Thanks for the tips, Teen - there are a lot of great ideas there and hopefully I can figure out a way of making at least some of them work for me.
Foggy - I also find I don't necessarily put things away as I go - not in my quilting area nor in general, unless I have a functional storage system in place. I actually took a look at some of my most "organized" spaces - they are rather random (books, my clothes closet, and pots for leftovers and freezer cooking in the kitchen) but clearly I can stay organized if the infrastructure exists, and I am encouraged by this discovery. I am hoping that if I can establish such a system for my quilting life, I will be able to maintain it. I've just taken a baby step by bringing my I Spy box of fabrics down to the cutting table and am only pulling 5 at a time, fussy cutting what I need, and then putting those away before pulling any more out. We'll see if my success lasts through the week. :-)