Studio Organizing, Week 4

Posted on January 25, 2016 by prairiemoonquilts in Studio Organizing Challenge

How did you do on the UFO you chose to work on last week?

I did pretty good — I finished cutting up all the homespun fabric into strips, and then pieced 33 blocks of the first quilt! I’ll hopefully be done with these and have it all gone soon. I saved the largest pieces for the backings, and that should finish off the entire stash, and I’ll have two empty tubs to use for something else (or just get rid of).

I had a hard time coming up with something that I wanted to do this week. I’m still having motivation issues! I can’t seem to get back into full gear yet this year — my slumps don’t usually last this long, and it’s annoying.

But I’ve slowly been working my way through my magazine pile, so that’s what I’ve chosen to concentrate on this week:

Work on organizing your books and magazines (and patterns)

I’ve already sorted through several over the last few days (just as a procrastination tool), so now I’m going to concentrate on them even more, and hopefully get rid of the pile in my office floor once and for all and have them all put away or gone.

magpile

I also have a couple boxes of books that I still have not unpacked since we moved in here three years ago. Every time I want one, I go digging through boxes — not convenient at all.

So I hope to get at least some of those unpacked and put where they belong, even though I believe this project will not get done in one week, and it’ll be an ongoing task.

How about you?

Did we do this task often enough last year that yours are completely under control?

Or have you let them get out of control and pile up again in places they shouldn’t?

Even if I didn’t have any more coming in periodically, I’d still have to work on this occasionally, because the ones I’m keeping are the ones I love, and I get them out and look through them. I’m not always real diligent about putting them away when and where I should! (I know this revelation shocks you.)

So there’s our task for this week. Some of you will find it super easy, and some of you will be like me, and have a job ahead of you — good luck!

12 responses to “Studio Organizing, Week 4”

  1. I worked every day last week on a UFO and a WIP so I count that chore as a success – even though it doesn’t seem like much, but that’s the nature of hand work.

    As to: Did we do this task often enough last year that yours are completely under control? – meaning printed matter – LOL – a retired librarian never has this under control – at least not this one. I did find three duplicate books (and I thought I’d found them all) which I will giveaway. This week I’ll work on mags. Now those are slowly going down.

  2. Barb B says:

    I’ve got a head start on this one. I’ve been inventorying all of my books, patterns, and projects, and updating my list. I do this once a year and track down books that have wandered to other parts of the house or have been loaned to friends. I’ve found several lost souls this time around. I’ve also gone through all of my project boxes, rearranged them, and added labels to the front. Much neater that way.

    It takes time to do all this, but I find that I get excited all over again about the projects and books that I do have.

    I still have to work on magazines. I( think they breed.)

    I have a lot of books. And projects. And patterns. And a fair amount of fabric. But that’s ok. It all makes me happy.

  3. Andi O says:

    When I moved into my new quilting studio, I bought a bunch of magazine holders from IKEA. Each holder is for a different type of magazine, so I am able to keep them sorted and in their correct folder. I do have to keep reminding myself to put them back in date/issue order when I pull one and then put it back, since it is easiest to just put it at the end…

    I have all the books on another shelf, but I don’t have them in any order. I look through them often enough to have a good idea of what is there, though.

  4. Rose Marie says:

    What I have done to organize is to empty out one more of the really large bins I was storing fabric in and put it in two smaller bins……….plus some loose fabrics that were lying around. The large bins were too big to lift and I wouldn’t take them out just to put in a piece or two of fabric. These smaller bins are nicer. But I made a mistake at Walmart. I bought two bins that are not like the two bins from my earlier trip. I thought about taking them back and getting bins all alike. But decided not to go out there again. I will just use the ones I have. Organization is hard!!

  5. sharon says:

    My books and magazines are all on shelves, but they need to be weeded out. But somehow that slump you have is contagious.

  6. Kathy F says:

    Well I put the binding on a twin 20 block UFO. I only did the binding not the blocks. This was in the closet of our quilt guild. Nobody likes to put binding on in my group. But I enjoy it. I do it by hand.
    I finished a pair of warm socks for my hubby today. Yeah me. I started them last March.
    I made a twin size afghan and have the blocks (80)ready to do another one.
    And I did get my sewing room done. I now have 3 work stations in there and yes I can easily walk around it all. I even fixed a place for my cutting table.
    And last but not least I purged all my quilting books. I gave over 200 away. I only kept what I have already planned to do. Wow, it’s a really good feeling to get rid of so much. I also gave ALL my scraps to a lady who loves to quilt but can’t afford to buy fabric.
    I have has a very busy month for sure. But there is a good reason for it too. I have WAY too much of everything. I needed room. And I am facing the possibility of have hip replacement (2) both in the near future. So I will not be doing much of anything for a while. But I will be sure to keep posting all that I do.

  7. Karen Edwards says:

    I worked a lot in my sewing room toward the goal of getting things in the right places and hoping to empty one or two large flat plastic tubs. I ended up with one more tub in there! I did move it from the studio, but I didn’t succeed in reducing the total. The room does look way better though, which I feel sure will please my new cleaning angel.
    I have finished 10 UFOs since Christmas and am feeling really good about that. I’ve quilted and bound eight tiny quilts and have put bindings on two larger ones.
    Getting rid of quilting books and magazines is a nearly overwhelming task here, but I’ll start on that too.
    Nice to read what everyone else is doing.

  8. Mary says:

    I have purged lots of magazines and taken them to guild meetings. The ones that aren’t taken will be for sale at the guild show. My books are in 4 Ikea bookcases which I would show you if I knew how to transfer the picture from my phone 😉 Last week I finished the last 9 of 31 10″ log cabin blocks and sewed them into a top for QOV with 1 block left for a pillow case. Now I must dig into the closet for borders. In between I’m working thru fibro fog by making 25-patch blocks for a Film at Five quilt, but need to stop to quilt a quilt for a nephew in AK. Funny how the word ‘quilt’ is so close the word ‘guilt’ 😉

  9. Liz says:

    I am all caught up on this task…YAY!!!
    My magazines are all piled nicely. I also keep a few magazines in a basket in the living room to look through.

    I am getting into the habit of once I am done with a magazine, I will give it to my friends who would like them. (= Keep the clutter out of my house and into another. LOL

    Still working on last week UFO. It is my ONLY UFO I will work on this year. My Dear Jane is the oldest and I am determine to finish it this year.

  10. Meloney says:

    I’ve made progress on my UFO, but have not completed anything this week. 🙁 I really want to get something else done.
    I’m having motivation problems on getting this one quilt off the long arm. Maybe today.

    Well, my bookshelf is still good.
    I have found MORE magazines.
    I swear they are hiding and multiplying while in seclusion. 🙁

    I will work on going through them this week and see if I can donate more magazines.
    If I have time, I’ll look through some of the books on the shelf and see if any need to go.

  11. Eileen says:

    I’ve been busy! Finished painting the sewing room walls, and now working on the trim, window seat and door painting. I’ve moved the dresser and desk over to the far wall and set my computer back up.
    Got side tracked with the ice storm a week ago and 29 hrs without power. Lost everything in the freezer and fridge so had to restock! All this in addition to taking care of the hubby with dementia. Just feeling a bit better after having a bout of salivary stones and some nasty fibro muscle flares.
    But I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!
    good luck to all

  12. Celine says:

    I finish the UFO I had on my list for January so I am happy 🙂

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