Fat Quarter Friday {paint chip and fabric swatch organizer tutorial}

I am so glad that so many of you have shown interest in my little paint chip & fabric swatch organizer. I knew I was not the only one who was crazy enough to carry all of their decorating swatches with them everywhere they go. Even though I made this little book with the intent of getting my paint chips and fabric swatches organized the reality of it is that this little book could be used for so many other purposes as well. Honestly, the uses are endless!Materials Needed:

*1 box of quart-sized freezer bags (I bought mine at the dollar store. I liked that they were completely plain unlike the Ziploc brand that have little squares to write on.) My bags measured 8″ x 7″

*Two pieces of fabric (one interior print and one exterior print) and one piece of batting cut 14″ x 9″ (main part of book)

* Two pieces of fabric (interior print) and one piece of batting cut 12″ x 3″ (flap closure)

**Use a 1/2″ sew seam**Start off by measuring your baggies. Mine measure 8″ x 7″. Gather as many baggies as you would like to have in your book. I put 12 in my book. One for each room and then two extra baggies for outside projects. Try and line up all of your baggies evenly. Pin the non-zippered side together with a few pins. Pin it as close to the edge as possible. You don’t want a hole in your baggie where you are going to be storing your swatches.Now measure 3″ in from the edge on the non-zippered side. Draw a line horizontally. Sew right on top of that line. Trim baggie about 1/4″ away from stitching on the non-zippered side.Gather your larger pieces of fabric and batting.Layer fabrics and batting like so. Batting on bottom, exterior fabric right side up, then interior fabric wrong side up. Pin together.Sew all sides while leaving a 2″ opening for turning right side out. Square off edges and trim. Pull right side out through opening. Iron flat. Top stitch around all edges. Make sure you stitch your opening closed when you are top stitching.Now gather your 12″ x 3″ pieces of fabric and batting.Layer fabrics like so: Batting on bottom then fabrics on top of each other with right sides facing. Pin along sides and one end. Sew three sides. Turn right side out through open edge. Iron flat. Fold your book piece of half. Iron on folded edge. Now place the cut end of your baggies into the crease that you just made when you ironed. Carefully pin the baggies in place right at the seam of the book. Be careful not to go too far in. You don’t want to poke holes in the pages of the book.Double stitch baggies in place on the folded edge of book. Now take your flap piece and pin it like in the picture below. Make sure you fold the unfinished edge under about 2-3″ when your pinning in place.Stitch all around flap and onto the book.Now add a snap, button, or Velcro. And there you have it, a cute little book to hold all of your paint chips and fabric swatches!Now gather all of your paint chips and swatches and get organizing. To label each baggie all I did was type up the name of each room on my computer and printed them off onto card stock. Then I used scotched tape to tape the labels onto the baggies. Of course you could use a label maker as well if you have one. Now each room has its own spot for holding paint chips and fabric swatches…and whatever else you want to include.Don’t you just love getting organized?Finished book size is about 8″ x 6 1/2″.

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