Sewing Room Before and After

In early December, I realized my sewing room was so messy and cluttered that I really didn't enjoy being in there.  I had been avoiding it and that meant I hadn't been doing much sewing.  I had to give it a good clean out.  Here are some pictures of the room in its "before" condition.

Piles of projects in various states on the bed and bins of fabric on the floor.  

We have a 4-bedroom house and my sewing room is the smallest bedroom, about 10' by 11', and furnished with orphan furniture from our prior houses.  The house was built in 1917 and though the closets were probably considered generously sized at the time, they are small by today's standards so I can't pack everything into the closet and call it a day.  I packed some stuff away, including two tubs of fabric that went up in the attic, and found a place to keep my two design boards when I'm not using them.  

Now much neater and more welcoming.  The challenge will be to keep it this way.

During the cleaning up, I identified nine projects in various stages of not-finished.  To be truthful, some aren't even started; I just have all the materials for the project gathered together.  I've got each one packaged up in a separate zipped project bag or shopping bag and stored away; my goal is to get them out one at a time (to avoid clutter and chaos) and finish at least five of them before I begin anything new.  

Wish me luck!

As Long As You're Going To Target

It's been even longer than I thought!  After months of high quilting productivity, I went on a break/slow down.  I really needed to give my sewing room a good clean and reorganization.   At the beginning of this year, I stated my goal is to whittle down my stash and finish some UFOs.  I've been doing that but during the clean up, I uncovered some fabric, kits, and PIGS (projects in grocery sacks - e.g. everything bought for a project, put in a bag, and never started).  So I tried to organize my stash to make it all more visible, more clear what I have on hand.  And that's where these marvelous baskets/bins from Target came in handy.

These bins came to my attention on Nicole's/SistersChoice blog a few months ago.  I messaged her to find out where they came from then set out for Target.  The size - roughly 5" by 13" long and 5" deep - is perfect for holding folded fat quarters, charm packs, and jelly rolls.  And they are a good size to fit on the shelves in my closet.  I started with one and now have six.  You can also buy them online here but they ship only as part of a bigger order.  So if you are going to Target anyway, check them out.  They come in other sizes too.

Once reorganized, I started some Christmas sewing and will be back soon to show you.

Plans for 2017

OK, I bought the cardboard, the comic book backing boards.  Did you somehow miss out on this "thing?"  These pieces of cardboard were originally sold for comic book collectors to use to protect their collectibles and keep the paper from creasing.  A clever quilter re-purposed them as the stiff center for mini bolts of fabric.  After folding yardage a second time length-wise, it becomes the right size to wrap around the card, creating a mini bolt that can stand upright on a shelf.

So, I bought a package of 100 (surprisingly inexpensive) and spent the long weekend cleaning and organizing the closet in my sewing room.  I like the way they stand on end, like a bolt of fabric in the shop; it makes it easier to pull a piece of fabric out to check and easier to put it back in place than the piles I had previously.  Unfortunately, they take up about the same amount of room as the folded piles of fabric that were my previous method of organization.  I had visions of being able to squeeze more into the closet.  I have several plastic bins of fabric that I store in the attic (really, a 3rd floor) but out of sight, out of mind.  My goal is to get my entire stash into the sewing room.  It's not happening this year though.

What is going to happen this year is completion of a UFO, Little Butterflies.  I finished the top in mid-2015 but it has been waiting for me to get to the hand quilting.

And I updated my Quilts to Make Pinterest board.  Well, I updated it in my usual way, editing the board's title to change the year while deleting the few projects I finished in 2016.  It still holds way more than I'll get to this year but my priority projects are Colorway (I have the fabric purchased and set aside with the pattern), a Christmas quilt (probably All Wrapped Up), a lace clutch using my collection of vintage and cutter linens, some pillow shams or cases, and some smaller projects.  I'd love to make a Flowering Snowball quilt with my stash of Kaffe Fassett fabric and am looking for the perfect background fabric to use.  Oh, and I ordered paper pieces for a new English paper piecing project.  It will be my new portable/travel project, not necessarily to be completed in 2017.

What are your quilting plans for 2017?

Making A Sewiing Gear Bag for My English Paper Piecing Projects

I've finished the piecing of La Passacaglia but intend to do more English paper piecing in the future.  I want to make some sort of handy-dandy bag that will make it easy to take my hand piecing with me on the go.  I'm leaning towards the Zip It Up! bag from By Annie.  Has anyone made it?  If so, any tips?

I learned about this bag from the photos on Instagram.  I love the bright color zippers with the black and white prints but will probably do something else for my own bag.  

I stumbled on another cleverly designed bag on the internet. It is called the Bionic Gear Bag; there is a video demo of its features on the website and you can buy the pattern as a PDF file on Craftsy.  

This bag looks a little more challenging to make but wouldn't it be handy for a class or retreat?

