Thursday, August 17, 2006

SBQ: Fabric storage

Since I am one of the people who contributed to this week's SBQ, I really don't have much to say. My fabric pieces are stored much like my overdyed flosses. Except they're not in ziploc gallon bags. They're in a big rubbermaid tub. They're only labeled if they are still in the original packages.

But did you see the most recent JCS? Martha Beth Lewis, the woman I love to hate, has an article--two parts, of course!--on stash storage. This month focuses on threads and fabric. (Next we turn to charts, tools, and kits.) So does she do her usual bloated best to inflate the section on fabric storage that I really want to know about? No. No, of course not.

She writes about two hundred words that amount to:
  • Try not to fold it
  • Iron it before you put it away
  • Sort it the way you browse it
  • Sew a piece of paper with thread count and color name on the fabric
  • Put it under the bed

Gee thanks. Sort it the way you browse it. I would have never thought of organizing things by thinking about how I use them. Two hundred words! There's a whole sidebar on how to wind a bobbin--I kid you not. Over two pages dedicated to storing floss. But the best she can do on fabric storage is to tell me to put it under the bed? Oh for the love of Christ. Somebody blow up Hoffman Headquarters.

7 comments:

Leah said...

heheheheeeee! You. Are. Hilarious. I love reading your blog!!

Glenna said...

LOL! First though, buy your fabric a mansion, have a really big bed custom-made, then store it under the bed. No, better yet. Buy your fabric an airline hanger. There! That should store it--kind of like Demi Moore buying her dolls a house to live in.

You're correct in eliminating the three designers you mentioned!

Darla said...

Oh, fer cryin' out loud! How can anyone take that woman seriously? All of my fabric is folded. In fact, I generally wash it before I put it away because I don't want the sizing left in it, but that's my quirk. Iron it before I put it away? When it's finished and given its final wash, sure; but before that? Don't hold your breath. All those little plastic bags, with the little paper or lightweight cardstock labels which may have been done on the computer (and so were printed) or were handwritten with whatever pen was handy inside with fabric type (Lugana), count, color, and approximate size on the label are in either a Rubbermaid container (those pieces that are for specific projects) or in a packing box left over from the last move (general fabric stash). "Browse" consists of digging among the little plastic bags (foodgrade zipper bags). "Sew a piece of paper" to the fabric? Yeah, right. Some pieces of fabric are marked with a Sharpie permanent marker on the selvage. Yes, I commit the sin of leaving the selvage attached to the rest of the piece. And my bed is an air-mattress on top of a 12-drawer pedestal, formerly the base of a waterbed. There ain't no "under the bed" even for dustbunnies!

Keep me laughing, Anna. I'm genuinely sorry we missed each other before you left SoCal.

Anonymous said...

I am so glad I have found your blog! You have become my afternoon pick up - I grab my cuppa hop on over to your blog and then literally spray my coffee over my PC screen whilst reading LOL! *note to self - keep cleaning products handy when reading Anna's blog!*

Thanks for brightening my day :)

Anonymous said...

That is so funny, great post!!

Kim said...

Thanks for this SBQ question! You have a lovely blog. Loved seeing your progress pics and reading what you have been doing. Keep up the great work!

~Kim~

Lelia said...

LOL :D Thanx for the review ... I can spend my JCS money on something else ...

You really are a gem -- maybe you should write a column for them on ... say ANYTHING