I made the decision today that I am getting rid of hopefully half of my stash. I have no room and get no sewing done because I am always rummaging around looking for something. Hopefully I can put my projects I want to do in some sort of kits . I have at least 10 projects that I have all the items I need to complete them. Soooo it is gonna be hard but I can sure use the money and I know I will feel better about things when I get it all together.

You most certainly are not the only one. I have a sewing room in my house-stacked on shelves from floor to ceiling. There are two cutting tables yet I have to sew in the living room. I also have a lil' house next to carport with a quilting machine in it. Have had it for 3/4 years and quilted only one piece on. House contains fabric===== I am naturally a "pack-rat: and what I pack is fabric and notions. I just finished a king size quilt top consisting of 5" triangle squares=100 squares. I used only fabric I have fallen out of love with - lo and behold- I really like it and hope to finish it for latest g=grands0n (1 yr.) before he graduates from college.

That was my goal organize my entire house when I retired. Well it will be a year at the end of April. I keep pulling stuff out my hubby has made so many trips Sal. Army that he is on a 1st name basis. But the sewing room is still a mess, My son is very upset that we put cartons on his deck while he is at work. He is the one that told us to get rid of stuff it was "his stuff"!! Good luck it is so nice to quilt all day instead of going to work. Everyday is like vacation. Enjoy life.

I find see through plastic containers are a big help. I have lots of denim from cutting blue jeans down they go into a big container... Then I have a smaller size and one smaller that it. really 3 sizes, I can see through all of them, So it is easy to put material in and out of. I am a neat freek re: rulers and such. I have a small can from the dollar store that cheetoes came in. I stick rulers and such in there and can see at a glance. My biggest asset is my see through sterlites (sp) could not live without them, great stakables and take little space. But I also do not have a whole wall of materials. YIKES no place to stash it haha... Misty, Good luck on on getting organized. (((hugs)))

Buy some of those canvas sided bins to put the stuff in on your shelves. You can't see through them and they can hide a multitude of sins. They will make it seems more uniform and organized and hide the clutter until you have the time to sort the bins. In the dining room one of those rolling organizers would work. A drawer for thread, and use the big drawer on the bottom for the fabric. I got one at Office Max that has a fake looking granite top, that you could put a cutting mat on or a ironing pad.

Hi Misty: I feel your unorganized pain. I have always been very organized but since I retired, I don't feel pressured to keep everything neat. But I work better when I do. I was a military wife for 21 years and managed everything when my husband was deployed. What I learned over the years of raising children, general house duties, being an RN, taking classes and teaching school was that I was a strong woman, became self-reliant, my own individual and not just an extension of my husband. You are a strong woman because they are the only ones that can handle the kind of situation you are in. Work on your sewing room slowly and part with what is not absolutely needed and/or used. Knowing what you do on a daily basis, you most likely need a rest. Maybe take a Friday off and go to a day spa and have a "me" day... or maybe your Mother could look after your children for a day or two and give you a break. Sometimes we just don't stop and rest for a while...
God bless and I know you can do it...

You're not over your head with this. Just step back and look at the situation the same way a professional organizer would. If you need help,pull in some friends.I helped my mom organize her fabric rooms and supply drawers.First I got clear bins and started seperating the supplies and fabrics in the right bins. The rest was easy.

Hi I have a friend who is oh so organized and aked her to help. She seemed delighted to be asked and between her, a couple of others, and me pulling out stuff to organize, we pout it together in two days. I gave some poor choices of fabric away to charity, and sorted by colors, put it in see through plastic boxes and stored them in an armoire. It still gets a little messy at times but is not overwhelming me. I am handicapped and not good at being able to put things away, great at taking things out though. LOL Think about asking for help.

I think I solved my clutter problem when I moved into a 4 room apartment. My bathroom floor (that is where I sew) is covered with bits and pieces every day I sew. I try to drop them into the waste basket but I'm not a basket ball player, so I fail miserably. To solve this problem at the end of the day, I use a dustpan and it's attached brush to clean up. Push the sewing machine on its "typewriter table" into the corner in front of the linen closet. I'm slowly de-stashing. So far, so good, had 4 shelves of stash and now have 2 plus some in a plastic tote can. I do lots of searching when I'm ready to make something. I do most of my cutting in the Living Room (I don't watch TV) I listen to Easy Living music. My bed is a display ???table??? where I lay out a pattern, I've just drawn or when I lay out blocks getting ready to make a top out of blocks found in my stash. Then there is the entry way between the kitchen and a coat closet (thats where I keep my ironing board and iron).
When I iron, I pull it out of the coat closet, set it up in the entry way where I need to skirt around it to get into the kitchen, the coat closet and go out the door. I decided just today to get a portable ironing board as it will fit over the vanity in the bathroom.

Oh, by the way, I use my office desk which is for the computer in the Living Room for a sewing chair. When the sewing machine and the chair are both in use in the bathroom, to get to the toilet, I have to move both. I just pray it is not an emergency.

So don't cry over your quilting clutter, mine is worse.

Here I am again. I used to spend hours looking for things I needed, not just sewing things,but anything I needed. I solved the sewing looking situation by using a suitcase with pockets on the outside. Thing I'm working on, embroidery floss, needles, pins, scissors, thimbles and anything else that pertains to sewing, especially quilting.

The motivation for this was when I couldn't find a Hobby Lobby $19.00 package of embroidery floss which I needed that day at club.

Did I hear somebody say "Need is the mother of inventions" ?