I applaud you tremendously on your efforts and the changes you've made for your safety and enjoyment of sewing. I hope you enjoy your newly arranged sewing room much more now. Pat yourself on the back, too.

VERY similar story here, too. I too am disabled a have trouble walking, so after some recent tripping over table legs and other items and losing my balance trying to navigate narrow pathways in my sewing room I finally reached my "Popeye Moment" - I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more! :lol:

So, I'm in the process of doing exactly the same thing you've done, and yes, it's taking days to do it all. Besides safety issues in here, I had lost my creativity and joy in sewing because I had too many things in here, it was too cluttered and I felt like I couldn't even breathe. :(

I took out one 30 x 48" sewing table (still have one 30 x 60" sewing table in here now), two chairs, one tall 7 drawer rolly bin, and several other items. Instead of trying to have my room set up for at least two quilters (friend comes over occasionally but doesn't use the other sewing machine anymore, just hand sews), and have two or three of my machines always set up, I decided my safety and peace of mind were worth more.

I changed things that weren't working for me anymore and sat down and asked myself what would be the most important things for me to have in here? I know have the one large sewing table that I can set up two machines at for myself if I need to, the one large cutting table with storage underneath and a place for my ironing board, which I prefer over a small pad to iron on. I also have two 6' tall bookcases for books and pattern storage, my computer desk and a small bookcase for computer related items. My stash is in the small closet which DH kindly installed shelves from top to bottom.

My other portable sewing machines are stored on a shelf of my bookcases and now I can use my treadle to sew on instead of for a cutting mat surface. Yay! :thumbup:

My neighbor came over yesterday to check on my progress and gasped, dropped her jaw and said, "WOW!" What a compliment. :thumbup:

I read every one of your posts. Wheeeyou! What a relief! I am not the only one with disaster areas. You all give me courage. I might actually get things cleaned up enough in what is to be my "sewing room" to be able to move my cutting table and stacks of fabric from the living room. I might actually get the boxes I am mountian climbing over in the "sewing room" to be able to make it look like a "sewing room". Pictures? I don't think I am that brave yet.

I'm just glad to have one! Didn't do it for show, it's my work space, right! I love my little back bedroom studio & I don't care what anyone else thinks. DH comes in there, says, I don't know how you find anything, but most of the time, I can find exactly what I am looking for. I tell him the same thing about his studio, lol. I would say, just be happy you have one, & a room to call your own. I see so many on here who don't yet, so, we should be happy that we do!...

Ok I redid my quilting studio a year and a half ago. I love love love it now. Mine is the same size as yours. I have a full walk in closet that I can get into. it is full of fabric. I want to set up a scrap system so that will happen after the kitchen renovation. I know you know this but, empty that room. Save for the Ikea shelves or something similar. Then cull the stuff going in. As you organize. I use an island with a butcher block top and shelves on one side for my cutting table. I love it. But as you clean put all cutting supplies in one box all fabric in seperate boxes. Then fat quarters in another etc. What do you need by the machine, or for hand sewing. you may want a few file cabinets for patterns and magazines. See the wisdom of this. Maybe invite a few friends to help. But get the big furniture out you deserve your space use it well!
Luann

Jacquie, One way to get used to the quilt frame and feel good about quilting on it is, practice at least an hour a day. If that is too much then as long as you have time for. I did panto's with my short arm machine. Try them. Also use a white board with erasable pens to practice the stitching you want to do. It will imprint your brain. Also remember to breathe and think of the machine as a dance partner. Back straight and one, two, three breathe! Have fun!
Luann

I'm glad a lot of you are sewing in a small space. Like someone else above, I live in a small 1,000 sf condo. My bedroom also serves as my sewing room. I have a bunch of different storage items in there, and keep some of the overflow in a small closet in another room, and a few things in the basement (although I just recently moved all of my fabric upstairs because I didn't like the idea of storing it in the basement, which isn't finished). Wish I could take over part of the kitchen downstairs, but my Mom lives with me, and she's not having any of that (LOL)!!

