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Have you ever completely reorganized your organized studio?

Have you ever completely reorganized your organized studio?

Old 04-15-2015, 09:34 AM
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Default Have you ever completely reorganized your organized studio?

We have two homes. One which we are currently living in and one we will be living in when current home sells. Our new home is 350 miles from the current home. This living arrangement has been on going for about 3 years. We spend mostly scattered week ends and a few one week at a time 'vacations' at our new home. It's not convenient to go back and forth even though I'm retired. My husband is still working.

We have moved a tremendous amount of stash and sewing supplies to the new home and a lot of household furnishings. The problem with the new sewing studio is, no shelving in the closets. My husband is planning on making the shelves for me.

Meanwhile there are a lot of tubs of fabric sitting in the middle of my new studio.

I've stopped and started a lot of different ways of organizing in my years of quilting and stashing. I'm looking to streamline everything once things are settled for us.

I want to change how I fold and store fabric and think I'll go with Bonnie Hunters method of folding to fit the shelves. This will be a big help with the yardage; now, I have to move bundles to find whats hiding behind.

I have approx:

50 to 100 folded large bulky yardage pieces.

3 or 4 hundred pieces of fabric on comic book boards.

25 or more sterilite containers that are 15 x 11 1/2 x 6.

10 or more sterilite containers that are 15 x 11 1/2 x 3 1/4.

5 or more sterilite containers that are shoe box size.


With fabric in both places and the 'hunting to find' I feel everything with my once organized quilting life has become unraveled.

Any suggestions would be appreciated and thanks for a place to vent!
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Old 04-15-2015, 11:14 AM
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It may be driving you nuts but I would wait until your shelves are in. No use moving the fabric twice.
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Old 04-15-2015, 12:00 PM
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You are right Tartan. I'm definitely in a holding stage. All the fabric stored in the large tubs is temporary, usually I don't use tubs, but this was how it was moved. I also have a huge pile of scraps that have no home. All the containers are stacked on top of each other and they are full of fabric of different sizes and colors. I'm looking at ways to incorporate everything I have into a workable organized room. I'm really concerned with the fabric on the comic book boards. The shelves will be too deep to utilize the boards. I think it means refolding to fit the shelves. Man, just when you think you have it right, things change. But I am grateful for my new sewing studio!
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Old 04-15-2015, 09:12 PM
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I was in a situation where I was transforming a bedroom with 2 full closets into my sewing room. I took off the doors to the closets and needed to have shelves installed. While I waited for the shelves I folded the fabrics with the ruler method and placed them in tubs by category ie. flannel, 30's, solids etc. after the shelves were in I just took them out of the tubs and placed in the the order that I wanted. It is so easy to find what I need and it helps me return the fabric to the right place.
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Old 04-15-2015, 09:47 PM
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Thanks mamagrande, your reply gives me hope. My husband says the shelves will be at least 20" deep, so I've been folding a few pieces to fit that space. We'll be going to our new home in a couple of weeks, (I'm hoping it will be permanent, if not it'll just be another visit) so I"ll take what I've folded from here and begin the new method. I like your idea. What would we do without bins! I'll have this one full before we leave!

I'm glad your new space is working for you. It sounds wonderful to have a place for your fabric.
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Old 04-16-2015, 05:40 AM
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Wow Rhonda, I could have written that post! Our new home is about 1,000 miles away from our current home. I have been trying to get rid of things for the eventual permanent move to our second home. My husband is still working also and we have only had our second home for 3 months. I hope our situation does not go on for years. I have not taken anything quilting related to the new home yet although I am planning a trip with another quilter to stay at the house in late May. We plan to take our machines and some tables. I will leave that machine and table there so I can sew anytime my husband and I go there. I have two huge closets in my new sewing room and have to wait until my husband puts shelves in also. I may give it a try myself when I go with my friend the end of May. I just started cleaning my sewing room yesterday. It is slow going. I don't know how I accumulated so much. Most of my fabric is already folded on the same type of shelves I plan on installing in the new closets so I will just pack it in bins the way it is. Wishing you happy sewing days in your permanent home.
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Old 04-16-2015, 07:46 AM
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I'm in a similar situation - DH has been retired for 9 years tho, and I retire in November. We've been transitioning to a house 500 miles away for years, but we do spend our vacation time there. I can't wait for the final move to my new quilt/sewing rooms. I keep a good sewing machine there for whatever my current project is, and have been moving things like future projects I plan to do in retirement (fabric for charity quilts, quilt tops that need finished, hand sewing, etc).
Anyway, my fabric is on shelves that are 20" deep. I used cardboard from fabric bolts (like from Joann's) to wrap yardage on, and less than two yards of fabric are wrapped on smaller boards. So the taller bolts stand in back, shorter bolts stand in front, and there is still room to put fat quarters or other items in front of that. It's all sorted either by theme or color, and I think it looks somewhat organized. Hope that makes sense.
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Old 04-17-2015, 05:42 AM
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Don't envy you .. When we moved here (our retirement place), we decided to get rid of stuff. I did but hubs didn't. So I was stuck putting my material into tubs and tubs. Along with boxes of sewing items. We have a large 4 car garage-it sits behind the 2 car garage. So my portion of the garage is my now sewing room. We had boxes galore until he decided to get rid of stuff, and more stuff. Then his parents moved next door, so we have some<correction: alot of their stuff> of their stuff in our sheds as his mom doesn't like clutter at all. So If she cannot get into her garage, stuff goes over to our house.
Anyway .. back to matter at hand: I would fold to 18-19 inches, that will give you a bit of space on the shelves. Then by type, color (while folding by type).
Good luck in your move and HOPEFULLY you will get things sorted out ..
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Old 04-17-2015, 11:25 AM
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sw1902, thank you for your reply. Somehow it's just reassuring not to be the only one dealing with what seems to be an overwhelming task .. like moving! And...moving a quilters stash of all things! Like you, it's been a wake up call on how big of a stash I really do have. I have been able to let go of some of it, the stuff I just 'might use' has been given away to those who will use it. It sounds like you have a fun trip planned. Enjoy!

TinkerQuilts, Wow, kindred quilters on the move! I too, have stockpiled projects to do after the move and after my husband retires, and when everything is settled. Thanks for the ideas on organizing. And yes the suggestions did make sense.

Caswews, I picked up on the frustration you have had to deal with, man do I relate to not liking unorganized chaos. I hope things have gotten better for you. Thank you for your suggestions, they sound similar to what I have in mind. Thanks for your kind encouragement.
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Old 04-17-2015, 05:39 PM
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I had to pack up my sewing room a few years ago when we had water damage in our house. I spent lots of time in my basement, which took a big hit, planning where everything would go. It really gave me some time so get a handle on how I wanted to organize things. I'm really pleased with the way things turned out. I organized my fabric on comic book boards and put them on shelves. There are pictures of how I organized things on my profile page if you are interested.
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