Tracking Fabric

I was reading at Quiltville's Open Studio (Facebook page) an inquiry by Vireya, about wanting to track how much fabric and thread she uses during 2019. Someone else posted a link to this site, In Color Order... from 2017, and I noticed similarities in my own tracking system, which I developed initially around 1999. I may have occasionally made reference to it in prior posts, but thought I'd share my system. Below is an image of how my own spreadsheet looks followed by an extensive detail of how it works. I've narrowed the columns in order to fit it in a screen grab and selected 'large'. I tried 'extra-large' and 'original' as size options but both extended too far beyond the Blogger-allowed space to view. I hope it opens large enough to see. If not, you'll have to visualize in your minds.

Disclaimer: I use standard features within Excel, pretty basic ones actually, but if you're not familiar with Excel, I won't be your teacher! You'll have to learn it by some other means; I had a few computer classes for my job back in the day, and that's been close to 25 years ago! Just clearing that up here at the beginning.

I'm not directly addressing Vireya's question/comments, and I would not expect anyone to utilize my system but if it is of interest to anyone and you think it would be helpful, please feel free to use and link back to this post. I also would not expect anyone who has been collecting fabric (like me) to go back into their stash and log in every fabric...unless you're one of those who likes to count beans along with me. It would be a lot of work, not to mention most people don't keep receipts like I do. But if you're just starting out, and find this appealing, go for it. Adjust it to what works for you, as simple or as complex as you like. 

If like Vireya, you just want to track a year, I can see that creating a blank sheet with any or all desired columns, and logging in as you use a fabric could work. I write about this just to show how I've been tracking my fabric for nearly 20 years. Feel free to ask questions if I'm confusing anywhere (I'm sure I can be!).

Column A: "#" I assign numbers to all my fabric. I allow four spaces plus I can use a decimal point. In Excel, you can add a comment within any cell. I add a comment in the primary cell for any given fabric notating which project I used that fabric in. Some have been used in many different quilts as the remaining pieces become strips, squares or other scraps.

comment within a cell, designated by the red triangle. Hovering over will make the cell pop up or you can right-click and select 'edit comment'.

Columns B and C: Date of Acquisition and Provider - should be pretty obvious. 

Columns D through G: "D" is the purchased length, before washing (I'm a fabric washer). This is not the place for short-cut or over-cut by the provider for length of fabric, or for shrinkage after washing. 
"E" is the width, selvedge/selvage (you decide how you spell it - I had old-school teachers who seem to have had British spelling habits) to selvedge/selvage. I can be lazy, so I haven't always measured this on yardage, and often use what I've found to be fairly typical with 42" as the norm. 
"F" is the square area of the fabric. In this cell I've placed a formula. This is a function within Excel that can be used if you know how to do it. Re-read my disclaimer. The basic math is D x E = F. Once a formula is in this cell (doesn't show except in the space where you might see a URL on a webpage - see, I don't even know all the terminology so how could I teach Excel?) you can drag the formula through every cell in that column and you don't actually type into it. Entering the length and width, Excel now does the calculation which shows up near-miraculously.
"G" is the approximate yardage equivalent. This column has a formula built into it which is the F ÷ by the number of square inches in a yard** = G. OK, a note here. The number of square inches in a yard is the length of one yard (36") x the width of one yard (42") which is 1512 square inches. Another disclaimer...I don't do metric - that's on you to figure out if you do. I also say 'approximate' because I don't measure perfectly all the time, and because my settings extend to two beyond the decimal which anything beyond that is rounded up or down by the formula & settings. And also, I don't change the 1512 square inch in the formula even if my yardage is actually a 36" x 36"  or 36" x 58" piece. My yardage equivalent is based on if the fabric were the fairly typical 42" width. I can't be bothered with changing it for a single cell here and there. The amounts in D through G are never changed - they stay the same forever. 

You will probably notice that there are some zeros in some of the D - G columns. In some cases these were fabrics which I obtained early on before I started my tracking sheets. Though I had kept most of my receipts from my purchases, I was not able to ascertain which fabric matched which purchase and my memory did little to assist. 

