debbieumphress

Tomorrow I will have more pictures. I will start in the morning and post in the afternnon. Ready to go again. I watched Peter Walsh just now and it is so easy if someone gives you all those tubs and shelves. So those of us who cannot do that have to do like me and make the best of it.

heather1949

Well done Deb know exactly how you feel.

jpthequilter

[quote=Karyn]I cleaned up my sewing room and put something away and now for the life of me I can't find it. I am so mad at myself. Am I the only one that does this? Congrats on a great job Deb.[/qu

The point of this hopefully is to help you find things.
The secret is to put all the same things together!
I know, I know, there are so many different aspects of quilting!
OK..Notions= sort them into a drawer or two -or three as you find them (you can dump now ) just a rough sorting first. This gives you a place to put all the misc. stuff.
and for now, you know you can find it if you really need it.
Then after you have them all together, sort them into lots of little open top boxes, or divider strips. Things like needles, together - bobbins together ( That can be dangerous because suddenly and by themselves mine all tangled together) anyway - scissors, cutters, glue, oil, cleaning toothbrush, bodkins, extra sewing feet and attachments, all that and more stuff get put in there as you find it. Rulers can be their own group because they are all thin...and maybe all can hang.
Fat quarters all go together - eventually you might want to colorsort them too, I have a couple of hundred of them piled neatly into eight color families on top of the chest of drawers that I put my notions and thread into.
You have fabric and projects categories left.
If you can, possibly, sort your fabrics into color families eventually, at least try to keep them on adjacent shelves sorta like the quiltshop does, so that you can easily find that one special blue piece- without having to go through your entire stash! and only have to look in the blues section.
I think unfinished projects are the hardest part of a stash to store...because they might not have categories that describe them. I do have mine jumbled all together - each in its own plastic envelope - lined up like books on the top shelf, because I can't think of a better way to have them where I can see them. and collections of bags of fabric reserved to be given away are in this grouping too.
Books, patterns, and machines, you know.
I learned this by working in a museum. They HAVE to be able to find any object - well - almost instantly!
Would it make you feel better if I told you this, some of their collections hold thousands and thousands - even millions - of things like fish in glass jars ! Want to look at fish ears? or dried botanical specimens? or rocks and mineral specimens?
Perhaps that thought will make our problems of arranging our complicated stash of sewing stuff seem easier?
Bless us all!

debbieumphress

Wow, great post. Thanks for all the insights. I do have another post wtih updated pictures. Just look for my name. I'm on a roll. LOL

froggy

are you a traveling organizer?

Flo Pierce

Keep going Debbie. You'll know what you have when you are
finished organizing. And think how good it will feel.

Good luck.

Karyn

Thats usually what happens when we start to clean something. More clutter- but it's a start! Just have to keep going. When I start cleaning out a room we usually can't get through the hallway, but keep at it and it gets better.
Great job Deb, you are inspiring all of us!!

GrandmaLola

First of all--I ENVY YOUR STASH!! Second of all--Your husband makes you shelves?! Lucky girl. Thirdly--I would LOVE to be able to put mine out on shelves where I could see everything at a glance--I keep my tiny little stash (in dresser drawers and cabinets and night stand drawers--in comparison to some lucky members here on the QB I don't have much--but if my husband was to see what I DO have, he would have a FIT!! Keep up the good work!

debbieumphress

No but you can call Peter Walsh. ROFL.

I am definitely a traveler by nature though. I've been all over the world, in every state, and love to vacation somewhere different every summer. Another one of my addictions. Army brat, we never stayed anywhere too long. As a matter of fact I am going to Oklahoma thru-fri. ANyone on here close to Winstar Casino, pm me and maybe you can join me there for some fun. Having said that, I am off to my sewing room to start. Had my coffee, now i have my coke. (liqud type of course-:):))

Quiltbin

It feels just like Christmas, doesn't it. I'm always so happy when I find things that I forgot I had.