Never mind quilting this morning I Must..
 

Never mind quilting this morning I Must clear off my cutting table. I can no longer even lay a small piece of fabric out because I have cluttered it so bad over the last few weeks. As I have been cutting pieces, threads and tools are all ending up at my feet. Larger pieces of fabric are being pushed to the sides along with markers, scissors, rotary cutters and rulers. Not to mention just "things" I put up here for ease while I am working. What never goes there is a cup of coffee or soda! In the meantime I must get all the "stuff" out of my cutting area. I must decide what to ditch.
The first thing I touched I am already having a problem deciding to keep or toss. A pattern for baby bibs for the recent charity quilting project I was doing. Now I am sure I have more than one but I have to decide when to stop with this project as I have gone a bit overboard with this over the last few months.
I imagine others here run into this same problem. We joke a lot about the housework falling apart when we are sewing/quilting. When do we call it quits and just dig in to find the 'space' again especially in our sewing area. There was a time when everything was put away at the end of the day. Now that I have gone beyond that point in my life I find that I get so involved I don't know that I should stop and straighten up. I can keep going into the middle of the night. Then I am to tired to straighten up and I start up in the morning all over again and the clutter builds up. Now I can barely find my wonderful cutting area. I won't show you a picture until after it is back in shape. How do others here handle it, on a day to day like I use to or let it build like I have been lately.

I have the same problem. I have packed my quilting room with so much stuff that it is hard to work in there. Yet I keep bringing in more fabric, more tools, and as a result I get less done. Time to straighten things up and make a plan to quilt more, buy less.

I seem to live in those shoes also. Just like you described it. Maybe it goes with many years of quilting. I do wish I was finishing faster. And using up my stash faster. But everything seems to have slowed down.

Julia, I'm having the same problem right now.
My specific problems are two: I don't put things away and I have too many projects going on at once.
I never learn.......... :)

Since my sewing room is my guest room, I only seem to clean up when someone is coming over. Occasionally, it will just get too messy and I will pick up between projects. I do get my sewing table cleaned off when I actually quilt.

I keep a large basket on my cutting table. I put all tools, rulers, and notions in there after I use them. I keep two bins under my cutting table. One I drop scrap pieces in as I cut to be culled for the bigger pieces later. The other I put the fabric I was cutting from in to be put up later. This keeps my cutting area neat and I know where everything is during a big cutting session. I keep a basket on my ironing station too. I seem to take scissors and such over to it a lot. My cut pieces I will sew are clipped together and then put in project baskets or boxes to take to machine or saved for later. My sewing friends are always saying how neat my sewing room looks but all it takes is a system and actually using the system. Without some order I get frustrated in all the clutter.

I have it a bit less that cleared right now but have to rest. I find myself running in circles! I am now trying to move things to the side that I cleared and that is not good! All Iwantto do is to be able to do some cutting!

What a great organization method! I really like the idea of the two baskets, tucked under the table.

I completely understand the issue with the cutting area. Pick up the items once and put it away. Telling myself to pay attention. LOL!

I am in the same boat! I have just finished a quilt and shipped it out. I will take one day and clean (Friday) and see how far I get and then organize my next project then to more cleaning if needed. A plan to start anyway.

thanks for sharing these tips, I need to implement something similar to keep my clutter in check.

I wish I could offer a lot of practical advice, but that would mean I'd have to do it myself!

Because I'm still working on getting my sewing room to be a better place for me and because I'm trying to get some extra steps in each day, I've moved my cutting area to my dining room table. That helps because I try to keep everything where I can just pick up the cutting mat and move it. But it is absolutely amazing how many rulers and other accoutrements add up, measuring tape, pins and safety pins and on and on...

I keep my fabric to the left on the back of a chair. I sit in the center. On the right is another chair, on the seat is my box I put my little scraps in, I sent those to a crumb quilter (you may have a designation of your own scrap box). The strips I'm keeping for my cutting go on the back of the chair, along with any 6.5" strips I cut for my own scrap box (I no longer save anything smaller than 6.5").

I make a project box for each project. Sometimes that is a washtub from the dollar store, sometimes it is a cardboard box. Sort of depends on the size of the project and the finished block size. When I start cutting subunits, they get counted and into the box they go. Again the scraps go into the box for the crumb quilter. Typically the project box is on top of the crumb box so the crumbs stay on the cutting board until subunits are completed.

When the large pieces of fabric are cut down into strips, they go back into the sewing room. I keep them together (typically in an open washtub so I can see them) until my project is ended so in case I need to go back they are handy, after that they go into their designated boxes.

Or at least that is how it is supposed to work...

Edit/PS: It helps to keep a trashcan handy for the little bits of fluff and trim. I deliberately don't so I get up and walk another 10 feet to the trashcan every few trims.