I really appreciate all of your photos and great ideas.

my sewing room is also my bedroom, has a comfy chair, TV, dresser and what ever else. I do keep it somewhat organized. Yes, materials here and there. especially when working on projects as I am doing right now for a auction fundraiser. :)

Could it be a "gene? thing? I think my DNA is flawed. I notice that my office and desk at work "keeps spreading each day - more paper...

Then there are my usb drives and computer desktop, more files, more downloads....Not to mention my bookmarks and favorites.

I get involved in too many projects at once in too many locations. I have too many books, too many magazines....post it notes every where. Notes to myself--that I can't find.

And as I posted earlier this week, in my attempt to organize my sewing room, I started moving out of one to another room and now I have two rooms messed up. I run back and forth trying to remember where I have something - so much wasted time. I wear myself out.

It just has to be a DNA thing.

Me too! :lol:

My sewing room is in my guest room and at times can really get disorganized! But remember this - Einstein was a genious and they say he was extremely messy. After I clean up my sewing room it will look good for about 1 to 2 weeks and then it's back to being messy - but that's part of the creative process!

Ah, Dear friend, as you can see and read there are alot of people out there that have the same problem. I am now just about to have mine cleaned out and functionable and my daughters tell me that they want there own rooms. Which would pust me right out. I am thinking about moving down to the basement because it would be a lot cooler in the summer but then I have to get rid of a lot of stuff down there first. Talk about dilema

I've seen "A clean house is a sign of a broken sewing machine"....my sewing machine works fine, thank you![/quote]


Too funny. My sewing machine works just fine too!

Mine is smaller than yours...Y'know, if anybody does not have enough storage shelves to hold everything, it is going to be messy.

I have six ft tall, 10 inch deep book shelves around the room covering most of the wall space. It is amazing how much stuff dissappears into just one set of shelves. It is not that well organized, just up out of heaps into findable folded up groups.
I have two dropleaf tables in there, a small desk and a big 16 drawer chest for notions. There is a big roll of batting plus smaller bags full stacked behind the door. Truly the whole center of the room is clear, because my 24 baskets of stash are in in the closet. - in towers of four on rollers!

Can you take the bed apart stand the matress and frame on edge against the wall and use them for a design wall?

My sewing room is a disorganized mess - I clean it before I start a new quilt.

Oh! 11 x 11 did you say??! I Would Kill for 2 extra feet of space! Mine is 9x9 no closet, too much furniture.
Lucky Girl!

I know exactly how you feel. I have to sew in my dining room so have to keep everything "picked up". The rest is upstairs in a very small bedroom w/ a dbl bed and dresser in it. I would love to take down the bed and store it somewhere but my DH doesn't want me upstairs, so I am stuck.
Got that off my chest, now I feel better.

Is your fabric standing on end like books?
You perhaps can make and put in fastners to hold extra shelves?
Go to lowes or a lumber yard with one shelf as a pattern they can use as a guide for cutting new ones.

I moved 2 months ago, had boxes and totes labeled SEWING ROOM. But those that helped me to move took it upon themselves to put boxes anywhere they wanted. Now I have boxes in the basement storage area of the apartment building. Then on top of many boxes I can't see, I have no idea what's under them. Is it sewing, knitting, beading, kitchen, bedroom, living room? LOL. To top it all off, I could not lift any of them because I had injured my left shoulder and my right foot/leg, now I've had surgery on that shoulder. So...I have this crooked path into my sewing room. I have boxes to empty into my LARGE roll top desk, boxes and totes that need to be emptied into the desk AND put away more sewing items. Not to mention finding my UFO's. THEN... my new/used sewing machine arrived and I can't even lift it to play with it!

So I can relate to one having a total organized disaster!

Judi

So nice to know I am in such great company when it comes to my sewing room. I did clean out some this past weekend in anticipation of my great niece coming for the summer. She is 8 and wants to learn to quilt! So it was either clean out or risk losing her in the "stuff"! I am doing what so many of you recommended and trying to get rid of items I am not using and donate fabric, yarn, etc. Having some of that gone is helping me see the rest.

