Finished the 4 lap quilts, 3 totes, and 6 doll quilts today. DH is packing up the box to go to WI on Monday. Used lots of charms and scraps to make the quilts so today I think I'll organize my charms. Today is a good day to work since I decided it's a pajama day.
Edit: Changed my mind and will organize my batiks instead. No idea what I have so may feel like my birthday..lol

Well, we'll see how this goes. I will need to go through again box by box to neaten up the fabric, since it rather turned into fling/squish the fabric into the relevant box by the end of it, but it didn't really take long. And I found some fabulous fabric to work with, lol https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/biggrin.png. I'm feeling enthused, so hopefully it'll work as well for me as it has for oksewglad!

Julie: Congratulations on finishing those projects! The recipients are going to be thrilled. I was thinking I need to sort batiks too and start using them in projects.

Panchita: It’s fun to find fabulous fabric to work with during a big sorting project. It’s a definite plus to finishing the task.

I’m seriously proud and envious of everyone’s motivation to organizing. When I moved into my new home, one of the things I kept putting off unpacking was framed family pictures. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to display pictures...I knew I would be buying to frames but I hadn’t decided beyond that. So, hubbie carried the box into the house from workshop and I have started the process of,sorting and deciding etc. I have a large family of siblings and gazillion nieces and nephews, great nieces/nephews etc. This is my Winter project..

Busy day for me. Dug thru two containers looking for batik fabric. Got sidetracked Sunday and never played with batiks. Oh they are so pretty. Ordered pattern for step-daughter's quilt she wants. Have focus fabric that she likes and even found accent fabric too.

Sent box to WI.

Ordered more batik fabric for our quilt.

Cut apart pinwheel blocks to make another scrappy quilt for Amy's puppy when she lays on the sofa the puppy not Amy...lol. Going to try my hand at QAYG with this project.

Decided to do early voting.

Resewed the HST a different way. Now they look like square in a square and I like that better than pinwheels.

Organized the small armour filled with precuts. Now I know what's in there. Cleared off the table in the fabric room. It had turned into another landing pad.

Done. Time to get ready for bed.

OH...second container had only 4 things in it and not related to sewing. Who would have put that in my sewing room?

Rearranging fabric storage
 

Today I started the packing and moving of fabric out of two bookshelves that I’m having my dear grandson move and put together with two other bookshelves to make more room in my space. I’m making them into 24” deep shelves versus the 11” I had before. Now I will have room to move my table on wheels that has pullout drawers to a new space and also my large cutting table to a new space and can hopefully have it opened up for use. I will then have more space to turn my large swing machine cabinet that will hold my janome horizon 15000. Boy tomorrow more of the same. Grandson coming Wednesday afternoon schools out for two days, but he’s doing my shelves and then head off the grand forks to visit his older brother. More changing in the future once this is done as I have fabric I’m donating to my church ladies and I will also have fabric for my two sisters to choose from when they come to visit.

Yesterday I discovered a corner of the sewing room that needed attention. Found sheets suitable for backing, batting pieces large enough to fuse and be usable, sweatshirt (no idea why this was in the sewing room), pretty fabric...I'll just stop there.

Today using up fabric to make 3 dog quilts to be used when the dogs nap on Mom and Dad's sofa...lol I enjoy sewing HST to make square in a square blocks. Design wall in looking really colorful!

I finally sorted through the bags and the box of fabric that the church quilting group thought I would use. They give me fabric that is usually smaller than 6”. but I also get fabric that they don’t know what should be done with it. Lol!

I sorted through several of the bags and put the pieces in color piles. Most of the fabric was kept but some was put in my ‘toss bag’ because of quality. But to my surprise and delight, there was a collection of fabrics together in the bottom of one of the bags. Different design companies and some fabric strips that look and feel like leather, but they aren’t, along with shimmery batiks, mottled blues, etc. There was also yardage. I included the picture below.

The box had some rolls of large lace and lots and lots of large QSTs that I’m assuming were for setting triangles. Some was usable fabric which I will keep but other fabrics were a very rough linen type so that went into a thrift store donation box. Now to put it all away.

Teen: Good luck with going through your pictures. I need to get back to my sorting of pictures/memorabilia.

Juliemn1: Isn’t it amazing what we find in our sewing areas? Sounds like you are making good progress on organizing your fabric and using it.

amyjo: Great idea putting 2 shelves together that way. I hope your grandson missed the bad weather.

