quiltingcandy

I have a tendency to get distracted easily, so if I go into my sewing room with the intent of sewing, I usually spend the next half hour setting up. Which means putting away anything that may have been "set" in the room to put away later and getting what I am going to sew set out. Right now I have been making Easter Egg holders with my embroidery machine for my daughter's 5th grade class so it looks a small army of bunnies, chicks, lambs, and ducklings. Also making FSL shamrocks with pins for the kids. (We found there are always a few that forget to wear green and someone feels left out - so this gives everyone that little bit of green.) Once they are done I put away all the embroidery stuff before starting anything else.

rilene

I'm like ManiacQuilter2 - lacking the organization gene. I don't clean up until I'm at the end of a project or two or three. I have several going on at the same time, but am prodded to work on only one when the project is a gift with a deadline. A bit of mess feeds my creativity. If everything is too neat, I hesitate to mess it up!

KalamaQuilts

Hi Dotty, admitting it needs to be done is the first step
My suggestion would be:
clean off the ironing board, putting all that where it belongs
Clean off the cutting table, putting all that where it belongs
clean off the sewing machine table, you know what goes here.

Then decide where your biggest problem is, for most of us it is more stash than room.
I chose ruler folding mine, took me two weeks of a couple of hours a day. By choice, do it 15 minutes a day at least.
I prefer ruler folding to comic book boards, the boards take up too much space. With ruler folding even fat quarters show ...
Once I got my stash in order, I worked on the scraps I'd set aside. I made a big stack of napkins, which I love to this day. I cut down to 6", 8", 10", and 12" squares (today I'd do 2/5" strips) Those I built backs from, and they are lovely.
What was smaller than 6" I cut into 2.5" squares as that is the size I use most often.

Once that big job was finished I spent 15 minutes a day clearing up the balance.
this was years ago, and my quilt room still looks good, mainly because I trained myself to
#1 clean up when I'm finished for the day
#2 PUT STUFF AWAY WHEN I'M FINISHED WITH IT

Good luck, lots of great tips on this thread. Nothing works for everyone, something works for all of us.

cashs_mom

I do some cleaning and organizing as I go. Put everything away from one project when I work on another, but as far as a huge organization project, I just don't do it. My husband and I run our own company and my sewing time is usually limited to weekends. I"ve also had some health problems which have prevented me from doing much sewing. I'm not bothered enough to take a few weeks of the limited sewing time I have just to reorganize my space.

AUQuilter

Since we moved to a new place a year and a half ago, I have been sorting out things and finding the best way to manage my projects and space. After completing this project- http://www.quiltingboard.com/mission...f-t274330.html - I have put purchased kits, homemade kits, UFOs as well as a few odd things in four of the drawers. That really helped! I do stop sewing and just get it picked up. That's when I clean and oil my sewing machine, check needle, and wind bobbins.

cherylmae

I try after each sewing session to get some organization back so I feel like sewing something new. I just decided to get me a garbage can in my room for scraps to give away, as I am running out of space.

DebbieJJ

What is that? (I need to organize, but my creative juices get to flowing, and I just can't stop to put things away.....)

lots2do

I need to find some creative ways to hide things in plain sight. You know, storage that looks good but doesn't hide things too much so I forget where things are. Still working on finding the right feel for my new space.

gramquilter2

I too am one that needs to have everything in its place in order to sew in peace. Have a hard time with disorder and dust. Probably don't get as much quilting done as everyone else. LOL

AUQuilter

In the alcove of my sewing room, I have two of our first suitcases- circa 1979. Since they had no wheels and they were taking up shelf space in closet, I took them into sewing room filling them with vintage fabric picked up over time in large one and muslin/batting pieces/scraps in smaller one. They looked much better in my old room stacked since they match. Will them being in the alcove they are against the wall with plenty of room to get to the window. I also have old sewing tins that I keep extra rotary blades, labels, glue,... I have a small Singer tin that I put selvages in until it is full when I transfer to the ongoing project. You can print off the labels at
http://www.bhg.com/decorating/storag...torage-labels/ Sometimes I use printed file folder labels and just stick them to plain index cards.