sounds like everyone has made some progress! I've been concentrating on getting the books out of my art studio and putting them on shelves in my office. This will also be the new library area at least until I take the time to cull some of the books. I also took two large moveable carts full of finished paintings from a show I did 6 years ago and moved the carts and paintings up to the attic. They're still accessible should I decide I want to pull some of them out for another show, but they're no longer taking up room in my workspace- Yay! There is now room under my worktable for the plastic drawer units that I use to hold jewelry making stuff and also room for the two boxes that I used to organize my foam core and mailing supplies that I use and that had been stuffed into all different nooks and crannies that were a pain to get to. Moving all that stuff to under the table freed up the space in front of the bookshelves and now that the books are no longer in my art studio, those spaces on my bookshelves have been put to use holding all the bits that used to float around on whatever flat surface I wasn't using at the time. I still need to tackle my jeweler's bench, but that will have to wait a while as I really need to get back to the UFO on my design wall. I'm finally feeling creative after being in a dry spell all summer and I now actually have the space in my sewing studio to be able to work on things again!

Keep up the good work everyone!

Rob

Watson, could you show a picture of your organized fabric system? I'm curious especially about the boot bag.

Somebody please give me a shot of motivation to organize my sewing room closet. The rest of the room is in good shape--and part of me wants to keep it that way, but dejunking the closet tends to mean making a mess .

Zozee- is the closet set up in such a way that you could dejunk one shelf at a time rather than trying to do the whole thing at once?

Rob

Yes, it is. I ought to eat the elephant one bite at a time. The worst offenders Are the floors to the left and right of the shelves . Stuff is piled up like a Christmas sleigh and I can’t see what I have.

Why oh why do we let the floors pile up and then we can't get to the stuff on the shelves. I feel for you zo. I have horizontal spaces that get pile u and then the horizontal space is useless. Worked today til three, and had company when I got home...they just left after a spaghetti/corn/and salad supper. Time to put my feet up.

Looks like everyone is still hustling and focused on their organizing projects.

Connie...my heart hurt reading your updatE but at least you feel good about your decisions.

My home is about 6-8 weeks to completion....maybe sooner. They painted the interior this week and my lovely sewing room is now a cheery, light lemon color with white trim. We hired the mill worker contractor to build my sewing room furniture cuz I just couldn't find any that would work well in space. I have really big windows. Super excited to design my work space with them. Also, we bought a beautiful queen size Murphy bed for this room today, which I'll use as design board when not in use as I shared with you previously. So funny....when we were designing it at the shop, the guy said he makes a lot of these for quilter's who use them exactly as I am. Lol.. The walk-in closet for this room is fabulous. We had them build the shelves and closet organizer for this and I gave them an empty bolt board so they could make shelves tall enough. And, they mounted the hanging rods high for my quilts. I couldn't be more pleased with the amount of storage I will have. I can't wait to unpack my quilting boxes.. Lol.. I'll share pictures when I have better lighting inside house..

Thanks, Teen. I’m glad I went through those tubs. The jeans are gone but I still need to go to a donation place for other things that were in them.

Looking forward to your house pictures.

Not enough energy right now to organize more. I knew working 6.5 hour days would be tiring but I never expected my body to get so exhausted. It’s all worth it because I am working with special Ed resource 1st and 2nd graders (all boys) and, for the most part :), love interacting with them. 4 more weeks to go but I’m so blessed to have this opportunity.

Isn't amazing how working can sap our strength? I have a tough time working more than 2 days in a row! Been putting in a extra day a week since coworker moved out of town and that's cut into sewing time.

Still plodding away in the reorganization. Have all the batting scraps corralled....yeah! Bagged up a bunch to give to a group that sews for charity. I'm tired of piecing the scraps. I had pieced several pieces for the last 5 kid quilts. Time to let someone else have the fun! Gave myself a reward for working on UFO's by putting together a couple of little Halloween quilts.

Zozee, here are a couple of pictures....I couldn't get a good pic of the bootbag because it's hanging in my closet, but it is 10 compartments tall and really deep. Perfect for 2 1/2" strips. I got it for a couple of bucks at a charity shop.

I just stack my fabric...I don't have a huge stash...and scraps go in a drawer to be cut into 2 1/2" strips or strings and strings go in another drawer.

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Watson

Nice and neat, Watson!

have a pile of books and mags left from a sale. still recovering from shoulder surgery. dh moved a box of books by my chair so i can peruse them one last time. then out they go. that 2 empty shelves in the book cabinet.

i used to critize my dad for his "bone yard"; leftovers from jobs at his business. well it's come back to bite me.

Yeah my hubby used to be the auction sale guy n if he found something that he thought I could use in the sewing room it followed him home n usually was real cheap. I wore out a lot of the stuff he bought n I haven’t been to a sale all summer bc I thought I had enuf stuff. I need to have a quilting buddy that we can sew up a storm out in the studio

I'm doing fall cleaning and cleaning out the pantry, and some extra things I don't use. I've held onto them long enough, time to give them to someone else.

Ah, amyjo, you still are on the lookout for a QBuddy...surely one will come your way. It must be tough when you live in such a rural area.

Yes it is, but I know there is oneclose to me but she runs with the quilt police so she’s a no go for a buddy

Oh dear! Oh well some people are like that. I too live in a rural area, but not as sparsely populated as ND.

Today I want to tackle the work surface in my office. I have fallen behind on filing and shredding and have several weeks worth of layers stacked on top of each other. Shouldn’t take more than an hour to get it under control...