Guess what just got added to my sewing room..........a crib!!! Our new grandbaby (our first) is due Nov. 1st, and we happened across this good used crib (only 4 years old - meets all the safety standards) that was given to us. We want our home to be baby-friendly so that we will easily be able to look after the new little one when the need arises, so I suggested my sewing room as the place to put it. It's fine actually - it's motivating me to start sewing all kinds of things for the baby. But I have to squeeze between it and the wall to get to my stash. But I'm not complaining!! C9P

If my total knee was much better I would try cleaning up my sewing room...want to move a pair of stacked night stands to my bedroom and take my "doll house" cabinet into sewing room.

Hubby bought some shelving from a store going out of business for my fabric so I need to fold it on boards...have started doing some on foam core board cut to "size". I would like to free up some space to put a futon or daybed...maybe...or put up a cutting table...maybe...or...

I am impressed with everything you all have done. Thanks for sharing.

:thumbup:

I have been in much the same position for much of my life with kids & company. It seemed anyone coming over would be a setback to my organization & WIP's. My DH is a minimalist who likes the model home look...doesn't fit well with the quilter/artist; as someone said, "creativity is messy". As I've aged, I couldn't lift all those boxes back & forth each time I had to put things away; WHEELS to the rescue! I bought one of the rolling/folding carts (many are called "crates" instead) for my current WIP, & ended up buying 2 more (one for my machine, the other is organized with all my tools & notions). This has saved me greatly for the pain of moving things room to room & also means I'm half packed to go to a class. For those of you who have to move things room to room often, it might work for you too. At times I had to move things to an outbuilding, so having the handle, not just drawers on wheels was a necessity.
Sources:Office supply stores (Officemax, O'Depot, Staples-some as cheap as $20), I always use coupons.
Note these same things are sold as Teacher Carts or Scrapbooking & Sewing organizers @ $40-$80 (Fiskars has one) with a fabric/canvas sleeve over it. Most Ppl on this board should be able to make their own & customize it to their needs. Some have a hard plastic removable lid, & you can stack another box on top.
http://www.amazon.com/Olympia-85-010...f=pd_sim_hg_12 This one is $22.
http://www.amazon.com/dbest-00-011-T..._bxgy_hi_img_b With Lid $29.
My "dBest" brand with a lid has held up well. There are many brands & sizes of these; just read reviews for how well they hold up, if you plan to load them heavy.

Time to trade-up or down to a 1 story! I'm helping my mother @78 move this summer to a one story, God willing! She can't live in the bi-level any more with half of everything up & the other half down; & stairs either way when you come in the door. It is a terrible time to move though because of the housing/loan situation.
Hope you can find the time & room to make your quilting dreams come true.

Mine is smaller yet! It's in my bedroom. Beat that. lol :thumbup: :mrgreen:

Mine is smaller yet! It's in my bedroom. Beat that. lol :thumbup: :mrgreen: joann11

It is a continous work in progress. I went from having 1/2 a basement as my sewing area to a 10"X13" room. Got rid of a lot of things and really felt good about it!!!! I finally got all my fabrics folded and put on bookcase shelves along one wall. The fabric that didn't fit went into tubs that are sitting in the garage. I get it cleaned and then I buy more fabric or I start a project and it just goes to pieces again. I want to paint this summer so I can't get it too organized because it will be just torn apart again!

Where in Alabama are you? If we are close enough. I'll help you and you can help me. I'm just outside of Tuscaloosa.

I have our second bedroom as my sewing room. Not big and I have to skip and step on piles of fabrics. I have bundled them by colors and pile them on one side, but when I need a specific fabric, there goes the neat pile. My husband just shakes his head and close the door. You are not the only one, I'm sure many other quilters suffer from fabric clutter also.

