Over a year ago I found a really neat fabric, purchased 3 yards of it, and when I got home I went through my stash and found complimentary fabrics for the backing of a lap quilt and lining of a tote bag. I put it all into a bag and then tucked it away. And I tucked it away so well I couldn't find it where it "should be"! It took me almost a week of intermittent searching, but I found it! I'm getting toward the end of piecing a queen size bed quilt with 81 blocks with 72 pieces of fabric in each block -- yes, that is NOT a typo! -- and am ready for a bit of a break, so I thought I'd at least get the fabrics and batting cut and assembled and basted for the lap quilt and tote bag -- and then couldn't find the stuff! I'm generally very well organized, and this was really frustrating, but at least I found it!
Well, if i can encourage you in the search: today I found the key to my mailbox. It was barely four inches from where it should have been, but some gremlin (probably me!) had put it into my glasses case within the drawer under the phone. The key is supposed to sit just outside the case. Of course, I probably meant to put my glasses in the case ! It's been 'lost' a good few days >g< . In message , Sandy writes
So far the best system I have found is to completely move everything from one room to another. I am nearly done moving into the finished "sewing eyrie" and the number of things I'm unearthing in the bedroom is scarcely to be believed. I thought I had UFOs under control, but I find that most of my UFOs are garments, not patchwork, so I was in some sort of UFO-denial I'm sure. I hope to finish them before Tristan outgrows them.
I'm glad the lost sheep have returned to the fold. And I can't wait to see photos of the blocks that have 72 pieces of fabric in each block. How many different fabrics did you use in the project? Did you use regular piecing, paper piecing, hand stitching? And how big are the blocks? Curious minds want to know all these things and won't be satisfied until photo evidence is forthcoming! ;-)
Sunny (I've lost 5 yards of steam-a-seam II and no matter what it just will not be found. Grrrrr Maybe you could come look for my lost sheep?)
I think I am like Sandy (and a lot of others). The room I work in is just small. It is more space than I have ever had but it has limits. I really need to move some stuff on. It is tough to part with much of it though. Basket, bins and good shelving seem to be the best way to go. Leslie is the pro on putting together a sewing room. Do you have a lot of space in your new place? Taria
The blocks are 12", and have only 2 different fabrics, including 1" squares, 2" squares, and half square triangles based on the 2" squares. They are a bit like a Jacob's Ladder but on speed, and the assembly will have the blocks turned so the overall pattern shows on a minimum group of 4 blocks, and the overall look is one of movement. It's a pattern I designed when I was stuck in a very boring meeting in Washington about 10 years ago, and although I generally do not make repeats of any patterns I design, I want a quilt in this pattern for my bed. About the time I finished the first one, my sister got married, and had admired it from start to finish, so I gave it to her. (People who beg, whine, and hint never get a quilt from me, but she just kept drooling and was stunned to get it -- and uses it every day!) But THIS ONE one I am going to KEEP! I am hand-piecing everything, and will do all the quilting by hand, too -- stitch-in-the- ditch. I enjoy doing hand-piecing and find that I can get very good accuracy that way. However, when I prepare the fabric pieces, I use a stencil rather than a regular template and mark the stitching lines themselves and simply eyeball the cutting itself. (I get that plastic template stuff that comes in 8 1/2 by 11 sheets with 1/4" grid lines, and cut holes in it that are all 1/2" apart, so I can mark an entire sheet's worth of 1" squares, a sheet of 2" squares, a sheet of HST, etc. And then I save the sheets for future quilts. It's easier and faster to mark going around the insides of a hole than around the outside of a square.) It may be a backassward way to do things, but it works for me and I get good results. I hope that by the time I get part of the top assembled I will have figured out how to post photos on the internet!
The best hint for a small sewing room is 'look up'. Run a shelf about 12 in. wide around the room so the shelf sits on top of the window and door frames/trim. Use shoebox sized plastic bins each labeled for everything you need to store- pins/needles, thimbles, Velcro, zippers, templates, stabilizers, patterns, marking pens/pencils, etc. They will stack two high if you have the usual 8 ft. ceilings with 12 in. available above the trim. (You can buy 1X12 lumber and shelf supports and tubs for an entire room for well under $100. The plastic tubs are $1 each at the dollar stores.) Closets usually have several feet available above the shelf/clothing rod- put in a second shelf and stack fabric or tubs on the higher shelf- and keep a step stool handy.
Larger tubs stack well on cheap bookshelves that will fit under the shelves mentioned above- they will work for many UFOs and larger items. Kitchen cabinets are good, too. That's what I use- I'm not hard on my cabinets so I buy the cheapest ready made cabinets I can find. Hang them at ceiling level and you can run a row (or two???) of shelves under the cabinets. Or hang the cabinets about 18-24 in. below the ceiling and stack the tubs on top of the cabinets. Your ironing board and sewing and cutting tables will fit under the cabinets. (Be sure to measure *everything* first before installing the cabinets!)
There's always more space if you look hard enough!