Organizing My Sewing Space

Have you ever been to Target and bought something that wasn't on your shopping list, just because you liked the look of it and the price was right?  Ha!  Do birds fly?  Here are my latest impulse purchases.  First, this wire basket (only $3!).  I thought I could put it on the floor under the table and use it to collect scraps, the ones that are too small to re-fold but too big to throw away.  Good idea but it is filling up fast.  Temporary solution but not long term scrap storage.

I also found these baskets that look like they are knitted but are made of plastic.  Also very inexpensive so I bought a few.  This smaller one is holding leftover binding I'm saving for a future unknown project where I just need a short piece.

I'm using the larger version to hold fabric I pulled from stash for a planned project.  I have two of these going now (but I have about 12 projects planned in my head).

As you may have surmised from my destash sale, I've been cleaning out and re-organizing my sewing space, or sewing "studio" as I've begun to call it.  Studio sounds so active and professional.  The gym I go to refers to their facility as the studio, which certainly sounds better (though less accurate) than torture chamber.

Getting fit and strong at OTF

Pulling my stash fabric out of the closet, refolding it, and putting it back in the closet was quite the workout.  Next up, the space around my sewing machine table.

Is January National Re-Organization Month?

Because, honestly, I think it must be official!  Stores like Walmart and Target are having specials on plastic storage bins, The Container Store is sending me near daily emails with organizing tips, whille quilt bloggers de-stash, refold fabric, and straighten out their sewing rooms.  Okay, the bug bit me! 

First, I reorganized our spices and herbs.  You know, all those tiny bottles and cans from McCormick (and others).  We once had a nice spice rack but it held a too limited array of spices and took up too much kitchen counter space, so I had been keeping all the containers in three shoe boxes in a kitchen cabinet.  A trip to The Container Store later and those boxes are stacked in the cabinet using a wire cabinet shelf and most-often-used items and odd size bottles are on a spinning turntable, all in less space than before.

Second, it has been unusually cold here in NJ, meaning we need hats, scarves, and gloves when outside.  We keep them in a small chest of drawers in the foyer.  It's handy and has plenty of space but as I was digging through, looking for my warmest gloves, it became obvious we had become hat and glove pack-rats.  A quick sorting weeded out the single, unpaired mittens, gloves from Miss Main Street's elementary school years that will never fit on her hands again, and a couple of hats that went with snowsuits from the same era.  With fewer items to stow, it was easier put everything away in an organized fashion; one drawer for each person, what a concept!  It will be faster to find those gloves next time I need them.   

While it is tempting to tackle my sewing room next, I think I'll let it wait.  It's even more tempting to sew.  So, back to our regularly scheduled activity.

Three More Dresses ... and Friday Find

While on vacation, I finished three more dress blocks for the Pretty Dresses wall hanging.  I need nine blocks (I think) so I am well on my way. 

On a Christmas shopping trip to NYC, I found this food storage container at Pearl River Mart.  The store is located in Soho and sells all sorts of Chinese imports, most very reasonably priced.  They call this item a "lunch box."   

It is about 7 inches long, 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep, and I'm finding it very handy for holding my applique supplies.   The lid is held in place with clips to each side.  Under the lid is an upper tray about an inch deep, perfect for flatter items. 

Under the tray is a deeper space that holds spools of thread and my travel pincushion.

This little item costs less than $6.  They also have bigger stacked versions, inlcuding colorful melamine versions they call tiffin lunch boxes.  Sewists and quilters could put them to good use too.

About Those Bags From The Dry Cleaner

It is time to get my sewing room cleaned up so it can be used as a guest room for my mother during her upcoming visit over Christmas.  I started the process yesterday, with a little organization of upcoming projects.  

My dry cleaner uses these bags for sweaters.  (The graphics are either charmingly retro or have not been updated since 1963.) 

I'm recycling the bags into project bags.  I found they are just the right size to hold all the component parts (except batting) and the snap at the top keeps it secure.  This bag has my Aster Manor project, including the pattern and a spool of thread I bought to match the background fabric.

This one has all the parts for my Halloween spiderweb quilt.  I wanted to keep all the parts together, so I don't accidentally use the fabric I bought for one quilt in another project.  Most of these fabric collections are not widely available any longer (because I get carried away and buy more than I can possibly make).

I now have seven of these bags lined up with projects organized for 2011.  I'll be keeping busy in the new year!

My Inspiration Box

I haven't finished the turquoise quilt yet but I'm already thinking about the next project.  That's how I work and it gives me something to ponder during the more mindless bits, like pressing.  I spent some time over the weekend going through my books and patterns...and my Inspiration Box.

The box is something I bought a few years ago in Borders.  It is about 9" by 12" and might have been intended as a gift box.  It came with a handy elastic band that fits around the box with the top on. 



My inspiration box holds clippings from magazines, photos I've taken here and there, downloads from the internet, etc.  Sometimes my attention is caught by a whole quilt but other times it is a block I like or a border treatment or color combination.  And many items I've saved aren't quilts per se but have something about them that led me to a thought about quilting.  For example, I have several photos I took of iron fencing because I thought I'd like to recreate the pattern in the quilting on a quilt.

How do you save and organize your inspiration?