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| So easy to pile up your treasures |
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| Another "before" picture |
Somewhere along the line, I read articles about pristine sewing rooms. How could anyone sew in a place so neat and orderly? It just didn't seem right.
Then I
spent a weekend with my sister Jeanie and her husband David in
Colleyville, TX, located between Dallas and Fort Worth. My sister is
an excellent needleworker and has made the most amazing pieces of
needle art. She also is a dynamite seamstress. And she is very
organized. Everything is put away in labeled clear boxes and looks
so nice.
I admit
to excessive drooling.
Then, we
arrived home from a couple of NOMADS projects. Of course, I brought
home some more fabric and books from our travels. And could not find
a clear place anywhere in my sewing room to put them. Nowhere, and I
mean, absolutely nowhere. Not even on the floor.
This had
gotten out of hand. Plumb beyond ridiculous.
I
started researching blog articles on how to organize a sewing room.
Sure, many of the ladies who wrote the articles had bank accounts far
larger than mine and the companies who promote organization want you
to buy their products. You can spend a fortune in rearranging your
treasures.
Nope,
not me. I insisted on using what I had. Except I did learn about
foam board. What a wonderful product. But in my tiny mountain town
of Hayesville, where was I going to find foam board? Guess I could
order it, but it would never arrive before we left on the next
project.
So back
to the computer. Aren't computers great tools? Yeah – I found the
Dollar Tree chain sold foam board for $1.00/sheet. Now that was
something I could afford. But would the only Dollar Tree I knew of
anywhere near home (in Murphy, 15 miles to the west of Hayesville)
have foam board? I could not believe my eyes when I walked into the
store and there was my prize foam board. And it was even made in the
USA. Wow! What a find!
Now, you
are probably wondering what I needed foam board for? It's great for
wrapping your longer pieces of fabric around. In essence, I made my
own bolt boards. How? Oh, that's easy.
If I had
thought about it sooner, I'd have taken pictures showing how I cut
the board. But I used up every piece I bought so I'll try to explain
it.
You will
need:
Foam
board 30” x 20”
Razor
knife (I used the knife I use for cutting drywall board – with a
new blade in it)
Or an
Xacto knife should work24” Quilt ruler
Lay the
board on a cutting mat with the 30” side in front of you. Use the
24” quilter ruler and measure 23” from the left side. Cut the
board from top to bottom at the 23” mark. That will give you a
piece 7” x 20” on the right side. Take that piece and cut it in
half to made two 7” x 10” pieces. With the big piece, cut it
along the length to get two 6 1/2” x 23” and one 7” x 23”
pieces. I used the smaller pieces to wrap fabric that was less than
two yards long (lay this fabric out and fold into thirds along the
length then wrap on the small foam board). Fabric that was longer
than two yards was wrapped on the larger pieces. Pin the ends to
keep the fabric in place and, with a pencil, write the yardage on the
upper right corner. When you use any of the fabric, you can erase
and write the new yardage in the corner. Yeah! No more wondering
how long a piece of fabric is!
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| A "during" picture - many of my containers were gone through, fabric put aside for donation or folded on foam board |
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| "During" - looking into the computer alcove with everything trying to find a new home. The big containers in the middle hold my Quilt of Valor fabric - I need lots of that! |
Then, of
course, I went through all the remnants and supposed fat quarters.
Amazing how many of what I thought were fat quarters were not fat
quarters but some weird size. True fat quarters were all folded the
same way and put in a drawer. The weird pieces were either put in a
container for “Odd ball cuts” or thrown in the basket for really
weird pieces. Where else should they go? Certainly not into the
trash! I might need them someday.
And
since I love apparel sewing along with quilting, all the many and
various projects were put into containers that I already owned and
labeled. At one point I became horrified at the number and variety
of the things I have bought over the years and put on a shelf with
the idea of sewing it up some day. I will have to live to 150 years
old in order to have enough time to finish all these projects.
Then the
containers were stacked on top of my bookshelf or on shelves I
cleaned off for this purpose. With everything labeled, it's easy to
see what project is where.
Wow!
Four days of work paid off. As my pictures can attest, I now have a
neat, clean, and organized sewing room.
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| The final result! I am sooooo happy! |
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| Two of my bookshelves - the large is duly utilized for books and fabric. All the containers are labeled, the small bolts hold shorter fabric pieces, and the large bolts hold fabric longer than 2 yards. |
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| Another view of the other large bookshelf. The blank wall will eventually hold a big bulletin board and pictures, all of which I already own. |
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| The computer alcove and a Quilt of Valor waiting for binding (on tomorrow's list). Another blank wall waiting for who-knows-what. |
So what
did I do today? Stopped at one of my favorite quilt stores, A Stitch
in Time in Franklin, NC, to wish Courtney many happy days for her
upcoming wedding. And came home with a tunic top pattern and a
couple of fabrics I could not live without.
Do I feel guilty? Overwhelmed by it all?
Heck,
no!
I tell
everyone that before I die, I'm going to leave my sons a big note
here in my sewing room that reads: “Remember what mama said about
pay-backs?” And laugh all the way to Heaven.
More later . . .
