Happy New Year to all! May you have a year of amazing creativity and spark on your quilting journey, wherever you are on your path.
I am going to wrap up the blog posts on Organization for now by summarizing some of the discoveries I made about myself - and how I use my room. Now that we've moved into January, some of you might find some interest in some of the lessons I've learned. It's a good time to reinforce that organizing for quilters is a highly personal experience - so take what you like and leave the rest.
The last big enhancement was the redo of the office chair on New Years Day. I bought it used on Craigslist a couple of years ago, and it was showing its' age. I ran into a great deal on fabric to recover it...I'm happy! I will say that it took a lot longer than I expected it would.
Now, in re reading the last two blog posts, I realize that it sounds as if I don't utilize bins to store the stash - and that's not totally accurate. It's true that for me, it worked to take a lot (not all!) of the bins and empty them - or, more accurately, repurpose them. Here's a before and after set of pics from my closet which illustrates the point.
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| May 2012 - UFO's and PhD's in bins |
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January 2014 - bins holding quiltmaking stages
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I now use bins to hold supplies/resources that I use in different stages of the quiltmaking process...finishing the top supplies, threadpainting supplies and references, machine quilting references, etc. I do keep 4 separate (smaller) bins for special fabric types - juvenile fabrics, cotton precuts (I have found that most of what i have saved is in 2 and a half in strips, and 5 inch squares), batik precuts (same dimensions), and solid fabrics. The solid fabrics came about because I belong to a guild which is hosting a solid challenge this spring - so it made sense to me to keep them where I could find them. I also put all my 'jelly roll' style of patterns into one section of my bookcase.
Bins are wonderful organizing tools, and they are great to take on a retreat...just remember to unpack completely when you come back, and put all the materials back into the general area. I didn't do that, and that's how this happened...
This irks me because I went to a trade show with a shopping list (something else that will be easier to do now!), and I still came home with a dupe. Fortunately, it was only one....but I'm going to have to do a LOT of purple quilting to use this all of this thread!
Thats it for now...I'm working on the desk portion of the office now (and I have discovered a tool that is awesome for file organization)...I just want to work with it for a bit longer before I say anything, but it looks like all the paperwork in my office has a home...I know, what a concept.
I'd love to know whether this has been helpful to you in organizing your space. Email me at Linda@thepatchworkpearl.com if you have any more questions.
Oh, and it's a good thing to always leave room for growth...I do have one bin that's needing to be filled...and soon!
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| The bin I left for the Downton Abbey fabric from Andover Fabrics...it's a double wide! |
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