Quilt Studio Workshop: Storage
July 1, 2009Quilt Studio is calling for posts on storage this month. I have a couple of ideas that have worked well in my studio to share with you. The first is a new fabric storage system and the second is a book shelf with a cutting/ironing table on top.
Last Christmas my husband gave me these wonderful drawers for my fabric. He got them at The Container Store. They are clear plastic sweater drawers and have dividers inside. So I just fold the fabric up to fit inside the dividers.
I like to keep my fabric organized by color to make finding what I need quicker. I use Joan Wolfrom’s 3-in-1 color tool to help with that. I separated all of the cards and slid one card into each divider at the front of the drawer. That way I can quickly look across the fronts of the drawers and find where the color I want *should* be. It takes a bit of discipline to keep the fabrics in their correct spots. But when it is all working right it makes finding the perfect fabric a breeze. And if I don’t have the right color, I take the card with me to the LQS to find it.
There is one problem with the drawers I have found. When I have one of the top drawers open it tends to want to tip forward from the weight of the drawer. This isn’t a problem with any of the lower drawers as they have the weight of the upper drawers on them to keep them in place. I just need to add weight to the top of the series of drawers to keep them stable. A counter top would be nice.
The second storage item I have to share is a book shelf that I have added a cutting/ironing table to the top. I posted about this table before but my dad helped me to alter it again to make it even more useful
As you can see the base is bookshelves, probably purchased at Target. To the top we added two pieces of plywood covered with batting and flannel. Between the two pieces of plywood are 1/2” spacers so there is a little slot to slide the cutting mat for storage.
And Viola! The cutting table becomes an ironing table.
The top easily unscrews so I can recover it when the flannel gets… dirty.
Thanks for reading!
Deb Geyer, Quilter 
Oh my word Deb – this is fantastic! I love organization and your (husband's) solution for fabric storage is ingenius! What a wonderful post. I absolutely loved the last photo. It's a relief to know you ARE human after all.
I love that bookshelf/cutting board/ironing board combination. Hmmmm…I wonder if my husband has any plans for the weekend? LOL!
Woman,are you organized! I really like the fabric system. If I did something like that my husband would think I was completely OCD. But when you are searching for the correct fabric in bins and drawers, your system would save all kinds of hassles. The cutting table looks like something that I must have. Thanks for all the ideas.
I definitely agree that the space under ironing boards is wasted. I have thought to do something similiar but haven't done it. Nice bins!
Wow! You are amazing. The bookshelf idea is something I might borrow.
Man, are you ever organized! What a lovely collection of fabric!
That's an amazing fabric organizing system. I also store fabric by color, and it does come in handy.I also love your big ironing surface. I would like one of those.