Retiredteach... that looks like a great find based on the picture. That whole pile would make an awesome scrappy...they all blend so well together..

amyjo....your organizing is really opening up space for you. That’s so great!

julie....share picture of design wall. I love me some color!!

Organizing today
 

Was out in my room going thru boxes n making sure everything was in right box DGS missed the storm didn’t come today My DD texted me that she got one container cut into 10”, 5” squares n 3” strips great for putting together new kits Retired teacher I have a lot of those fabrics in my stash love those colors Yes was great idea to put them together wish I’d done it to start with I have a lot more room

Yesterday I decided to get out of my deep rut of stitch in the ditch and try my hand at free motion BUT need to change my sewing room dynamics. To the right of my sewing table I have 20x40 computer table where I have a collection of storage containers for sewing notions. "Beverage-of-the-hour" sits there, along with a small TV perched on cookbooks. (DH hasn't missed these.) So moved those around to make room for my lap top. Took the sewing machine out of the "well" in the table, put the insert in so I have a place to practice drawing while watching YOU Tube videos.

OMG, this is so nice. DH says he misses me since I'm no longer at the computer which used to be in a corner of the living room. He has to walk further to give me updates from Internet. He also said I will probably come out of my "retreat" only when hungry, thirsty, or need the bathroom....and he may be right!!!

Teen: It was very nice to find them all together in one of the bags. I’m bagging them up for now and will think about how I want to use them in the future.

I found another box today that I missed from the church fabric bags/boxes so have been going through that off and on today. I found some very nice 6” to 6.5” strips which will work nicely for horizontal sashings in this new box. Some prints have 4 or more WOF strips. Exciting. Now to get all of the fabric on my table put away.

amyjo: I’m glad your grandson is safe. That’s great that your daughter is cutting fabric for you to use.

Juliemn1: I am chuckling over your husband’s comment about your retreat!

I have 3 large totes of quilting scraps, at least 1 of the toes was gifted to me. My sewing room is so full of stuff that it’s bothering me. The scraps are bothering me the most so I decided to tackle those now. I’ve tried several methods of tackling them. One is the do a little every day method, that doesn’t work because I can’t see any progress. I tried pulling enough of one color or type , strings in this case, and make a quilt. I made 2 Snap Scrap and 2 string quilts, also so no dent in the mess.
So my latest attempt, and this one seems to be working for me is this: take everything out of 1 tote and sort By color. I had 8 smal bins scattered around the sewing room. This took me 1 day. Then I take1 color at a time and press and sort it. Each color has a bin for strings, then I cut the rest according to the BH method of scrap users system. I choose a couple of quilts I want to make so cut the correct colors and sizes for those. The rest just get cut up. So far they are taking up a lot less space and I’ve almost filled a pillowcase with tiny scraps. Last time I worked on cutting scraps it took me about 5 months to fill a pillow case. Not sure if I can motivate myself to do this for each tote though. I think it’s going to take a month for each tote. I am pleased with my progress. I’m loving my new iron and my Go cutter. BTY, I’m standing so long I had to get a rubber mat to ease the aching in my legs! Being retired is hard work! Wish me luck and if anyone has any ideas that will help with the organizing of scraps I would love to hear them.

Congratulations on making calm out of chaos! Been there and I seem to create chaos too. Sorting fabric is hard work. So much to think about. I've sorted two ways. Bookshelf has folded, kinda, by color and containers by size and scrappy. Rolled 2.5 strips into jelly rolls by color and secured them using either pretty scraps of ribbon that came with jelly rolls or rubber bands. They have a container of their own. I decided not to keep anything smaller than 2" (I hear the gasps!...lol) because I don't make crumb quilts so why keep them. I retired a year ago and sometimes I think I'm working harder with my quilting than I did at work...lol. Have fun getting reacquainted with your stash.

Cindy- I think your system sounds like a good one, especially if it works for you. One of the things I have learned over the years is to keep a small scrap bucket by my cutting area rather than a large one. That encourages me to keep up with processing them. I use my die cutter to cut some scraps into the sizes I like to use, which speeds up the process. Also, I have limited the size and number of storage units that I devote to scraps. When they get full I have two choices, either throw away any new scraps I generate or use my older scraps up to make room for the new ones. Since I hate to throw anything away, this forces me to use up my scraps.

keep it up, you’ll get through those bins!

