I have found that after cleaning and straightening the entire room you have 2 choices on how to keep it that way Option #1 =STAY OUT or Option#2 Take several Pictures to prove it was clean at one time :lol:

The dust bunnies have taken over, the dust is thick ( I save this for the garden-free soil), the kitchen is clean - that is where I entertain, soooo why worry about the rest of the house. he he

I have to keep my sewing room clean. It is small and if I have too much laying around I can't move. I try, sometimes I don't make it, to have just one project going at a time. Everything else is put away. Another reason I keep everything in it's place is my cat. My sewing room is her domain. If anything is laying around she thinks it is her cat toy.

A always clean sewing room is the sign of a person who does not quilt. Mine is always clean by the end of the day and the mess starts the next day again.

Look at it as creative genuis at work - have you ever seen pictures of Einstein's office? I'm lucky - my sewing room is my sewing room and I close the door if a "non-quilter" comes to visit. My family knows to enter at their own risk.

I keep it neat as I go. I usually organize the mess after I'm done sewing for the day. This way it is ready for me to start sewing again & I know where everything is and where I'm at in making my blocks etc. It works for me. Right now I just need to get my fabrics organized in a cabinet instead of all being in bins.

If you figure it out clue me in! Mine is the same way. I think part of the problem is that it is small and crammed with supplies and fabric :oops: :oops: :shock: :?:

I do quilting, embroidery and beading - your sewing room probably looks very neat compared to mine!!

I usually put things away in the evening when I stop working, however it really gets messy pretty quick once I get started in the morning. For some reason I can't get my scraps under control. The stack you see in the corner behind the ironing board is from the last 3 or 4 months. I know I did a major clean in January.

ditto! :)

Me too!!! Start with a clean room and then it tore up when working on a project. BUT-----I can still find everything I need!!!!! :roll:

Well, I tried a major clean up job the last few months...trouble is, now I have to search to find stuff. It does look better, but, I didn't label the containers.:(
What I found while cleaning was LOTS of unfinished projects. Guess my goal now is to finish them up.

I just try to keep each project in its own bag or bags. I love to get the bigger grocery bags and sew a stray block over the logos. I can't keep to only one project at a time. My mind gets too far ahead that way. And If if could remember moms old adage of a place for everything and everything in its place I might be able to clean up more often. Now if I can just figure out where toput everything and then find it again.

My sewing room has a door on it and when I know someone is coming or the door bell rings and I answer the door when I leave the room the door goes shut behind me. Nobody is the wiser that it doesn't look neat.

My sewing room might look like a mess to other people, but I know exactly where almost everything is in it. It gets cleaned out about every 6 months or so. Otherwise I'm ok with it.

That is so funny Hevemi!! My son would probably say,"you could put a match to it"!!!!

I have no answer to "how to keep a rooom neat when you are sewing a project.

If you figure that out you could probably make a lot of money selling a book on how to do it. lol.

Are you a quilter? Than what is your problem? If it ain't messy than you are fallen behind! Too many UFO huh Well if not their should be Cause when I finish a project I clean up than I start another one Stays pretty straight and still looks like a quilter lives here Good Luck

I'm just the opposite--chaos makes me crazy and unable to concentrate. I make sure that when I stop for the day I straighten everything up and then I have a neat workspace to return to the next time I'm ready to continue on the project. I may spend a few more minutes doing this but it sooths my soul and that makes the time worth spending.

I'm just the opposite--chaos makes me crazy and unable to concentrate. I make sure that when I stop for the day I straighten everything up and then I have a neat workspace to return to the next time I'm ready to continue on the project. I may spend a few more minutes doing this but it sooths my soul and that makes the time worth spending.

I keep double posting--sorry everyone!

Clean sewing room? Is that an oxy-moron?

lol

I'm with all the others....if there's a better way, we all need some help.

I start a new project with a nice, neat area. Within an hour, it looks like a tornado struck. It usually stays that way until the project is done. Then I clean up and start over. You should see it when I have several projects going at one time....YIKES!!!