I feel your pain! I kept losing my rulers under stuff. Then I got those ruler racks (finished piece of board with slots in it). Those are right at the end of my worktable, so when I finish cutting and head to iron or sew, I slip the ruler back in it's slot. And I tend to stack my fabrics-in-use for the current quilt at the other end of the table. When the quilt I'm working on is all done, the fabrics get sorted, and put away. If I move on to another quilt without finishing the current one, then all the pieces get put into a see-through Art bin until I'm ready to pull it out again.

I assign a day of the week to clean and straighten up. Friday to get ready for the weekend. I dust and straighten and then vacuum to get ready for the next weeks projects. That way, I don't let it get overwhelming. I am too old to spend my time feeling like it is too much for me to do. My nerves won't take that and I refuse to feel like a slob.

Between my home, garden and other duties, it is all I can do to keep up sometimes. Know what I mean?

This sounds like a system I should adopt. My room is a cluttered mess, too, just like juliasb"s. Thanks for sharing this method.

My cutting table has cabinets below it and is closed in. Looks like a kitchen counter space. (that was the plan). The counter top was designed for my cutting area. All the cupboard space is filled with quilting supplies and paper crafting supplies, my other love, and fabrics. Fabric, fabric and more fabrics. If I put my mind to it I could probably make more quilting space in some of the lower cabinets. The only spot that is not full of sewing/quilting supplies is where my computer station is located and it frequently gets cluttered with seam rippers, thread pins, needles and other such things.

I clear my cutting table each time I need to cut more fabrics for another quilt. My counter top is a bit more messy. I do clear it off but, it ends messy again. I guess I need to do it more often.

When I worked in the corporate world , at one of their many meetings ,they said when cleaning your desktop , don't touch the same piece of paper twice . In other words , don't pick it up , ponder , and lay it back down thinking I'll deal with that later . Once you have it in your hand ,deal with it .

I am getting a new left knee on Thursday, so I will spend most of the morning clearing out a path to my sewing machine. I won't be able to drive for six weeks, but the joint replacement coordinator gave me permission to sew as long as I am careful not to bump my knee on the sewing machine desk. I have almost made a path wide enough, but I need to move some pillow forms out of the way and put a machine in a travel case then into the closet. I've already moved the bin holding the stabilizers and fusibles, but I Have to do something with a smaller machine that is blocking the path to another closet. I will definitely have a clean, neat sewing room when I am finished. Of course, I probably won't be able to find much "neat" stuff when I need it the most. Sigh!

I have no magic solutions either. But when any space, whether it is sewing room, bedroom, kitchen, living room or garage starts to bother me and my eyes see mess. I stop! Right when I realize the state of my space is awful and messy, I take time to clean up. Ten to fifteen minutes is more than enough time to "clean up the mess." I begin by putting away materials not needed for the project I have at hand. It start with large cuts of fabric, tools, then scraps. I put all of the materials for one project together. If multiple projects are going on, put all of the fabric, pattern or blocks together in a pile, a zip lock bag. Then into a bin of current projects. That will generally give me space to "breath" and I can concentrate on finishing one project before moving on to the next and the next.

I try, emphasis on try, to do a mini clean up at the end of each day or sewing session like many of you have mentioned. Creative minds tend to wander down rabbit trails creating. I honestly have started to gently tell myself to not have so many projects going on at the same time. Even forbidding myself from starting new projects. I have been mildly successful. If the good idea is still there in a few days, by then, I can pursue it. I like the feeling of creating so much, and I suspect the same with many of us, that I get caught up with new ideas, patterns and techniques too easily. The discipline of self-control seems to get hidden in my undisciplined piles of fabric and wonderful ideas. I do find my self-control more often now and that feels good too.

It is now time to clean up after myself so my current projects can get reorganized and finished.

Lately I've been buying a large fair share of fabric on line....but I have no place to put it all. So of course it's piled up on the cutting table, the side tables and anywhere that isn't the floor. Keep telling myself that I really don't need it, but it's so cute or pretty, or whatever. What I really need to do is have a quilters garage sale and get rid of so much stuff that I will never use. Then maybe my sewing room will be clean and I'll get my sewing mojo back again and can accomplish something!

I'm with WMU Teach. I'm working on finishing a project before beginning a new one. That isn't working with the quilt guild BOM, because the thing takes all year. So I am allowing myself to work on one other project as well. Getting distracted is easy for me, but really, how many more quilts do I need? Buying more is fabric is out unless it is to finish the project already in progress and there's nothing in the stash.

Good luck to all of us. I suspect there are a lot of us out there who have more fun with the creating than the cleaning.

Last winter I spent a long time cleaning out my sewing room and reorganizing. One of my promises to myself was to keep the cutting table clean. For the most part I have been good at that but just finished quilting 5 charity quilts and guess where they are sitting. Yep, need to check them for threads and mail them off.

I make it a point to clean my working surfaces after I complete a project. I get flustered over clutter so that is what keeps my sewing room useable, so that is what works for me.

