Fabric Organization

Happy 2012 to each and everyone of you, it is a new year and time to roll up our sleeves and make things happen in our studios, offices and homes.

Just before the New Year began I rolled up my sleeves and got busy in my own studio, refreshing it by re-organizing my studio fabrics and projects.  It all started with one of my favorite blogs, Pink Chalk Studio, Kathy Mack the author, started sorting all her fabric basics by color, which got me to thinking about my own fabrics and how they were sorted.  The whole thing got me moving on a massive re-organization of ALL of my fabrics and projects, not just my basics.  The project was so much bigger then I anticipated when I began it, wow, what was I thinking?!  It took a week due to the fact I had to stop and take down all my Christmas decorations, pack them up, take them to storage, re-organize the storage unit then clean the garage where they had been stored over the holidays.  Talk about another big project but I can say all the holiday decorations have a home and things are packed away until next year.

The prints are sorted by dominant color values, basics and holiday fabrics

I now have three cubes; these basics started the whole project.

Back to my fabric organization, it was a challenge since I mainly use prints in my work, lots and lots of prints which made it hard to figure out how to store them in an efficient manner.  I finally decided to sort by the dominant color values and types of fabrics; I did sort all my basics like dots, stripes, checks and solids by color and type.  I cannot get over how fantastic my fabric wall looks and how easy it is to find fabrics and their coordinates.  When I moved into the studio a year ago I pretty much just stuffed fabric into the shelves the best I could to get them out of boxes, but I really did not think too much about how they would work for me.  After being frustrated for so long it was finally time to do something about it.  The new fabric organization was put to the test yesterday, as my studio helper, Jolene and I brainstormed ideas for this year’s upcoming projects, it worked like a charm and I am very happy I put all the time and effort into cleaning it up.

This is only one of my fabric walls, there is another one not shown here, but you get the idea.  My project/cutting table is all cleared off, I plan to keep it that way, at least that's my best intention, we will see if I can do it all year long.

The only downside to the project was a badly sprained wrist from lifting too many fabric stacks and project boxes, one got away from me and took out my left wrist, darn it.  Oh well, I will just have to wait a week or two before I can tackle the 9 feet of storage closets in my studio, they are in much worse shape then the studio fabrics, during the move things got shoved into whatever nook and cranny was available at the time, those closets are a really big project which could take at least two weeks to complete.

In the meantime, I will start working on whatever projects my new wrist brace will allow.  Typing my blog is a real challenge so bear with me if it is a few days between posts while I allow it to heal, I will return full time as soon as I can.

Thanks for letting me share yet another adventure from my studio with you. I wish you and yours a Very Happy and Creative New Year.  See you soon,

Laurette

If you enjoyed reading this post you might also enjoy reading:

Organization Bug - December 2011 archives

Control That Clutter Parts 1, 2 & 3  - October 2011 archives

Paisley Crazy Room Makeover - October 2011 archives