Rob

I think the scrap "secret" is just keep at it. cindy, your system sounds like it works for you and you are using the pieces you cut up...definitely works for you! When "creating" scraps, I often cut my leftover pieces into the largest "specific" size. That way it's already trimmed up and ready to go.

Julienm1...after a time of sorting I get into a brain fog and have to walk away...doing it piecemeal as you are is a great idea.

Cindy: It sounds like you are making great progress with your scraps. Over the summer, I went through scraps that were tossed in a variety of containers and sorted them by colors. I tried ironing the scraps and putting them in bags by width size but that got boring real quick. 😊 I like your idea of choosing a couple of quilt patterns and cutting scraps to those sizes first. The Go! Cutter is awesome! Eventually, I will need to get back to organizing my color-sorted tubs and may use your idea of cutting for specific patterns which would be a twofold success because I would be adding to my pre-cut kits and reducing the scraps. Please keep us updated on your progress.

Julie: Sorting is hard work! Like oksewglad, I need breaks also when sorting.

Rob: I put a small container by my cutting station after I read you were doing that a while ago. It’s time to empty that container out.

My method of organizing-send it to someone else. Just mailed 6 gallon jars of selvages and 2 books to people who asked for them. Now it's time to list some more books, to anyone who wants and willing to pay shipping. They'll be listed in the "offerings" section.

Petthefabric: Your way benefits the recipient and you. 👏.

i love all of the ideas.

Yesterday, I decided to start sorting through a couple of shoebox sized tubs of various sizes of squares. Most were tossed in the tubs when I was sorting through donations to my church quilters. It’s a great project to work on when I’m watching tv. Most of the squares are 3.5” and smaller and many need trimming to my favorite sizes. My die cutter comes in handy for the trimming part. The die cutter is downstairs and my sorting table is upstairs so I can get some exercise in too. Lol!

I have some shallow drawers that are stuffed with my favorite sizes so I decided to sort some 3.5” squares by color and put them into a deeper drawer system. It will be a chaotic mess for a few days but worth it.

Enjoy the day and stay safe.

Today I’m working on dealing with paper scraps from making Christmas journals. I’ve gotten them sorted by size and am using my die cutter to turn them into useful pieces for other projects I’ve got planned.

Rob

Taking the weekend off. Instead looking for stuff that has been packed up and playing with my EQ5. Had program before but wouldn't load on new computer. Found a good deal on EBay. Suits my needs just fine. Don't need fancy computer stuff for what I do. Now to continue digging...lol

Julie, I haven't upgraded EQ from 7 either. I'm like you, there's a lot I don't use in the program but love how I can change border sizes, color combos. I have imported fabrics if I can find them the image on line, but it's taken a bit of playing to get it used properly.

I saw an antique quilt on line that I loved and knew I had some special fabric to use with it. I went to EQ and plotted out the quilt and played with color combos. BTW, Julie, if I don't have the actual fabric in EQ I find a fabric with similar color and scale to give me a general idea. I also pulled stash fabric that could be useful in the quilt. Then found my 1 1/2" bin and pulled out dark and light strips and pieces to use in the 9P for the quilt. I'm going to need 224 9P's so this will take a while! Next I need to go through my 3 1/2" light fabrics and light fabric scraps for the 224 alternating squares. In case you are wondering here is my initial plan...color placement may change in the long strips, but for now this is what I envision.

OK...that is a great pattern...and the colorway is awesome. EQ is fantastic for colorway playing...Inuse it all the time. I need to start making some of the quilts I designed.

Today, I purchased a new set of stainless steel pots and pans. When I moved, I got rid of a lot of mismatched stuff and planned to buy a new set once settled. My stove is induction so I’ve been using cast iron stuff and those are sooooo heavy. Making Sunday breakfast was the deciding factor for me. UGH! So, today, I sorted and organized cub bards after washing my new set. I used them for dinner tonight and they were lovely... happy girl!

Thanks, Teen. It's not a UFO until I start cutting and sewing and it will be a WIP for a while then too! LOL

New pots and pans...how delightful. Must admit I still use my cast iron pieces...one small skillet was given to me as a shower gift 49 years ago...I guess you could say it is well seasoned!