Also, my cutting room is my son's bedroom so when he's home from college, I HAVE to clean it up so he can find his bed. :-)


Good Luck!

My sewing room is the same way. I also make a huge mess in the kitchen when I cook! I'm kind of famous for that in my family. :) For a big meal it seems like I use every bowl and every pan and most of the silverware.

I keep several plastic boxes at hand when I'm quilting: one for stuff I will need, one for tools,one for stuff in progress ( the block i'm working on, pieces that have been cut) one for stuff I'm done with (i.e., fabric Ive already cut out), one for completed stuff (a block that's finished), the trash can is near at hand as well. Nevertheless, my area is still a disaster! And totally, my kitchen is a mess when I cook.

I pick up after I sew and always leave the room neat. There are things sitting around, but neatly. I always hang my finished blocks on a skirt or pants hanger and hang it on the handle of the armoire. It makes sewing the next time easier. I know I am obsessed but I hate messy.

You're not messy. You're just a person who visually organizes everything in front of her. It's called virtual organization.

sorry charlie,join the club, but it is so much fun.quilting is cheaper then booze,drugs or a shrink, time to enjoy your art of quilting

When I'm working on a project the sewing room looks like a bomb went off. Piles here, bobbins and thread there, scissors around, seam ripper over there, scraps of paper with notes. The CD case and discs about or DVD case left somewhere. Threads all over the rug and table tops. This mess eventually gets out of hand and then I have to regroup, get more order, get tools together, get out the lint roller, run the mini vac. Eventually, it looks like chaos again, yet, somehow I know where everything is. I'm as happy as a clam with this routine :-D

My Dust Bunnies all have names they've been here so long

:D

HAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I just checked back to see what all the coments would be. Great of course. We have to remember this is not "a mess" but creativity at its best!

LET ME KNOW IT YOU FIND A SOLUTION. JUST PUT THINGS AWAY BECAUSE MY SON AND FAMILY EXPECTED FOR THE WEEKEND. HOWEVER JUST GOT A CALL AND THEY'RE NOT COMING AND TO THINK I WASTED A DAY.

as long as you can walk thru it , find everything you need and are able to sit at your sewing machine i would think it is organized!!!!

Wow, that is me too. It's just me and my kitty here so if it doesn't bother us, no one else has a right to complain. Takes too long to put everything away just to drag it all out again the next day.

It happens to us all - and other craftsmen and artists too,
The nature of constructing something involves moving around lots of bits and pieces, and interacting with them, and them with tools!
That is supposed to be messy, in order to have the tools and materials within easy hand reach...
my only advice, is vacuum or sweep the floor now and then!
It will make the whole space look neater than it really is!
Jeannie

if there weren't any mess...it wouldn;t be me

I clean and straighten my sewing room whenever I finish a quilt. However, when I'm working on one, you can't see the top of my cutting table or the top of the cabinet beside my machine. I just make sure I put my cutting tools up because of my grand daughter. She loves my sewing room!

I clean up as I go, putting up everything I will not use again real soon and clean up when you finish sewing. I can't work in a messy area.

...I think creative minds NEED a little disorganization.....
So go with the flow...and when you can no longer find your sewing machine, time to get out the leaf blower....uhhhh...organization skills.....

There are times when my sewing room looks like a crazy woman has been working in it. However, I have to clean up and put everything back in place otherwise I can't bear to go into my sewing room. I can't stand starting a new project in the mess of the previous one.

Right now my sewing room is tidy and my DH wanted to know where everything went. I told him back where it came from. I try to be as organised as I can and I do have a place for everything and make a habit of putting things back where they live as I like to spent time sewing and not looking for things. I have spent countless hours over the years organising my sewing room. This is not to say that there are times when something in particular can't be found.
I try to aim threads and fabric scaps at the bin to minimise mess on the floor and sweep the threads dropped before I leave the room.

For example:I have my machine embroidery threads filed in numerical order and each container is marked with the thread numbers. I use the colour card to choose the thread and then can go to the exact location and when I put them away, they go back into the rightful container so they can be readily found again.

I am sure there is no perfect system just whatever works for you.