I haven’t been posting because I haven’t been sewing. There’s a reason for that. My sewing room is so cluttered and full that I can’t work in there. Every time I want to cut fabric, I have to move a bunch of things. To sew what I’ve just cut I have to move the same things again.
It’s frustrating, even though I know I’m the one that caused it. It’s a creativity killer.
This weekend I will either have to relocate part of my sewing room to another room in the house or get rid of things. Or both.
While I’ve been thinking about what to change, I’ve been hand sewing in the living room. I love hand work, so it hasn’t been a huge sacrifice, but I do miss using my sewing machine.
I’m envious of those of you that have lots of space to sew. If only….
I’m not brave enough to post pictures of the entire mess, but here’s a picture of the “guild corner”.
Most of this is stored for my quilt guild. I’ll be able to move a lot of it out when I go to the March meeting. That weekend can’t come soon enough. Unfortunately, the rest of the room looks about the same.
I doubt I’m the only one with too much stuff and too little space. What creative storage solutions have you come up with for your quilting supplies?
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quiltpaintcreate 
I’m spoiled. I have a bedroom, although it is very small that houses my sewing and cutting table. I do utilize the underneath of my cutting table (an old library table I bought for $25 at a garage sale) by adding risers I can put those Sterlite drawer units under there. That’s where most of my scraps live. I also have the closet in there all sleeved with there hose wire units. My sewing surface is a huge old office desk with a file drawer and three other drawers for “stuff”. I can store two file sized totes under that. But I also have an entire walk in closet that is actually larger than the room that houses my ironing surface, my fabric, books, projects and most of my patterns. I have those wire closet drawers that I bought when we first moved in but there are also wire shelves and wooden shelves. I have way too much stuff. But for now it’seems okay. If we ever move I am in big trouble…the wire shelving in the room closet is one of the best things I ever did! If you haven’t done that yet start there.
I am also fortunate to have a dedicated room for sewing. It does not have a closet, so shelves and bins are a must. I have several rolling carts…love them! They are easy to move around. Several years ago, I took the time to go through all of my quilt magazines, and only keep the articles/patterns that I really wanted to keep. Those are filed in binders and the rest of the mags were recycled. I haven’t subscribed to a magazine for a long time now…I have more than enough saved in binders, and if I ever do run out of inspiration…there is the internet.
Also OMG has kept me focused for the past couple of years. I am slowly getting the ufos completed and out of my space…both physically and mentally.
I haven’t been blogging either, but for the opposite reason. I am focused on sewing…I really want to finish up at least one quilt…maybe two this month.
Perhaps hand sewing is exactly what you need right now. It brings you serenity. When you are ready, you will tackle that sewing space…inch by inch.
I am also lucky that I have a whole bedroom with a closet for my sewing stuff. I went with wire shelving units from Lowes in the closet. They come in several heights so I was able to line 2 sides of the closet with those. I have a few of the Sterlite drawer units in the closet and a couple more in my sewing room that hold my scraps and fat quarters. I’m careful to keep my cutting table and sewing table clear so I have room to work. I have a place to stack fabric in use on one of the wire shelves so it doesn’t clutter up the cutting table. I have a couple of rolling carts by my sewing table that I use to store pieces of in progress projects. Start small, attack one area at a time and give some thought as to how it fits in how you sew. That’s what I’ve done over the years. It’s not perfect, but it allows me to sew without having to clean up a bunch of areas.
I used to have many of the same problems!!! But, like the others, I have more adequate space now. Bins are your friend. I prefer clear because I am a visual person, even if it has a label it isn’t much help. I also keep most things in their place so I can find it when I need it. I also, use a bin/box the size of the items to go in, and I try to use the same footprint, even if I have to waste a bit of container space. They stack better that way. I also label both ends of the bin so it doesn’t matter which end is visible, no guessing!!! Oh and lots and lots of light! Even if it is overflowing, it looks better in the light!
Under the bed storage in all rooms with beds is my advice. I too had the problems of playing “musical chairs” and shuffling stuff to sew. Quite a chore, so I purged lots of fabric. This enabled more real estate and better feng shui. Sticking to only one project at a time helps too. May your creativity flow again!
I have a bedroom at the front of the house. I use cedar chest in another bedroom, an army trunk in my sewing room, the closet has rolling drawer carts and large plastic zipper pouches (from bedding), and all over the desks and tables I have baskets of FQs. The best advice I can give is, pare down, designate a place for everything to live, and be diligent on putting it back where it belongs. My trouble starts when I begin shifting piles from here to there instead of putting it away. Good luck with your effort to declutter/organize.
I feel your pain. I can’t create when my space is messy. I’d pick a weekend and have an emergency sort out. Take everything out of the sewing room and then it either goes back in or it goes straight to charity/fellow quilter or the bin. Or if you have things you honestly no longer like and know you won’t finish put them on ebay. You’ll get a little money back to start something new.
I too am working on reducing clutter and organizing items in a better way. It is a slow process, but I move forward every time I work on it!
I am very lucky to have a large room for sewing/quilting, yet I have much the same problem as you–way too much stuff cluttering up all the work surfaces! It is very frustrating to have to keep moving things around in order to get any quilting done, so I have been quilting less. It’s definitely time for a major sort and purge of things I will never use, but that will be a huge job. I’m starting by going through my quilting books first.