Today mail "person" delivered more turquoise fab for dd's queen quilt. Now need to check yardage for accent colors...think wild...line green, yellow, cream. Book came today with pattern. Someone here won a ribbon I think from book Crazy for Scraps. Ordered the book but will make the blocks at least 4 finished rather than 2.5". Sent email to Quilter Twins for more of a panel I got today. OH, organizing? Gathering what I have to see what else I need. Enjoying special egg nog so no sewing until tomorrow.

Lol....your egg nog comment cracked me up.. stay away from scissors until tomorrow...lol..

oksewglad: Another pattern that would use up my precut squares! Thanks for sharing.

Teen: Enjoy your new pots and pans.

julienm1: ❤️ Organizing to see what you need!

My second son is waiting for his COVID results so I texted him some pictures of items of his that are still at my house. Their house is smaller and there is now baby stuff for Jack who is 9 months old. He said to toss/get rid of most of the stuff so that makes me happy. One larger tub and a big box are history. I also found 3 bed covering items that will get washed and given away. 👍Tomorrow, I may go through some tubs of VCR tapes or find another one of his boxes and sort through it. He needs a distraction and he feels sad because he needs to stay secluded from his wife and son. Praying he is negative but, if he is positive, that he will continue to have mild symptoms only.

Why is it why we/me/I start new scrappy project I make such a mess? Do I need a bigger space to organize differently so it would be easier to audition fabric? Do I change my mind too many times trying to find the right outcome? I think it's time to tidy up the best I can and have some special egg nog. Did you know egg nog is available in October in NM?

Connie....praying for your son and claiming negative results!!!

Julie....one of the reasons I don’t do a lot of scrappy quilts (unless the pieces are already cut in sizes I inventory) is for the mess it makes. It jams my creativity vibes....lol...so, I start out with only pulling a few main colors of scraps....then add a few more blenders. Then I start sewing. When I run out, I pull more as I go. In my opinion, Lori Holt is the queen of scrap cutting and organizing. For me, I cut up the scraps of done projects immediately in the sizes I keep...but, do whatever floats your boat....enjoy the egg nog..

1. Connie, hugs, lots of hugs from afar for you/your family.
2. Teen, Egg nog is great
3.Teen, I'm between projects so decided make a new future UFO. Cut the jelly rolls. Cut the squares. Now getting creative relating to the layout. This is a mindless sewing which is kinda fun. Tidied up the loose pieces. Jammies on so I can start to piece. Sewing tble looks better if I don't look at the cutting table hind me!

Connie- Sorry to hear your son is under the weather, and hoping for a negative test result so he can unquarantine and spend time with his wife and baby. Sending virtual hugs your way.

Julienm1-enjoy that special eggnog!

We have had a string of minor disasters recently (dead speed oven, dead car, dead refrigerator) which have required some reorganizing of our lives. After 3 weeks of searching, we finally found a late model used vehicle to replace the dead car and finalized the purchase on Monday. Today I’m setting up its maintenance and repair folder in my file cabinet and getting used to the idea that we will have a car payment for the next 4 years after being free of them for more than 15 years.

The oven is still on the blink after 4 repair visits over the course of the last two months but hopefully when the repair person comes back out next Wednesday it will finally be fixed. Have also spent the past week calling every repair person in our area who works on our brand of fridge- earliest availability is December, but most say they don’t advise repairing a 10 year old fridge. Finally bit the bullet and ordered a new fridge (different brand that gets better reviews from Consumer Reports)- it was originally scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Last night Got an email from Lowes saying delivery has been delayed by one week. DH has been busy reorganizing his kitchen activities to facilitate preserving as much of the refrigerated and frozen food as possible.

I think I will try to spend some quality time today playing with fabric...

Rob

Oh Lordy, Rob...when it rains it pours. I’m so sorry you have had to deal with this all at once. At least you’ll have new and reliable replacements for everything as you enter 2021.

I played in sewing room today so no organizing for me today.

Thank you for the prayers and virtual hugs. The clinic said the results would be 2-8 days. Today was 3 days. it’s tough when both of them are in commission jobs and my son was looking at trying for a promotion. On the great side, my 9 month old grandson finally started to crawl yesterday! Since he’s been up on all 4s for 3 months, we thought it would happen sooner. 🙂. He managed to get around by pulling himself before.

julienm1: I often wonder why I make such a mess starting scrappy quilts too.