Others are because, and you'll note that there are the same numbers with a .1 or .2 after them, I may have made one purchase of several yards of fabric. It is a single line item. From that yardage and after using some of it, perhaps some full width piece remains along with smaller pieces, maybe a fat quarter, or a pieces that aren't full width. I don't again add it to the original amount because it's already included. Instead, I create a separate line, with the .1, .2, etc. placing zeros in the original columns and the dimensions of the piece(s) in the remaining columns, adding as many lines as needed to account for all pieces. Some of these will eventually be cut down to strips or squares for scrap quilts.

Columns H through K: These columns are handled exactly the same as D - G, except they do change as I use my fabric. Here also is where I'll put the actual size of fabric that was cut over/under or after shrinkage because the totals in columns J & K will let me know how much of that fabric I actually have. Helps when I'm following a pattern that calls for a yard of fabric and I only have a 35" length...could be a close call if I decide to use it.

Column L - N: "L" is straight-forward. The cost per yard paid. 
But, you can decide what you want to track (whether actual costs before or after any applied discounts) and if you have trouble remembering your decision, add a comment in the column header explaining your 'cost' as a reminder. I typically use what I actually paid for a fabric before taxes (we have state sales tax added to all purchases - it changes year to year thanks to voters and government). I'm more interested in what my hobby/craft is costing me, but some may care to have the higher value for insurance purposes, or some other reason only you might know.  It also helps with knowing the truer value of what the materials cost for a given project. 

If I was gifted or otherwise given the fabric, I usually don't put a cost in, or I might use $1 per yard, just to show it has value. The fabric I purchased at the Fain Yard Sale (see sample page)...I bought a huge box of scraps & yardage of mixed fabrics for a set price...I've no idea what it broke down to so entered as zero cost. I may have added a split-value elsewhere for a bigger piece of yardage from that purchase.

The formula in "M" simply multiplies the original yardage equivalent times the cost, whereas  "N" uses the remaining yardage equivalent times the cost. To help me keep them straight, I color-coded them and their respective columns.

Column O: Here is my designation for how the fabric was originally purchased, whether yardage (Y) i.e full-width by whatever length, fat quarters (FQ) ~18"x~22" purchased/received as such, or scraps (S) which typically were given to me rather than purchased.  I don't purchase pre-cuts aside from FQs so I have no designations for those things - do what fits best for you.

Column P: I mostly use shelves and bins. I try to group my yardage on the shelves with a specific way of folding keeping color families close together. Shelves usually house full-width yardage regardless of length up to but under 4 yards. Four-yards up to but under 5 yards are folded slightly differently but still shelved. Five yards and over are folded along the length and placed on hangers (just those with the cardboard tubing to prevent a crease) so that the selvedges then meet. Generally, anything that isn't a full width is folded and placed in bins. I will say, that sometimes things don't get done according to 'my own rules' and are out of place. Scraps are cut and cleaned up and placed in color-family small shoe box size bins. I wrote under the heading "Well, Looky Here" (with pictures) how I do this, though I don't use the open bins for the FQs now, and now all the yardage has been folded the same way. Going for consistency here for my system to work, but it seems there's may still be some minimal tweaking to do.

In this column, I've also started placing an indicator for when I have designated that fabric for a specific project though it may still be on the shelf. I make the same note on the form I pin to that fabric so I don't accidentally use it. Why keep it on the shelf at all as opposed to a project box? Because I may have bought considerably more than the amount for the project. My notes will tell me how much I might be able to use otherwise.

Column Q: Here's the fabric description, often taken from the selvedge, or if from JoAnn's the number from the receipt too. More recently I've started taking a photo of the bolt ends - much easier than writing them down since sometimes the cut is shorter and doesn't get the selvedge's description. I'm not really good at describing colors, like what's the difference between mustard, straw, dark cream, beige, tan, ecru - they all start jumbling, so I also keep a fabric swatch book with correlating fabric number and a 1 3/8" x 1 1/8" swatch glued in. I used Excel to make that sheet too, but use printed copies to put in a notebook.

and lastly,

Column R: I don't consistently use this; it usually extends beyond my screen size and I forget it's there. It's also a more recent addition, and a single word can be used in the front of the description in the same way. Such as: Solid: XYZ Fabrics, deep purple. Other descriptors: T-o-T, W-o-W, Batik, Christmas, Novelty, Children's, you get the idea.

