Sewing Shelves

My patchwork fabric collection had been housed in a two old suitcases and were somewhat organised - or so I thought.  After looking at some beautiful shelving systems on various sewing blogs I decided I needed something similar to those.  Unfortunately I'd rather spend my budget on fabric and notions so I came up with an alternative shelving unit.

 I spent a grand total of $4.50 on my shelves - and that was for screws.  The offcuts of wood were left by my in-laws in our garage and no piece was wider than 15cm.  After some fiddling with various lengths my H cut them for me and I was left to sand, drill, screw and paint.

Part way it looked like this:

 And by that time I was doing ok but realised that I should have:

• drilled each hole longer, so that the screws had plenty of room and there was less chance of the wood splitting - it did only a little.
• assemble it on a hard surface - not carpet!
• find clamps to hold it - if at all possible.

But despite each piece being a slightly different width than the others, (the two sides are the same) it has come up very well and is a great place to store fabric.  The paint was 'Colonial White' and was last used for a ladder project ten years ago. 

It was also a great project to show K what you can make with wood.  She loves the carpentry table at Playcentre but this was a chance to show her that even mum could make something!

So I have spent the last week ironing, folding, sorting and trimming through my collection of pieces for patchwork.  Anything too small to be folded went back in a suitcase.  It also helped me to realise what I did have plenty of and yes - there were some gaps.

The top shelf is sorted by colour.
The second shelf is by style (L to R):  Christmas; 30s reproduction; checks; stripes & spots; florals (have heaps of these); and then large eye-spy prints.
The third shelf is by designer:  Sweetwater; French General; a mix; Anni Downs & Bonnie and Camille; Amy Butler etc; and lots of Debbie Mumm (that shows you how old my collection is!)
The fourth by colour again.
Then the final layers have larger cuts of assorted fabrics - including more French General, 3 Sisters, Oliver + S, and a little of Heather Ross.

My larger cuts of yardage - for sewing clothes and quilt backings are stored in other boxes.