I am slowly working through the piles and piles of sewing "stuff" that has accumulated in our basement and I am hoping that by the end of Fall I will have a nice space to actually work in.

Problem #1- Right now I use the dining room to sew in because it has wonderful light and the large table but I am always dismantling eveything and stuffing into bins becuse the dining room is used at least twice a week for dinners with our senior relatives or when family comes for visits (about every other weekend). Our kids and siblings have moved to the "big city" 4 hrs away and we are the "Inn" with the "Revolving Door". The 2 spare bedrooms are not an option to use because we are the ones still living in town that family comes back to stay with when they are here.

It would be terrfic to have a space where I can just leave everything out, waiting for me to come back to it. It is frustrating looking in the bins to find my stuff to catch a bit of sewing time.

Problem #2 - OMG there is sooooo much to go through!!:shock: Not only do I have the things that I have purchased after 40 years of sewing/quilting but I have also inherited a "life time" of sewing stuff from my Mom and 4 Aunts when they moved out of their homes into retirement or nursing homes. Should have done some sorting all along but we have moved 4 relatives out of their homes each summer - one each summer for the past 4 years and I just haven't had time or energy and now I am drowning in "stuff"!

Solution - Ok I know some of "the stuff" has to go and I already have most of the good cottons sorted in bins according to colour and type of fabric. I love bins of all sizes and they seem to be so helpful for storage. I will downsize this more in a few months.

Goal for this week - I am sorting through miscellaneous "sewing" fabric that I will be donating to a charity group that makes dresses for girls in Central America and Africa - it will be a win-win situation and I think there will be a few fabric filled boxes to go along with lots of zippers and a variety of snaps.

Also, I am going to try to begin to organize the boxes of sewing machine attachments that I have inherited. Some go with the machines that I was given and some were just random boxes of parts that was mixed in with the sewing stuff when the moves occurred.

:) Thanks so much for posting a "Goal of the Week" thread!!! I am determined to get through this even though it could take many hours so that I can have a space to call my own! :)

costume girl...I thought I was reading all about me as I, too, am in a similar situation with the revolving door. Our closest is a half mile and a hill and the 5 Grands are in and out daily in the summer...wouldn't have that any other way.. :-)... the others are 5 hours and much further apart. When they come they spend a week, wouldn't have that any other way either...but it does change things doesn't it?

After sorting for my neighbor after she passed, I am on a mission to get my mess in order as well...wish us both luck...

oksewglad - LOL!! We can cheer each other on!! :)
I really do love having family here and I agree I wouldn't have it any other way! This weekend we had DS and DIL with a few of their friends and it was so much fun! Keeps us young!!

We are still in the process of clearing out a relative's house and then will be putting it up for sale - we were there this morning giving stuff to DS. DS asked me to please clear stuff out at home so that they will not have to go through what we have had to do these past 4 years.
LOL When I have the time, I am trying......no, LOL I will!! :)

I like this thread! I plan to store all non quilting things elsewhere. Somewhere more appropriate. I have a twin bed, crib (both in pieces), all the trappings for a nursery and a baby swing currently living in my sewing studio.

Love this idea. My sewing room can always use some organizing. Maybe I'll get my cutting board table organized. Right now about 1/3 of it is a pile of stuff.

Figuring out where and how my sewing/work station will be set up while I recuperate from knee replacement later this month. I anticipate being on this floor for another two months... Have been stuck here since late January...
Need to decide exactly what I will focus on.., could be making quilts for my DH, scrapbooking or just organizing pictures or scrap fabric (many totes worth) Could also focus on completing the quilting project I'm writing for 4-H...
So much to do...

I am trying to do a little organizing in my sewing area each day - at least 30 minutes but it usually turns into one hour, which in turn cuts out my time to work on my projects. However, I will say the organizing has helped a lot and not only makes me feel better, but it all looks better.

I will be going on a 4 day retreat the end of Sept. I want to organize the projects I will be taking with me. My goal is to have 3 projects pre-cut before I go. It is always hard to find time at the cutting stations during the retreat. If my projects are pre-cut, I will have more time to spend sewing. I actually have one of the projects already cut. Cutting out the other two will be my goal this week.
I actually would like to go ahead and pre-cut all projects that I have "waiting in line". That way when I have a spare few minutes I can grab a project and start sewing! But, baby steps first - we will see how my goal this week works out!
We should make this a weekly thread: My goal for the week of______.

While going through my "stuff" I found a couple other hobbies/crafts from the past; embroidery, crewel work and of course a few other sewing projects like some darning work. Last time I was in Michaels they had the scrapbook project boxes on sale for $3.99. I also saw at "Tuesday Morning" they had an inexpensive sewing machine carrier for $29.99. If I ever join a guild or go to a group sewing, I can put my irons and few other items in that carrier. My 6' table is still up so I put the project boxes on top and put a temp/sticky note label on each one for embroidery, etc. I just started sorting into the individual boxes. I have to tell you I got a lot done in 1 1/2 hours. Those boxes are 3" deep and really hold a lot. Hubby got me a couple battery operated led lights so I put one in each box. If I want to trace anything I can go to either box pull a pic or photo and begin tracing. These are all clear containers with lock snap closures and handles. Point is I got a lot sorted out. Also with each project I've put the different needles and hoops that are required for the different crafts into "dollar discount" zippered pencil bags. Patterns fit into the bottom and even a couple magazines into a manila envelope.

I went to the my Post Office and got 8 large priority mailing boxes, on every fold I cut them, with a box cutter...ot I get 12 same size boards out of one box, perfect to roll my fabric on and stand in a cabinet with glass doors....that makes 106 boards, so I went yesterday and got 8 more, cut them..now 212 boards, all free...I have my fabrics sorted by color in roll around carts...so getting those all rolled is my plan, if I don't have enough boards, I'll go get some more...pretty neat idea, I think....it's raining here in Texas, so good day to stay in and play....