I am a widow and live alone with my cat. I have a room in my basement where my fabric is stored and where I cut my fabric. I bought a great little cart at Aldi that has 2 laundry bags hanging under the top that is an ironing board. I use the laundry bags fir scraps and I keep it in my fabric room. I have continued to buy fabric until I am totally overwhelmed but would buy more today if a friend called and asked if I wanted to go to a QS. My cutting tables are hidden under fabric and I must go clean it soon. I sew upstairs in a bedroom I had for my late mother. This space stays pretty neat since I work on one project at a time. I have another iron and ironing board in this room. I need to stop shopping but it is so much fun and I so love fabric!

I know that many of us share your addiction! I have been doing my best with the fabric moratorium here. I fell off the wagon a week ago when I bought 140 yards of fabric. The good news in that was that I only spent $1.40, a penny a yard! The bad news is that I have no where to put it all so it is stacked under a cart in my sewing room where I can't even really see it to use it. That is the story of my sewing room, things everywhere! I did manage to find my cutting table yesterday however. I have done a wee bit of sewing this morning and getting ready to do some cutting here shortly. Sometimes I wish I had more space but then I would just fill that too.

My perspective.
Just finished a quilt I'd been struggling with for quite some time. What a relief to have it finished. The sewing mess was really getting on my nerves while I was battling with this quilt and now suddenly I'm not concerned about the mess. It will get picked up and put away.
Also, I realize now that I kept starting other projects either in frustration or avoidance of this quilt instead of facing it head on. So for me, the issue was not the sewing room at all, it was just the result of my angst.

Julia, yes many of us are in the same boat but honestly, how could you go wrong for 1 penny a yard? It would have haunted you :D

On another note: lately Mookie, my cat, runs into the sewing room as soon as he sees me going to it and immediately plops on my chair and won't budge! (can you tell who the boss is lol)

I had a houseful of kids and grandkids from the east and west coasts last week, which was wonderful, but because we needed the guest room the overflow went back into the sewing room. I had just finished a project that has haunted me for four years......yippee........so had a double mess to clean up. This week is quiet with my DH and son on RAGBRAI across Iowa, so I have been restoring order bit by bit, while I am working on putting together the Harry Potter quiltalong by Lorna on SewFreshQuilts. I, too, am having left knee replacement in a week so want to get this quilt at least to the sandwiching point as it is for Christmas. The laundry is finally done, I'm eating the leftovers and the dogs are not wanting for anything, so I'm heading out to lunch with a friend and then hitting the sewing room again. I am normally pretty organized with designated spots for everything, projects in individual bins or boxes etc. but I just have too much stuff in a rather small sewing room.

I am one of those messy persons. I can't work in my sewing room at the moment and need to get it cleaned and organized. I am not even sure if it was bigger that it would help. I went from a small one to a bigger room and still am having trouble being neat. I am glad I am not the only one.
Lynda

Well Juliasb I'm right there with you. I tend to not clean up til I have to - same for housework though too; it just takes away from the fun stuff. I DO wish I were more organized and better at keeping things neater and tidier. I sure wasn't raised that way.

I use an old island from our old house as my cutting table, I use a desk organizer to keep the cutters and other small things contained and I also use the basket under the cutting table to put scraps in. When it is full I cut them into usablw
pieces. I find that it works for me, but then I have problems with clutter, so I try to keep my areas cleaned up

I use the 2-gallon Ziploc bags to hold cut projects, including the pattern and extra fabric.

This is me, too. I use the bed as a design wall, and under the bed is storage for batting and yarn. Fabric is on shelves. I used to put my machine and ironing board/iron away when guests came, but don't do that any longer. Leaving almost no room for guests means they don't stay too long!

I think that people are born "messy" or "neat" - no matter how they are raised.

It may not look like it but I cleared it well enough to be able to cut again. I left room for my June Taylor's "Quilters Cut and Press ll" The bottom cupboards are filled with notions, tools and fabrics. The Upper cabinets are filled with fabrics. As you can see I keep rulers and other tools and a moments reach.

I let my scraps get out of control...decided I had to do something so I sorted then resorted and donated! I knew I would never get around to all the scrappy quilts I planned on doing. Now I keep a fleece bag by my table and scraps go in that, when full enough I sew it up and it goes to dog shelter... not feeling guilty about “wasting “ fabric.

Keeping organized is always a struggle but I need to keep things somewhat orderly or I get totally frustrated. I have two houses with totally different sewing set ups. The winter house has most everything quilting with a dresser full of folded fabrics, clear boxes of fabric scraps for applique or small projects and several project bags with things already started. More stuff means more room for mess. During the summer, I bring things to work on here at the cabin and use the guest room closet and dresser for my storage. I don't have a lot up here but things still get messy. Right now the cutting mat is on the dining room table and I just finished trimming my latest project. Time to put the mat away and finish up the project. Small space means I have to clean up more often.

Wow sounded like you were speaking to me. I have been sorting scraps. Talk about a mess😟. I am determined to use them. Nice to know many of us have same habits.