Monday, December 19, 2011

Art quilt storage cupboard

It's about time I share my quilt storage cupboard with you. Sometime ago I asked for suggestions from the SAQA membership on how to store my quilts. (Ideally, quilts are best stored flat or rolled, rather than folded, as the fibres of the fabric tend to deteriorate more quickly along folds). I got some very helpful responses, including this helpful article by Ellen Lindner and here's the quilt storage cupboard we came up with as a result. 

On one side of my studio, under the sloping ceilings I store all my quiltmaking and other sewing/craft supplies. We incorporated the quilt storage cupboard into the end of this storage unit. You can see it below on the left. Opening the (handle-less) doors, you see this (the right picture):
Well, actually, in front of those quilts I keep my roll of quilt batting. This is very handy as I can roll of as much as I need without removing the whole roll from the cupboard, just like in quilt shops!
The quilts are rolled onto cardboard rolls (two or three quilts per cylinder). Thick dowels are inserted into the cardboard cylinders and these rest in the notched MDF attached to the two sides if the cupboard. The large number of notches in the MDF gives me a lot of flexibility as to where I place the  quilt rolls and allows me to store many quilts here if necessary!
(For those who are wondering, the inside of this cupboard is a bit over 90cm deep, and 158cm wide),
(I attached the notched MDF, and in my naivete, never considered where the door hinges would go, so Phil had to hack a piece of MDF out).


8 comments:

Kit Lang said...

BRILLIANT!

Thanks for showing us!

Anonymous said...

That is really nice...I am not a very organized sewer.....but it is nice to be inspired!

Jenny Bowker said...

So clever - and I want one!

Margaret said...

Very nice! I am in particular awe of your own personal roll of batting...

Anonymous said...

Do you not worry that the acid in the cardboard rolls might discolor your quilts?

Ruth said...

Yes, I should wrap the cardboard rolls in some calico first - something I still have to get to!

Ellen Lindner said...

Awesome, Ruth! I'm so glad my article was helfpul. You've definitely improved upon my idea, and I'm more than a little envious of your set up.

Anonymous said...

wow! patent that!
Lisa