You might also notice a couple lines where the print is grayed. This indicates there is no longer any of that fabric in my stash, except maybe the smallest of a scrap not worth logging. If you're wondering why my spreadsheet is high-lighted in all blue it's because a few years ago, I wanted to combine several sheets I had with different numbering designations. I had kept yardage, pieces, scraps and a couple other listings separately even if of the same fabric, but found that annoying and cumbersome, so began a revamp and clean-up of my stash closet, shelves, bins, drawers and the lists. I had to have two work-sheets open on my screen to compare, and used the high-light to designate which was done. I still have a few stragglers that I need to finish and the blue is easy on the eyes, so I've left it.

Initially, my numbering system was xxxx.x for yardage and FQ, and Pxxx.x for pieces, etc. I'm no longer using the P, but will not be converting the existing P #s to straight numbers. I also am still using Sxxx.xx for scraps, but am seriously reconsidering the smaller pieces of scraps and may give that portion over to non-OCD behaviour, living free of numbers.  My current numbers are at 1336.0, E64.2, J127.0, P293, and S649 indicating the number of different fabrics for each numbering code. The E and J numbers designated specific individuals/purposes of fabric and are no longer used but will not be changed to my standard numbering convention.  

You may say "Why spend so much time doing this, and for what purpose; I'd rather sew." And that's fine, as I said, this is my system; it helps me and calms me knowing what I have and where. It's a tracking method. We all create and work differently. Some are willy-nilly and others are more anal and both work great for that individual. So, if it, or any variation of it work for you for any purpose, whether for just a year, or for a lifetime, go for it...or don't :)



 

Itching to Change

Why do I get the itch to change things around when it's probably the least convenient time to do so?  You may recall that Marty ever-so-graciously worked hard to create my craft room in summer 2014.  That was only the construction side of things, and it's all well and good; I'm not wanting to make any changes to that...unless there was a way to add a half inch to the depth of my stash closet.  There isn't unless we remove the wallboard on the inner short wall - it's tempting!  I would not relish moving my entire stash out though in order to avoid the guaranteed dust from such a project.  Here's what prompts this thinking:

Just inside, to the right of the closet door is this space.  It measures 33.75" from the wall to the edge of the shelf boards.  It's perfect for my bins that hold fabric I don't put on the shelves, pieces not yardage.  Whenever I search for fabric to fulfill a scrap quilt need I have to wrestle these out one at a time and wrestle them back in when I'm done.  It's inconvenient, and it's hard on my aging back.  I need a better solution.  

With Marty once again unemployed, the solution needs to be inexpensive.  I thought, hmmm, there are two toy bin racks.  One I've been using out in the hallway under the mirror as a quilt rack, while utilizing the bins for projects and my FQs.  The other is still taking up space in Nick's room and I think he'd like it gone.

Bin added for visual effect.

I thought this might be a good solution if it could fit in that space.  So I measured it.  Wouldn't you know, it measures 34.25" in width...a HALF INCH too wide!  Oh sad faced me :( .  I thought, well, maybe we (meaning Marty) could remove one end and shorten the dowels, but instantly, I realized the bins would no longer fit if that were done.

Still standing in the closet contemplating what could be done, I thought maybe I could move the two lowest shelves to abut the wall on the other end and proceeded to measure that space which would allow the equal amount of open area on the other end. 

Only a little over 9".  Could be tight.  Not to mention I wouldn't be able to stack those small bins there any more.  I usually have four stacked and they fit perfectly though the lid will extend over the end of the shelf.

Unfortunately, it was clear that this would not work either.  The rack is inches deeper than that space would provide and additional space is required behind it to allow the bins to sit in correctly.  I suppose it's possible to notch the boards but I'd rather not.  But I might consider it.  Back to the drawing board.  Meanwhile,

I know, this looks a total mess, and it IS even by my standards - please ignore the dust as well.  Getting back to this room as a whole, my original intent as I planned it and before Marty did his work, was to have cabinetry along the entire wall where you see the shelf unit in the background.  About that time was Marty's first lay off, so cabinetry became nothing more than a past thought, and since we had this shelf 'thing', I used it.  

