It's All About the Org.

Take one glance at my "guest" (hahahahhaaaa) room or my basement ::shudder:: and you would never know I am capable of great organizational feats. Well, you would never know I'm not a complete disaster. Well, (hey if I keep digging down for the truth on this one it's gonna get ugly...)

When our Dear Jane club leader challenged us to document how we organize our quilting stuff I had to laugh. I can't even quilt right now -- that room is *that* bad. 

Still, I wanted to show up for class and not have to say the dog ate my homework again. So I pulled off an adrenaline-fueled cliff notes kinda thing and here it is:

C L E A R  .  P L A S T I C  .  S T O R A G E  .

Why?  It's see-through. You can see what you have. It's a little more elegant than colored totes with colored lids. It minimizes the cluttered effect of a very cluttered space. You never need to worry about matching anything or getting enough cause if it's all clear/white, it will always match. I stand by it.

Magazine Storage. I keep a handful on file - design reference only...

Panning down we see my wide array of plastic storage options... Bins, large & small, envelopes, folders, shoeboxes... OK, this looks pretty bad I suppose, but it is actually organized. That box that says "Bills" is just to see if you're paying attention. There really aren't any bills in there. I can't go any further down though, it wouldn't be pretty.

Little bins in big bins... This is what remains of my craft & scrapbook supplies... I'm completely converted to quilting and I don't think I'm ever going back.

Large bins for large collections... I swear these were folded when I put them in this cabinet.

Fabric by type: modern/colorful, 30s repro, sock monkey, batiks... My largest collection, the civil war repros are broken down further by color and value. When I started my 'Jane's Addicted' quilt a couple years ago I went through the whole shebang and reorganized specifically for that quilt. I think I need to hit it again though...

Smaller bins for smaller collections...

Plastic pouches & ziplocs for needlework...

Smallest bins - my collection of charm packs.

Teeny tiny boxes for teeny tiny projects... Here are my hexies... So cute. 

B O O K S   &   B I N D E R S

This is about a third of my creative books/catalogs. I keep old Hancock's of Paducah catalogs for fabric reference... You can't see this but there are a zillion post its sticking out the other side of all of these.

Besides clear plastic storage, the other thing I'm a little obsessed with is Binders and sheet protectors. This is from my fabric binder. For awhile there I was printing out swatches of every fabric line that interested me. Organized by manufacturer, then designer, then line. I couldn't keep up with it but I wish I could.

Sometimes I use it as an inventory tool... I just note what I have of each fabric. Again, good idea but hard to maintain. The little tabs on the side are handy for customizing your binders.

N E E D L E W O R K

Just a bunch of silk floss in a bag. Gotta keep things contained. I got most of these
at a thrift store (!!) for a couple bucks total. Yee haw.

These clear plastic envelopes are great for a needlework project. The plastic is rigid enough that it helps protect a pattern book. The clear is handy cause you can see at a glance what you're packing. And they fit neatly in your briefcase...

Another needlework storage solution. Large plastic vinyl zippered pouch for the instructions and fabric. These are very durable. Probably at least water resistant - maybe not water proof... Small one (or ziploc) for the thread and other notions.

Q U I L T I N G   .   P R O J E C T S

I use 12x12x6-ish totes with a handle on top. They stack and you can easily pick them up and take 'em with you when you're leaving the house. I wish mine had clear or white lids but they have blue. Yes, it annoys me but what can you do.

In the bottom I put the bulkier/uncut fabrics.

Then the cut scraps.

Then the finished blocks or block components...

Followed by the design notes & pattern.

Finished quilt top on top.

Here's another example... larger fabric pieces on the bottom.

Scraps.

Design notes and pattern. This one is done but it's out for quilting...

Always helps to put a color, large-ish photo of the project on the end of the box so you can see at a glance what's what.

T O   .   G O   .   K I T S 

Our club leader Val is a master at this. I could learn a thing or two from her on this topic - and have ! Here's what mine usually looks like... english paper piecing templates, fabric scraps for that, finished pieces, mini sewing kits, smaller scale notions... 

Tins and little cases are handy. I really love that thread bobbin tin. The magnetic grommit is great for holding threaded needles.

That's it for now. If I ever get the floor cleared off and reorganize the room I'll post pics. : )

Prepifestivus!

Piles and Piles of Pattern Piece Pages

So... I was at my Dear Jane bee yesterday and what do I find sitting on the table tucked behind the lemonade, leaning against the wall all unobtrusivelike? A humble paper bag stuffed with a big old pile of paper, the word "Free" scrawled across it in black magic sharpie. I hesitantly peek inside and lo and behold?? Can we all join hands, rock back and forth and say... JACKPOT?? piles and packets and parcels of pre-printed Dear Jane pattern piece pages... ppppppppppppppp As if that wasn't great enough, many of them were printed on what appears to be Carol Doak foundation paper. : ) yeee haw! I double checked with the hostess and sure enough, she said they were cast-offs from a previous incarnation of a Dear Janer group and we were free to take and use. Once I culled through it, it turned out there were about 100 patterns - just about half of the 225 needed for this project... about $10 worth of specialty paper, about $10 in ink (I swear, that friggin ink!) and of course HOURS of labor. Boy, was I happy. It was like Christmas for a quilter! : )

the loot!

the pile included three complete sides of triangles for a total of 39 block patterns...
here I am referencing my triangle directory (sorted by side)

I highlighted the triangles I got printed patterns for in this windfall...
Since I had already printed some of the top row, it looks like
I just have about 5 or 6 to print and I'm done with triangles.

This is my view inserting each pattern into a page protector
(see the new, giant box of 200 back there?) After a year of working
on this quilt I am almost done with prep. Oh, ok - I still have to cut out
all of these friggin patterns... : )

...and the final prep stage - the cut pattern pieces ready to go...

Storage and Binderization:

It started with one binder. I was all cocky with my fancy one-touch binder and my page protectors and my tabbed divider pages and binder geek accessories. (binder geek right here). I heard people in.the.know saying you need 2 or 3 binders for this gig. Sure enough, now I'm up to three and contemplating a fourth. I have a generic, general one. And then I have two enclosed/zipper binders - one for triangles/corners and one for the regular blocks. Since the one for regular blocks is basically maxed out with just the pattern pieces, and only about 25 blocks, I am going to have to make another move. The other thing I wanted to do was have a work/portable case. One of the binders would be great for that since they zip up. The work case would have a couple blocks' worth of patterns & fabric, a small cutting board, sandpaper board, and misc. supplies. So yeah, I guess I probably need to buy TWO more binders for a total of 5. This is an undertaking, man, I tell you. But I'm loving every minute of it. The other thing I need to get on top of is keeping track of fabrics used. I have been setting them aside and cutting some swatches, but I have already goofed this up a few times and I need a system.