Rob

Today in between binding one quilt and piecing another, I’m going to try and get my scrap basket under control. i’ve been working on a quilt for granddaughter number 2’s 21 birthday and of course that means that I’m behind or organizing my scraps...

Anyone else doing any organizing today?

Rob

Wish I could...I work today and have a couple of projects for our guild Christmas party to do. Family celebrated Thanksgiving last weekend so will be a quiet day tomorrow and I plan to sew. Then early in the week go to stay with 2 teenage Grands while folks are on business trips. Hope the weather holds as it's a 5 hour drive one way.

I started a diary last January. I did accomplish 3 of the quilts I had planned but did not finish the UFO that I desperately need to finish. That quilt is 2 years in the making and I am struggling all the way with this one. The plan is to finish it this winter when I can't get outdoors when the snow is deep. I have a change in plans for this one that may make it much easier to finish. Time will tell. Like you I want to get at least one quilt ready for show. I won't be putting it in a quilt show but plan on entering it in the county fair. Lets hope I have a better plan this year than last.

I have been organizing the past few days. I sorted the 4 large bags of fabric that were given to me. I sorted by color and put them in their appropriate tubs. I also took another donation with small yardages from a friend and put them near their like colors and made sure I labeled the boxes because I can’t see through cardboard. Lol!


oksewglad: I’m glad you didn’t need to travel last night. We only got about 4” of snow but my son said it was heavy.

Well, I am moved in to my new home and I am loving my sewing studio. Everything is unpacked and organized in sewing room (and rest of house but priorities..lol). We hire a carpenter to build my workspace....not much and only in one corner of room... The Murphy bed we ordered will have a work table that lowers when not in use...It's queen size so a nice work table. My sewing table is a big portable table that can be easily folded and stored in walk-in closet when I need the Murphy bed for company. In the meantime, I'm still working on fabric baskets to finish up my large scrap organizing.... Here are the 2 I made this week....my scrap drawer is almost empty...just a couple more colors to go... I'll share pictures when room completed....

Teen, these are lovely and color themed to boot. What did you use for stabilizer? They stand up so nicely and will look great on open shelves. I have made some baskets to fit inside some plastic drawers and were made of some fabrics that fell out of "favor". But out of sight inside the drawers!

Teen-beautiful baskets and love how you color coordinated your baskets with the fabrics you store in them. Where did you get the pattern for these? Very interested.

Thank you!

Oksewglad.....I used regular batting but that is not what pattern says. They kept their shape so I'm good with using up scraps for these. Once you fill them with fabric they stand up and hold shape nicely, too. Overtime, if they begin to look bad, I'll do something different.

Jordan...I found a tutorial for these. Super easy and quick. I can't tell you how helpful it's been to search out fabrics/colors in my stash having these. Plus, they do look cute on a shelf.

https://blog.bernina.com/en/2015/09/...ons-for-quick/

Spent some time moving things around and reorganizing my Happy Place today - its amazing how easy small sewing rooms can turn into a big mess!

Its all for a good purpose though... making room for my Cutterpillar Glow Ultra LED cutting system! All of my 20+ year old cutting mats have seen better days and it was time to finally think about replacing them before retirement in a couple years. Had been eyeing the Cutterpillars for a while - but the 40% off sale this week made a lot of sense to me, so i went for it! Delivered this afternoon but i am thinking of putting it in a different place than planned - so now i gotta move things again!

April...I've never heard of a cutterpillar so I'm going to look it up. Congrats on finally getting something you've always wanted....and for getting your sewing area organized. Before I moved, I had a small sewing nook and my stuff took constant focus to stay neat and tidy enough to find anything. I so hear you!

Jordan.....I made this fabric basket tonight... I won't share anymore pics but I thought I'd make one and time myself. It took 1 1/2 hrs but I've made a few so add on another 30 mins for your first one....and another 30 mins to quilt it, which I'm not doing. Then...you'll be whipping them out too.

Those are really nice, Teen and congratulations on getting your sewing room up and running!

Rob

Teen your basket is marvelous!

I'm slowly working through my quilt books hoping to thin the pile just a wee bit before the holidays.

But mainly I'm organizing the bathroom and laundry room after extricating the mousey! :eek:

Teen, those are fabulous!! How clever to make them in the colors of your fq.
I can't wait to see your room!!!!!!!!! :)

When I started reading this I did not realize it started in Jan of 2019. What an amaziing amount of ideas. I am organizig my room because we just moved and I am just settling in. Plus a friend is going to start coming to my house each Tuesday to learn how to quilt so I need to look organized. But first! I am taking a nap after reading all of your comments.

Teen, I cannot wait to see photos of your new sewing space, especially the Murphy bed. DH and I are considering one for a spare bedroom. I also love your coordinating fabric baskets...I imagine your new sewing room will be so colorful.

I'm adding some borders on a top and will piece the back tomorrow. I need to wrap and finish the holiday decorating after that. Next year I'd like to really work on finishing up some.

I love the fabric baskets and want to make some for odds & ends.

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but I question if it is better to sort fabrics by light and dark first then sort by colour? Or sort by colour and then by light and dark. This is referring to fabric anywhere from small scraps fat quarters. Thanks for your opinions.

Depends what you mean by "lights" and "darks," as those terms are relative. A pale blue is dark compared to white, but light compared to navy. And if you're looking for a light blue, would you reach for a bin of lights or a bin of blues? I sort by color so that I don't have to make decisions about lights and darks. I have a bin called Whites, and it includes several white, creams, and other light neutrals.

Thanks for your comment, Zozee.

Sound reasoning, zo!

Not sure where all our posts from the past week and a half have gotten to. Just a reminder, we will be starting a new thread for 2020 tomorrow!