So I’m not so organized after all
A new blog series - coming May 2023!
Over the course of the past several days, I have come to terms with the fact that my sewing space isn’t nearly as well organized as I thought it was in some key areas. An honestly well organized space will support you In your craft, and you won’t wind up wasting time or money (or both) which can really mess with your creativity.
In my space, the fabric is stacked and sorted, and the thread is fairly well managed. There are other areas which were, frankly, disasters once you look closely at them. One change the pandemic brought to Organized Linda was the recognition of what Backstock was and how to use it. Backstock simply means the extras you keep on hand so you don’t run out. The one area that most people can relate to was the toilet paper shortage recently, but I’ve used the concept for years in such things as coffee and panty hose (when I used to wear panty hose).
In the past week, here’s what happened to me…
I have had several converging deadlines taking aim at me this month, and I needed a way to keep on track so that I knew I was making the best use of my time. I have a very difficult time in managing more than 1 UFO at a time – and I have 2 that I am currently working against deadlines on. Simultaneously. There’s a third that most likely will slip unless I can manufacture some time in the next 10 days, which is, at best, unlikely. I have found this planner by Lynn Christensen of Emerald Falls Quilts (on Instagram) that I have incorporated so that I can see at a glance what needs to be worked on when. It has helped me focus on the priority of the day. And to see my progress, which is also a big motivator.
Thank you to Emerald Falls Quilts for this free pdf…I’ll be using it a lot. And her IG is fun to follow!
Now that I knew which two projects needed my immediate attention – the first step was to get them both to the same stage – ready to quilt. To me, that means it’s time to pull out the batting box and assess that, and to grab the can of spray baste. I keep the batting in my space in a large hamper that’s more tall than wide – and all the batting that I have has to live in that container. It works because when I restock it, I place the unopened package of batting in the bottom or the box, so that I know I always have at least 1 king size batt at the bottom. I opened that last package so I know that I need to look at batting sales (or a road trip to the distributor – coming in May).
I grabbed the spray baste that I’ve been using forever, and began to spray the quilt. That can was on its’ last legs, and that’s something that didn’t particularly bother me, because I knew I had other half-opened cans in the cupboard. They were all empty as well – which caused a momentary panic in me. I needed that stuff fast in order to make my deadlines, and so in a trade off between fast and cheap, I went with fast. And added spray baste to the shopping list for the distributor.
Empty spray baste (and more garbage) leaving the sewing space last week!
My desk is an ongoing struggle, but looking at the pile of chaos wasn’t helping me focus my energy where it should be. My desk and the sewing space are in the same room, and there are times I find that very distracting. I created 3 action folders on my desk (File, Shred, Recycle) and I use that daily. It does help – but this week I moved the TO FILE folder to the front of the desktop file box, and placed an appointment in my calendar for Friday afternoon for some clean up time before I leave for the ‘day’. It should cut down on the lists.
Attempting to calm the chaos on my desktop…front and center
In finishing the tops, I had scraps to put away, and this is an area that I have never had a good system for. I’ve tended to just let it pile up. That’s not a system, that’s deferment – and I have a plan in place to take care of that in May. There’ll be a blog post coming along on that later, but in the meantime, I put my grandsons to work sorting the chaos that was under my cutting table.
Earlier last week, I was focused on registering for classes in Vermont, I was looking for the remnants of my class from Maine quilts last summer – that I had absolutely no idea where I had put it. It wasn’t in the place it should have been, and I had a bad case of brain fog…it was located in the bin of scraps (another reason I need a better scrap management system).
All for now - I need to get back to quilting.