Finally

I did it, I finally did it!!!

Remember this pile of fabric from January? I had worked on cleaning up the sewing room (a never ending battle it appears) and it was all but completed except for the pile of fabrics that needed to be put away.

Well, it had only gotten worse, much worse (sorry, no pic). I have collected alot of fabric for baby girl sewing but haven't been able to do alot of sewing so that fabric was piling up. And that retail therapy shopping caused quite a pile.

But today I finally put it all away and it now looks like this. Woohoo!

I am sooo excited because all of my workspaces are now cleared off. 

Ironing counter? CLEAR!

Sewing table? CLEAR!

Cutting/Work counter? FINALLY CLEAR!

And I can see and access my fat quarters. Aren't they beautiful all organized and nicely folded? Now I need to get this dang elbow to cooperate so I can use some of these beautiful fat quarters.

Year of the PIGS - 3/9/11

Jill, over at Ramblings of a Fabric andYarn Obsessor, has asked these questions about our sewing space, "Do you have a separate room all to yourself? Are you a little (or a lot) messy or Princess of Tidy? Are there things that you find a hindrance to your sewing mojo like no place to put an iron but on the other side of the room from your machine or a lack of storage of tools that just create more clutter to trip over? Share your frustrations and maybe we can supply a suggestion or two.

About 15 years ago my wonderful husband had a room finished for me in the unfinished part of our basement. I think it was for my 40th birthday. It was my best present ever! I feel so lucky to have a designated space for my hobbying (blogger is saying that isn't a proper word but I'm leaving it as is). Before that I had things stashed in every closet and under every bed and I could never find anything when I needed it. Plus I was working at the kitchen table which, with four growing boys in the house, needed to be cleaned up every night so we could eat dinner. So, now I have my own space. I say that I have an organized mess. My organizational systems stay very neat and organized but my work spaces can get very, very cluttered with projects and project remnants.

I love that I have this space. I have crammed a myriad of organizational products in there to allow me to best store and access all of my great stuff.  First and foremost, I was gifted a full set of kitchen cabinets that a girl friend was replacing. WOW, what a windfall! I bought a new countertop and have more than a full wall of upper and lower cabinets and a workspace to sit at and do my cutting.

I had one remaining lower cabinet which had a counter top (ugly but didn't matter). I covered it with that reflective batting stuff and ticking to make a nice big ironing surface - well, it is when I keep it clear of $%*#(@^. Right now it is relatively clear.

The room is surrounded by bookcases for, well, books, 

storage units for bins of fabric by color,

a very large closet for fabric yardage,

shoe organizers for fqs, nickels and strings,

fat quarters

nickels

2 1/2" strips

and lots of drawers and boxes for UFOs.

Tops waiting for quilting

OK, if you are still reading you can see I have squeezed a lot of great stuff into my dungeon. Yup, I call it my dungeon. Which hints at the problem. It is in the basement and has no windows. My dream sewing space would be in one of those big rooms over a double garage. But in this particular house, I am happy to have the room that I have. I just have a hard time getting excited about going down there. It's away from everything and everyone. I wouldn't ever complain because I feel so lucky to have it. And once I'm down there I am fine, but I often waste the day procrastinating about going down there.

Go HERE to read about others' sewing spaces.

Sewing Room cleanup - Stage 3

I am making real progress in my sewing room and I now have the ironing counter cleared off. It is a joy to be in there sewing again.

Before

After

Now don't be too impressed. I did put away a HUGE amount of stuff but all fabrics from the three cleanup stages so far have been piled up.

The fabric cleanup will be the very last project - no sense pulling out all the bins and drawers more than once. So, once I'm sure all of the fabric has been gathered then I'll tackle these piles. My fat quarters are hiding behind the fabric mounds.

Next up - Organize the UFOs and PIGS.

Sewing Room cleanup - Stage 2

 I made progress on cleaning up the sewing room. I finished what I consider to be Stage 2 - cleaning off the cutting table. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Aren't those cabinets great - I got them for free when a neighbor was redoing her kitchen. I should paint them white but I'd rather be sewing.

AT LEAST three more stages to go.

Sewing Room cleanup - Befores

Before I can start to do any sewing I need to clear a space to set up my sewing machine. All of my Christmas projects were worked on either on retreat or with the Friday Quilters. My sewing room has once again become a major catchall for all the remains of many, many projects. Do I dare show before pics? Sure, I love to see step by step signs of progress and boy, does this room need progress.

Before:

This is a view of the room from the door. Under that huge mound is the ironing counter.

Wouldn't my sewing table look better with the Bernina on it instead of all that mess?

Cutting station is actually not that bad.

After - Stage 1 - Sewing table is usable again. I love my Bernina 1090.

 

Hoping to make more progress soon.