Originally Posted by karenpatrick

How did you find out who to send you UFOs and fabrics to? It's such a good idea. You're a genius to think of this. I give a lot to homeless shelters, etc. My special place to donate stuff is to families who have lost everything due to fires, floods or storms.

Originally Posted by Pamela Artman

I have become very organized over the years and having my sewing room organized has brought me so much pleasure! I'm working on a friend's sewing room now and I've been told I should hire myself out to organize sewing rooms. Boy, I would LOVE that as a career! Set aside time every day to work on organizing and do a little at a time. But stick to it! Here's how I keep organized. I started buying plastic project cases (ArtBin flat boxes with handles) one at a time, every week with a JoAnn's coupon or a few when they'd have 50% off plastic storage. These stack nicely and I use them for all my UFOs. I have 18 of these and believe me, they are all full! I can grab one and take it with me when I travel or sew with friends. Next, I bought clear plastic drawers that stack for all my fabric scraps that are cut into different size strips and squares. I have three sets of three drawers, so nine drawers of scraps. Cutting my scraps took a long time, but I kept a basket on my cutting table and cut a few every day. Next, I stole a wire shelf from my bathroom that holds baskets and all those odds and ends go in the baskets. I have a basket of zippers, men's ties for a future quilt, orphan blocks leftover from other projects, etc. Also, I bought a canvas hanging shelf that hangs in the closet from the rod that also holds misc. items. I use lots of zip lock bags for small or loose things. I have a small plastic drawer set on my sewing machine cabinet that holds pens and pencils, tape measures, my bobbin box, post-it notes, pins, snips, etc. - small things that I use all the time. I use a lot of plastic baskets on every surface for things that I use there, like one on my cutting table for my rotary cutters, one for small scraps as I cut, one on my sewing machine cabinet for small squares or triangles that I use as leaders and enders (which makes another quilt as I sew on other projects.) I have three tall bookcases, one for quilt books, two for fabric. I have all my patterns that I've pulled from magazines over the years, inspiration pictures, etc. in page protectors and put in large 3-ring binders, filed by type (baby quilts, stars, curved, log cabin, 9-patch, 4-patch, etc.) My fabric is sorted by style first, (homespuns, 30's, civil war, florals, borders, baby, flannel, batiks, xmas, etc.) and the rest by color. All are folded to the same size, stacked on shelves. I have a separate small shelf that hangs on the wall for my fat quarters. I keep batting, ironing board, my travel case for my sewing machine, hoops, etc. in a closet. And I keep a tv tray next to my sewing machine cabinet to hold my radio and stuff for my current project. The most important thing for me is having a place for everything, using plastic baskets, boxes and drawers so I can see everything and I know exactly where to find things. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Michellesews

I began by using Bonnie Hunters Scrap system, which can be found on her website, quiltville.com. It was a start.
The the larger pieces, 2 yards and up. This is my own invention. I took a 12" x 6" ruler and I folded the fabric selvages together and then in thirds. I used the ruler to fold it over and over. This goes on its side in a drawer and by counting each 12" fold, I know how much fabric is there without taking it out and making a mess only to find out it is not enough or what I need.
Michelle G. in El Paso