When I go to Heaven, I'm going to be 5'10" and nimble. Just thought I'd mention that so you'll recognize me. In the meanwhile, if you try any of Leslie's grand 'up' storage ideas, we need to talk about step-stools. Some are too heavy, some too much trouble and some downright dangerous. The favorite here is made by Sterilite and it's a keeper. Strong enough to support a guy installing sheetrock to the ceiling, easy to carry and surfaced with a non-slip sort of texture. If you're going up, find a safe way to get there. Polly
Why is it that when you do find something you return to the place you were going to use it in and find it is no longer in your hand and you have to find it again! Have just done that with a loaf of bread I took out of the freezer. Found it in the bedroom.
Smile Well, there is a fair amount of space, but an awful lot of stuff' >g< It isn't that there is a lot of any one category - but heaps and heaps of categories! That's what makes the storage and retrieval systems so difficult! That's where I fall down: thinking the same logic for filing and retrieval! . In message , Taria writes
Hmmm you might have something there. When I get the carpenters in to change the doors next year, I'll think about the top corners of the room. Thanks Leslie! And - I'll invest in lots of labels. . In message , Leslie& The Furbabies in MO. writes
The trouble is when I look up I see floor to ceiling glass windows and a glass roof as its a Conservatory! (I've a small fan on my table which I point directly at me when its hot!)I have one piece of wall at 'my' end which is approx 3ft wide, and which has a wall light on it which means no high shelving.There is a unit with 2 deep shelves which I have put clear plastic drawers (salvedged from a 'fridge) on. Quilting threads live in one drawer and freezer paper etc. in the other. On the top is a small tv. Between this and my table is a set of wire baskets on wheels which houses sandwiching tools, various stiffeners, iron, etc, and the threads in general use.
The table is a large computer one with a small extra table on wheels which pulls out to make an L shape. Under the extra bit I keep another smaller wire-basket trolley with general bits and bobs like scissors, pens, tape measures, etc. in the top, all sorted into open boxes as dividers, Then machine feet, gadgets, etc in the middle section and quilting threads at the bottom. I do find these wire baskets on wheels incredibly useful.
I have another small table against the window into the house with a quilt over the top, and two plastic boxes containing quilts in progress and scraps hidden below. I can iron on this, though for major ironing I import the ironing board that lives in the utility room.
At the other end of the room there are two large plastic boxes hidden under the settee, and 8 middle size plastic boxes containing the stash sorted by colour are piled by the only other wall (which has the radiator against it and a set of wall lights so you can't put any shelving there). It's covered with a cloth and guarded by Mia who sits in a small shopping basket on top!
My big ruler and cutting board live under an old oak chest in another room for safety against heat etc., and anything vaguely resembling embroidery equipment lives in one section of the spare bedroom cupboard which I have labelled mine. Batting is in the loft as are backings - its warm and dry up there - no mice or insects, and when I need its it only takes a couple of minutes to nip up there.
Oh, I have another box for loose patterns/folders etc. and my books live in the main bookcase. I do major cutting out on the dining table.
UFO's which I label 'Work in progress' live in various soft type suitcases together with any papers relating to them and their binding etc. These are the only bits that annoy me - I have places to keep them when they're finished, so life will be easier and tidier when this happens!!
My design 'Wall' is a piece of batting mounted on an old cardboard roll which I tie onto the window blind rails to use, and then roll up to put away.
So it is possible to survive with the minimum amount of storage.
So now I'll go and get rid of lots of quilting cotton ends - the one job I hate, even with Pat's quick and easy way - there are just too many stops and starts on this one - its a grid round applique and because its double sided doing the grid before the applique wasn't an option.
Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~uk
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Leslie& The Furbabies > The best hint for a small sewing room is 'look up'. Run a shelf about
I also have the same er problem. I got some lovely fabric for my birthday and had put it away for a special project I have in mind and have been looking for it for about 4 months now. Guess where I found it, in my ribbon tin. I am so glad to have found it so now my project can continue.
I've _found_ so many things in my trawl through my 'Heaven'; and not just UFO's. Patterns I thought I'd thrown away; fabric pieces from way back when and even gadgets that even I had to pause before I recognised!
Found a great way to stop paper-type rolls unfurling, though. Get a Post-it and wrap it round the roll. It undoes in a jiffy, can be used to label the roll (Quilting paper; triangles-on-a-roll etc) and won't leave a dent, like an elastic or ribbon does. Haven't tried it on fabric, but then I don't tend to keep those on rolls, and I would need to check if the glue made a mark on fabric (or was strong enough).
And it was fun going through all those magazines I kept. When I needed a break, I took a box/pile downstairs, put my feet up with a cup of tea (or something) and did a few. I'd go through, ruthlessly. I'd tear out articles, patterns, adverts that were interesting and put each one in a polypocket and straight into a looseleaf file. The little adverts and 'tips' got stuck on an A4 card and when it was full, that got put into a polypocket, too. Now all I need to do is finish segregating the pages into categories. I can do it bit at a time, and fantasize over all those projects I _might_do in the future (and chuck a few more out into the bargain )
There were still some magazines that will be kept in their entirity, but I reduced about eight feet's worth into three ringbinders. All that shelf space! And let's face it, most of those 2000-2003 shops and machines are defunct now. I tried a couple... pity.
And I came across an article about an RCTQ meetup in Harrogate, too. Surprising what you can find.
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