It's Organized!!!

Yabba Dabba Do!!! The sewing room is finally organized! It's unbelievable how relieving this is. Even though it took four months and many times I wanted to cry and say to heck with it, the reward is so elating. Everytime I go into the room it's a shock! This cannot be my sewing area. Oh but it is! It really is!

Remember the Beginning ...

The Middle ...

The End!!!

The UV Protection light turquoise and gray-green fabric hanging are being auditioned for curtains for the fabric shelves.

Tips for when you decide to take on the undaunting and extremely rewarding task of organizing your sewing room:

1. Tell someone, even if it is blogged. This is for accountability.
2. Take before pictures - Yes, it is embarrassing but at the completion of the process it is extremely rewarding to see what you have accomplished.
3. Very Important: Clean up all paper, flatten cardboard boxes, stack containers and vacuum - yes, vacuum - when you finish for the day. Nothing is more fulfilling that day than the feeling you will have when you recycled or garbaged stuff.
4. Do what you can the first day or even week while you have the incentive and steam to pursue this task.
5. Now you have run out of steam and are getting discourage that you will never finish, set a timer for 15-30 minutes each time you organize your room. When time is up and you want to continue because you are on a roll, do it!
6. Who's stupidest idea was this? Where did it all come from? You definitely cannot see the tables, counters and floor any more. Remember it will get worse before it gets better.
7. Do not feel like working on the room. Then Don't! When I planned to be done in 1 month my friends laughed. It took me 4 months.
8. There will be little surprizes along the way, ie finding forgotten quilt projects, finding tools or patterns or even a favourite thing that you thought was long gone. Cherish these moments as it will bring a smile your face.
9. Ahhh, you can see a light at the end of the tunnel! Now all the little nitty gritty things surface. Again it is surprizing how long it takes to organize the little nitty gritty things. Sometimes as long as it took to do the large things.
10. That incentive and steam at the beginning comes back. Do what you can until... review tips 3 thru 8.
11. Before you know it YOU ARE ORGANIZED!
12. Take after pictures. You will have a smile from ear to ear and wonder how quilting happened in this room.

Drunkard's Path

Reorganzation of the main room is so close to completion that daylight finally touches the floor. Two 30" cubed boxes, a couple large bags and an ironing height open counter have been cleaned out and sorted into 4 large garbage bags:
1. useable scrap fabric for those making scrap charity quilts,
2. unuseable scrap fabric for recycling. Found a place that takes cotton fabric including blue jeans, that were once designated for blue jean quilts, and makes recycled paper,
3. craft supplies that are going to various groups of people that will use them.

In between all this, I completed the Drunkard's Path Table Runner / Table Topper and wrote the instructions for it. It's free for your enjoyment!

A New Year

I never tire of this gorgeous west view no matter which season. Today is especially grand as the mountains are at the front door.

This reminds me of a comment a newly arrived Easterner (a Toronto, Ontario, Canada person) said to me back in the 70's.

'The postcards are not fake; the mountains are actually that close!'

This new year also brings a fresh start to messy, disorganized rooms. Ok, so it started in October. Both the work tables and the APQ George table are finally cleared. There are 17, yes 17, large (58qt/55L) empty totes stacked in front of George.

It seems the WIP Fairy has been at work again. The more the reorganizing continues the more wip's are uncovered. Here are four more tops that are now ready for quilting. Thank goodness three are table topper/wall hanging size. The larger one on the work tables is the 'BWR Windmill' quilt in blue.

Happy New Year!

Another year has come and gone! Where did it go? How did it happen?

Wishing you a quiltabulous

& prosperous 2011!