Some of our household furnishings have been scavenged from the neighborhood and back when I first became a stay-at-home-mom, this was one of those 'freebies'.  It's actually the hutch that would be atop a dining room buffet dating back to the 60s or 70s.  Over the years, it was just convenient to use it here and there and this is where it ended up.  I was recently reconsidering the cabinets but under current situation, it's a no-go until there's income.  However, I'm really tired of this cluttered mess.  The two drawered carts shown with stuff stacked all over them belong in the closet.  They're wheeled so that was their original place, but every time I needed to get to the bins in the first picture, I'd have to wheel them out.  The cart drawers are full and shallow, so can't be a substitute for the large bins.

I'm considering rearranging the rest of the furniture in this 9.5' x 10' space too, hoping to make it more functional and easier to navigate.  With a space this small, layout is very important, and I'm thinking it needs a better arrangement.  I'll be getting out my graph paper, tape measure, scissors and removable tape and this will keep me occupied for the rest of the day.

Well, Looky Here

I actually have something I can post about!  I know, I've been absent a lot.  Y'all will just have to bear with me on that, and I appreciate everyone who still stops in now and then, and especially those who leave comments, even if I don't get around to responding to your comment in a timely manner.

 Last week, my friend Essie called me and said she had something to bring over to me.  She had finally given up on her one quilt project that she bought a few years ago.  She had started it and it wasn't bad, but she was tired of it cluttering her space and she didn't feel she'd ever finish it.  The blocks were all very large with the smallest pieces being 3.5" square.  Upon examination and looking at what still needed to be done, I decided it would be best to deconstruct and then reconstruct.  It wasn't that what she had done was not okay, but I would have had to make my own seams large enough to match hers, and that just didn't gel with me.  I took photos of each of her blocks so that I would re-sew them with the same layout.  Below are just a couple of the blocks.

I have six blocks done and there are three more to do.  As the cutting was not precise, I had to draw stitching lines on almost each piece; some have very narrow seams, one in particular, I had to use some Stitch Witchery and a narrow strip of extra fabric to make it work without fearing it would tear out.  This project was from a kit, but she also had purchased and also passed on to me the fabric for the backing and a batting.  I was reading the batting label and notice it is a fusible batting.  I'd never heard of such a thing.  According to the instructions, you set your iron on wool and use bursts of steam to set the fusing and then can quilt by hand or machine without pinning.  Have you ever heard of that or used it? I would be interested in learning from the experience of others with this product.

My plan is to not only finish this as a flimsy, but to completely finish it and gift it back to her as my way of saying thank you, though this could never repay, for all that she has done to help me over the last few years.  She has come to my (and Nick's) rescue far more times than I can count.

Over the last couple weeks of being home, I have been reorganizing my stash closet.  I use the word, or variant thereof, "organize" quite loosely.  It's tidier than it was, and has a slightly new layout and a new way for how I fold and/or store fabric.  I'm not sure it's yet where I want it to be.

This is looking into the closet from the room itself.  The shelves visible on the left are not in the closet.  The closet has the shelves on the back wall, a rod and high shelf on the right with space below the rod for the tubs.  On the left side, barely visible are more shelves but they are shallower than the ones on the back wall.

On the rod I fold any lengths of fabric that are longer than four yards and hang on pants hangers.  I just grab the selvedge edge and fold along it until it's the size it needs to be to fit over the hanger roll.  This keeps most of them looking uniform, except for those oddball fabrics that happen to be more than the standard 42"-44" wide.  I also cover them with tissue paper.  Most of these have been purchased as backing fabrics, but some were given to me.

Above the rod is an open shelf where I fold and place - in no particular manner at this point - anything that is over three yards, but under four yards.

I didn't take a photo of the very uppermost shelf; it only has some oddball, rarely used non-fabric items.  Three shelves have yardage measuring over one yard, but less than three yards.  I use to fold them one way, and have not changed those that were folded thus, but newer or remeasured fabrics have been opened up to having been folded once down the middle with opposing selvedges lined up.  Then, I lay them on my table with the excess falling off the back, take my 6" x 24" ruler and lay it across, then start folding the fabric around the ruler.  When I reach the end, I slide the ruler out.  If the edge ends up in the middle, I grab the ends (selvedge on left, fold on right) and 'roll' it until the fabric edge meets even to the side.  Then I fold the fabric over itself so that it becomes approximately 6 x 11.  Because of all the layers, it will obviously always be more than 6".  You can see in the stacks those that are folded this way versus those that weren't. This way shows the fabric better than my old one when viewing from the end.  I use to do that "final" fold before using the ruler, which would be fine if I positioned the fabric upright - which I did until I ran out of space!  Stacks are more space efficient than lining up like a row of books or bolts of fabric.  I know some buy the comic book cardboards, but I feel, why go to that expense when this works just as well.

