This week I'm taking all my scraps out of two tall laundry hampers and cutting them into 1 1/2" strips to make mini quilts and or strip quilts. It's taking forever as they have to be ironed before cutting. Then I will separate them by color and store in see thru drawers. Will make my mini quilt making so much faster.

I am a list maker! Two years ago I joined a “slash your stash” club and the #1 best thing that happened was I got organized. Now I really love to be in my sewing room. I have used a lot of fabrics I have had for a while and I have donated those I will probably never use. January is my donation month and I make quilts from my scraps. I have been making 2 1/2” strips from leftover and I now do that when I have completed the quilt. I am not overwhelmed like years past. Happy sewing here.��

May I suggest a spritz of starch before you press? (I make my own 1:2 ratio with Sta-Flo) and let it dry before you press. They can dry while you are color sorting others. Starch helps when working with the smaller pieces. I place the scraps on a large plastic lid...think tote size..and sprtiz away. Any overspray is soaked in on spots you may have iniitially missed. I place the lid near a heat run to help speed up the drying.

I also sort out wof pieces that would work perfect for a mini border and save them separately in a labeled zip lock bag...pieces that are 6" wof or so in basic colors are likely candidates..or a piece that you really like and hate to chop up into smaller pieces.

Oh I see delightful log cabins...4P and 9P's coming out of your bins!

Today I sorted through some ‘stuff’ I’ve saved for no apparent reason. Some were things I thought I might use in scrapbooking, but are really just junk. I tossed a container full of such stuff, which I find to be difficult. I’ve also sorted fabric pieces by color & put in labeled containers. I also spent time pressing assorted strips & smaller pieces & placing them in appropriate containers. I’m back to sewing & pressing the remaining blocks for Unwind. I hope to complete those today.

So I'm a noobie to quilting. Last year I made a crib blanket, then bit off more than I was truly ready for with a 12-patch carpenter's wheel. Much of the first months on that I was just figuring out how to sew diamonds together--if only I had known about half-square triangle diamonds at the time! Anyway, after ripping one less seam than I sewed, I finally finished the patches! After a break for the holiday madness, I'm now down to piecing the patch borders. My time at the sewing machine is limited, so my first goal is to finish this quilt before my mother's birthday in June!

I'm one of those who has to see the calendar (not just on the phone). I've got 2 calendars for 2019 that I need to "transfer" birthdays to (adding one more year to the ages), write semi-annual reminders on it (get jewelry cleaned, etc.), write in doctor appointments, write in quilting meeting/days (Project Linus and Quilts of Valor) and write in monthly luncheon dates. I guess I need to be reminded as many ways as possible about stuff!

Then, tonight, I'll start binding 4 quilts......binding is made, just gotta put it on!

Today my husband is starting on my closet shelves install. I’m amazed at how much stuff I had packed into this little closet! I’m going to work on sorting some of it as he puts in the shelves, then the big job starts.

Sounds like everyone is off to a good start!

I am a bit chagrinned to note that now that I have listed the things I'm committed to getting done in January-- I am somewhat overwhelmed and realizing that I really need to learn how to say No... I've already made one adjustment- I really want to complete at least one UFO per month in 2019, and had pulled one in mid-December that I was shooting to have done by the end of January. However, after looking at my January studio to do list I realize that there is no way that particular UFO will be able to be completed in January. So, I pulled another one that is smaller and much nearer to completion-- just needs some painting, maybe a small amount of hand-quilting (using big stitches) and then binding. I am hoping to be able to complete it this weekend if I'm up to working on it after tomorrow's surgery to remove my troublesome gall bladder.

Rob

Well, today I organised all my little bits and pieces boxes because my cabinet fell off the back of my sewing table and they all scattered.
Found a number of things I had forgotten I had!

Watson

I was given a gift certificate for Christmas so tonight I brought home several more yards of pretty fabrics. And my stash drawers said "no way!" so I did some much needed rearranging to make room and make a better separation of colors.
Luckily I had a 3 drawer plastic unit that was still empty and boy did I need it! All the fabric is now nicely tucked away and I really need to STOP shopping...