Teen: I just started following Lori Holt. 👍

Rob: Oh my goodness. Like Teen said, you will have new and reliable replacements now. But ouch to the pocketbook.

I kept getting sidetracked today. My mind just kept jumping from one thing to another. However, I did get farther along on my 2 UFOs and started to organize a fabric pile that I had been planning to use for a scrappy quilt. I’m repurposing or putting away the fabric in the pile. Also, my niece will be moving early next year so I pulled out some of the tubs I have emptied this year from fabric organizing and pictures/memorabilia and will be dropping a few off to her on Friday. I’m glad I hung on to them though but it will be nice to have some gone.

So been sewing for a long time it seems on this Diamond Squared and now I hate it. Just way too busy. So tomorrow will square up the blocks and pack it up with all the extra strips. Probably just need to let it all age for all and revisit it at a later date. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/wink.png https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/eek.png

Retired... keep us updated on the kids. Hopefully, they’ll be back at it in no time... and, Yah for the little guy. So fun to see these early stages of big time achievements!!

Julie...seriously, I know this feeling so well right now. I have been working on a quilt for well over a month and have redesigned the applique border about 4 times. Today, I threw in the towel, got rid of applique, cut the 8” border to 3” border, and prepped for LA’er. I am so done with that quilt. Putting it away to think about later is a “no go” for me so I am relieved this quilt top is done and I can move on to next project.

I took all the scraps from this quilt, cut them up and and organized away. Next!!!

Teen: Unfortunately, my DSs test came back positive. I think he was relieved just to get the results after 4 days, My DDIL and grandson had to go in and get tested also after DSs positive result. Praying they don’t get sick especially the grandson. My DS followed all of the precautions so he isn’t sure where he contracted it but probably from work. After he told me the results, I had a hard time focusing and recounted or checked directions so many times. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better for my concentration.

Julie: Sonetimes a project needs to have a time out. 👍

Teen: I’m glad you solved your border problem.

I organized some scraps. I chose to cut them into signature shapes with my die cutter. So far I have used 3 of my 4 sizes of the shapes, cut the triangle shapes to go with the signature die shape, and put them into bags into a shoebox sized tub. Very little waste because I cut the leftover triangles from the cut off corners of the die into sizes I use and put them away right away. Whew!

Hard to believe but almost a year ago we were planning a move for DH’s job. The move was unexpected so we/he started packing quickly. DH went to Lowe’s and bought a lot of packing boxes. I was working so could only help on my day’s off. Picture this…mattress/box spring flipped on end and that bedroom became storage for whatever he packed up. That room has boxes stacked floor to ceiling. Sadly packing lists only stated shirts/pants (his) or quilt stuff (mine). But there was a delay in the move . Leap forward and here comes the pandemic and we still haven’t moved. I’ve bought inexpensive, duplicated quilt supplies…pins, marking pens, rulers, etc. Decided to reorganize my fabric. Had it stored in several opaque/clear plastic tubs by color. Went thru every tub and took out what I thought I’d use until we moved and put it in the bookshelf. Bought some fabric. (Sewing calms my nerves. Was the best therapy when we were taking care of Mom while she had ALZ.)

DD bought her first house and asked me to make a quilt for her bed. We found fabric and she chose Drunkard’s Path pattern. I’ve make this pattern twice before and have two sets of templates in different sizes. I have gone thru 3 boxes and no templates and every box is just a hodge podge of stuff and I lost it. Told DH tomorrow I’m going to go thru every box marked quilting, empty it, organize, repack them, and put a detailed packing list on the outside. Two boxes in the entry, three in my sewing room and no idea how many in the bedroom.

Thank heavens we never started to pack the kitchen. Oh, tysm for allowing me to rant. I need DH to help me with boxes tomorrow so can’t yell at him. I have a feeling he’ll give me a wide birth tomorrow. Yes, I have a bag of Ghiradelli in my sewing room.

Oh Connie...hope he has a mild case. Saying some prayers for them and you.

Julie..yes setting a frustrating project aside, or in the case of Teen revamping it is a good route to go. Kudos to putting the scraps away immediately, ladies.

Sorry about the minor mishaps, Rob. I know how you feel the week the fridge died, and my brother's house fire, plus a couple of weird incidences here on the farm front. We just adapt and adjust.

Julie...sounds like you are more than adapting and adjusting...good luck with the re organization!