other boards I got.
I think the comic boards are too little and flimsy compared to the other boards.
I like ruler folding fabric, esp. fabrics with a lot of yardage.
Good luck on the organizing process. Know your grandmother will be so glad for your help.

Mary73162

What is ruler folding? All my years, I've never heard of that! Thanks..

KalamaQuilts

I think I used an 8" ruler, but here is the technique
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/...h-folding.html

bonnie's cupboard is deep and narrow so she folds to suit her space.

The magic with ruler folding is you can see fat quarter sized fabric and yardage both in the stack, because it is all folded and stacked the same. No more digging just pull the stack, take out what you want and put stack back together.

Sew Krazy Girl

My suggestion: Clear off the table so you have a staging area; sort the cottons by color; separate the "whimsical" prints; use the ruler folding method; stack into the bins; view it as an adventure and have fun. Non usable fabrics should be donated.

Sewnoma

I do hope Grandma is on board with the reorganization. In my family, someone tried to "help get Grandma organized" with my Gran when she was getting older and slowing down and after repeatedly asking her to stop and leave Gran finally leveled a pistol at her to chase her out and it caused a huge uproar in the family.

(Later we found out it was not loaded, but still. Gran sure had a way of getting her point across!) But she (the cousin) should have known better, our Gran was a firecracker from start to finish in her life and was not about to be pushed around by anybody, for any reason, even if it's just done out of love. (And I do think my cousin only had good intentions, she's just a little short on 'listening skills' sometimes.)

So hopefully this Grandma is not actually as reluctant as it sort of sounds she might be, and is not packing heat!

quiltstringz

Ok - I have to say I don't know if I have time enough to piece myself out of that stash.
Do what the others have said and just pick a spot or a color to start with. One word of advice, when I was putting mine on comic book boards I measured everything before wrapping. I had hole punched near one top corner and puchased (office supply store) merchandising tags - I wrote the yardage on it and then slipped the sting on so that it tied (don't know how to explain that part but think once you see the tags you can figure it out). That way when I take anything off it I can decrease the yardage so I will always know how much is there. It is great I can tell right off the bat if there is enough yardage for the pattern without having to unwrap only to find out I am a half yard short.

I also would suggest when you are somewhere they have comic book boards you grab some more. That is going to take more than a couple of packages - you will be surprised at how fast they go.

Jingle

What a mess !!! You have some really great ideas. Have Gramma help fold and sort. If you work long hours everyday, you may get it done by August.