I was going to use the boards for folding my fabric but I have found that if I fold my fabric in half lengthwise and fold it around my 6" ruler, it fits perfectly on my book case shelves. For my smaller pieces and fat quarters, I fold them around my 4" ruler. I can still see what I have. And I didn't incur any more cost! In the photo, this is just one of my 3 bookcases. Fabric is sorted by colors. The top shelf of this book case holds my FQ's and all my smaller pieces of fabric as well as my charm's and square sets.

I had a friend come over and "organize" my sewing room. It does look a little better but I have gone backward too. The piles are smaller though, and the furniture takes up a lot of room too. Have to make the excuses you know. Don't feel like the lone ranger, we do have to have fabric, machines, ironing board, and cutting table and zillions of scissors, rotary cutters, ect. LOL

Mine is the same, if not worse! I buy too much, but it is so tempting! My brain works faster than my hands! Just got back from a 2 day quilt shop hop and guess what!? More fabric and books. I can either spend all my time cleaning and sorting or actually make something! It does have to be done sometime though, or it just gets where you can't move! It doesn't take it long to get it that way either!

Ditto. I have the back portion of the basement and I've managed to leave a U shaped walking area. My DH also pointed out that I have also taken up most of one couch in the family room before my "sewing" area. Someone has to use it! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

My sil and I made a nice sewing room for me in the family room and when I went down to fix up a tastefully simple order for one of my clients when I picked up the box off the floor it was wet. Looked over here I had excess water on the floor soaked up in the carpet, traveled up the boards on the back of my shelving and my material was damp. Hopefully I can just stick it in the dryer for a few and it'll be okay. I was thinking I was lucky my sewing table was to high and my husband had to put a 4*4 under my pedal or I could have gotten shocked when I was down there sewing . I never wear shoes. So back to square one rooms a mess I cut up all the carpet dragged it out to the trash. now waiting for the big decision to re carpet or just put a couple of rugs down. Put everything up on blocks and pray it dosent get moldy

I'm way on the opposite side of the tornado streak in Huntsville.
I'm going to get back in there today. I love the 15 minute flylady idea - and think I'm going to do that - set the timer and work for 15 minutes and run with it. It does look loads better than it did a year ago.

I will say that if I don't make friends with that quilting machine I will sell it - or just use it as a sit down. I'm glad to have that flexibility. I'm just horrid at keeping the backs wrinkle free so I thought the frame would be my salvation... right now it is more of space hog lol.


I'm so glad that I posted this - it's great to have everyone come out of their messy craft closets lol.

Don't measure yourself against others. We all have to work with what we have, what makes us happy, and what makes us productive! :)

Definitely you're not alone. You should see mine. LOL

Ahhh sounds like mine. I was using the guest room (small) and the closet in there. Youngest son just moved back (split up) and now it goes back into my room. luckily I have a large bedroom and a corner window perfect to sit by. Moving stuff to day. Going under bed, in cabinets in bathroom etc etc. sigh...

I have one room that holds my quilting, my office and my cake decorating. I had my DGD come in and help me two weekends in a row and we did all of the fabric. We had a donate pile, a UFO pile and put back in by color pile. We also put on the top shelf that were hard to reach the special project fabrics ( chenile, velvet, silks for crazy quilts, etc since these were so large and heavy and the silks really don't like hand prints) and on we went on little cubby at a time. DGD loves to fold and put in the cubbys so we teamed it and took little snack breaks.. we had a yummy time with a shared movie at the end of each day. When the fabric was done I am afraid the rest was mine. Oh boy. So I started on the UFOs, only two left. They will be there awhile since it is now over 90 degrees and they are queen size. So I went on the the folded Christmas balls for a charity Christmas event. DGD and I knocked off about 40 and used up scads of Xmas fabrics -oh boy. What do I pick next? The crazy quilt. Here it is June, and I am on square 11. The only good thing is that you only work on a 12 x 12 inch square at a time so it is not hot, but this will take awhile so the quilt, office, cake, room straightening is put off once again. So you really are not alone.