The two lower shelves hold (basically) full-width fabric that is less than one yard.  I fold it exactly the same way, but instead of using a 6" ruler, I use a 4" wide ruler.  My 4" ruler is only 14" long and I'd like to know if there's one longer; I searched on the internet but couldn't find one.  There's a bin there too for tossing fabrics I've pulled and not yet put away.  Notice it's empty :)

 By having the different folding techniques, I can know just by glancing what shelf or group of fabric to look in for what is called for in a pattern.  Each fabric has it's own unique number pinned to it and is detailed in an Excel spreadsheet.  A bit anal I know, but there are some areas of life, of which I just need to know what's what.

The deeper shelves do not extend the full width of the back of the closet, and I did not put the shallow shelves all the way to to the bottom because that would have restricted functionality of the closet.  So these project tubs fit perfectly as long as I stagger the lids above or below a shelf.

These tubs are still a bit contentious for me.  They hold pieces of fabric that generally are not full width.  I calculated the yardage by measuring the length x width then divided by 1512 (the number of square inches in a yard of fabric based on a 42" width).  Presently, I have bins designated .1-.29, .3-.49, .5-.69, and .7+.  Anything less than .1 yard is scrapped into strips or held in the scrap holding bin.  There is also a tub that holds just Christmas fabric, and one that has some odds and ends, such as panels, in it.  Tucked way back under the lower shelf is a smaller tub with plaids & homespuns.

On the shallow shelves, along with rulers and other odds and ends, are my containers that hold the fat quarters.  There are three of those containers.  They use to be my son's toy bins - re-purposed! and the rack that held them has become a quilt rack. Win-win.  Some of my FQs had multiples so I took plain white paper strips and bundled them together.  I still need to color or theme coordinate them.

And speaking of sorting by theme or color, my thoughts about fabric storage stashing go to what IS the best way to sort?  And I know there will probably be as many different ways as people who have stashes.  With what I have, I could keep all the colors together on the same shelf regardless of size (over yard and under a yard), so that when I'm looking for, let's say pink, it's all together.  There are those fabrics that don't easily lend themselves to any one color so if I put it with purple, it looks like it should be with green, and vice-versa.  There are 1930's repros - ok, those are easy, they're kept in a drawer in the bedroom just because that's where they've always been kept.  What about 1800s repros?  Or florals? Or western?  Or that color that when you put it with yellow looks orange or tan but then when you put it in one of those looks yellow?  Stashing fabrics can really drive one bonkers!  Especially if you have an extremely analytical mind :/   So what do YOU do?

Oh, and lest you think I forgot that today is Design Wall Monday, I'm linking up at Patchwork Times.

Essie's blocks

Brief 'No Photo' Post

It may be that I've been home for nearly three weeks, but I'm not sewing yet, so having nothing to blog about.  As much as the vertigo lets me, I've been re-organizing my fabric stash closet.  With all the purchases I brought home, things just weren't fitting right, and when I left in January, a lot of things just got shoved away after working on Grand Illusion.  I'm getting close-r.  It became a big project! 

I also had a friend drop by with a big bag in her hand and she said "I'm just never going to get this finished, so I thought I'd pass it on to someone who might enjoy having it."  In the bag was a quilt project she was working on over the last three or four years.  It appears she has most of the large blocks done.  I already have planned to finish it and gift it back to her as my way of saying THANK YOU for all that she has done to help with Nick during the past year when I've been gone so much and she was the one who came by and took him to school and brought him home every day when I was laid up with my broken foot a couple years ago.  I've really been wracking my brain to come up with something meaningful as a thank you, and now I have it :)  She has been an absolute angel and never, ever complains about helping.

When I'm done with my closet, I'll take some pix and share them.