Gemm

Inspired to hear so many organizational successes - it's good to remember that baby steps still count!

Not quilt-related, but I've been doing some organizational baking. I had some stuff in the pantry/fridge/freezer that needed to be used up so I've been taking my ingredients and either going through my own recipes or just Googling recipes that include those ingredients. My focus these last couple of weeks has been on using up a larger-than-usual bag of flour along with the random finds - we now have lots of muffins in the freezer using up the following combos: raisins, dried apricots and wheat bran; lemon yogourt, dark brown sugar and frozen blueberries; and frozen bananas, tinned pineapple and coconut. It has certainly brought some new interest to breakfasts/snacking and has cleared some space at the same time. :-)

rryder

OMG- Gem- I want to come to your house for breakfast!!!!!

Rob

PS: I gave away a western saddle, two saddle pads, a bareback pad and some chaps today! So that's some volume out of our dining room YAY!!

Gemm

Way to go, rryder! It sounds like your organizational efforts are still going well. That's the problem with mine - I just changed from having an overfull pantry to an overfull freezer!

KalamaQuilts

I have 4 pattern file boxes, like the upright magazine holders? I've been through them 3 times this year, applique used to be my passion but I can't do it anymore to my standards, so... all that lovely paper, and paper is expensive, and why cut down more trees? I have one friend I still write snail mail letters to, I've been using that paper for printing out her letters. She is getting a kick out of it. There were some from a SoulCollage workshop too, and she has been doing the suggested 'hard thinking'

a little thing, but all stuff someone else won't have to clean out.
I don't know if a recycle counts, but I'm so chuffed about this project and I don't know where else to share it. I had a lovely deck swing but after 30 years the cushions looked awful so I had the bright idea of getting spray fabric paint to brighten them. HokeySmokes, the cushions smelled so strong I couldn't even go on the porch. So cushions went to the dump and the frame went to the recycle pile of metal.

I love to hang out my linens...a new clothes line was born from the swing frame and cannibalizing the old crappy lines! I LOVE it!
edited to add, the clothespin holder is a recycle too, a beautiful barkcloth childs shirt.

Gemm

Creative repurposing has led to a fantastic organizational win for you! Great clothesline - compact and functional. :-)

rryder

Awesome clothes line Kalama! Recycling/repuroposing definitely counts as organizing.

Rob

cashs_mom

Ebay has been a great encouragement for me to clean out because I end up with $$$$! I've sold a lot of corvette fabric that I don't need since I sold my corvette. I'm even going to see if I can sell my old Coach purses that I haven't used in years. Now I just have to find them!

KalamaQuilts

I 'think' you need the receipts to sell coach/prada etc, check their rules. why they bother I don't know there are so many knock-offs of everything else. I'm out of stuff to sell now, but the last three years I had huge clear outs, lightened the load enormously, and I still have cash left in my treasures envelope

tallchick

I had a huge tub of batiks that called out to me to deal with. Scraps smaller than a FQ were set aside in a scrap pile, 1 yard and less were folded and placed into my usual bins, and everything else I wrapped on comic boards. I think Monday I will drive to Ikea and pick up a Billy Bookcase, a door and 1 extra shelf and put wrapped yardage there. This will hopefully prevent out of sight out of mind syndrome and open up more space to clean out under my longarm too. I am still pulling stuff to sell on Etsy and making a pile of ugly fabrics to make a ugly quilt with.

WMUTeach

Guess I need to check out the IKEA Billy Bookcase. This is the second reference to that piece that I have seen this evening.
I spent some time in the past two days just cleaning up the remains of a quilt I finished. (Top only, but I have the back ready.) This immediate clean up seems to reduce my penchant for making stacks and piles all over my work space. It worked once!

I am a collector and user of 2.5" squares. This afternoon I went through my color boxes of these little wonders and returned the little squares to stacks in their color box. I then added the ever growing pile of newly cut 2.5 into their appropriate boxes. Not a big organization but a little work now makes them easier to use. I also discovered which colors are in abundance and which are "slim pickings".