Studio Organizing, Week 30

Posted on July 26, 2016 by prairiemoonquilts in Studio Organizing Challenge

Well, it’s Tuesday. I can hardly believe I actually know what day it is, but it also means I missed posting this week’s organizing task on Monday.

You see, I just returned from a 5-day retreat in Minnesota with some of my very best friends — an entire set of extra sisters, really — and I spent yesterday cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the bathroom, unpacking, opening mail, going through email, and making a run to the grocery store. Cowboys don’t much seem to care if the sink is full of dirty dishes and you’re on the verge of running out of toilet paper. And mine doesn’t even seem to mind eating cereal three meals a day!

I suppose I could call that enough organizing for one week, but I’m presenting a task this week anyway, because none of those had anything to do with organizing my sewing space.

So this week’s task is:

Work on organizing your scraps

Last week I gave us all permission to start a new project using up those scraps, but if you’re like me, it didn’t make a dent, and you still have some more scraps to organize.

I started my guild’s mystery quilt project, which requires using nearly 1000 2 1/2″ squares. While I can now get the lid back on my bin of 2 1/2″ squares, I still have way too many scraps to deal with, and if I concentrate, I’m sure I can fill that bin right back up!

How about you?

I also have lots of stray fabric to put away where it belongs, and it could make a world of difference in how neat my studio could look, and how clear my cutting table could become.

Do you have this problem? Or is it just me?

7 responses to “Studio Organizing, Week 30”

  1. karin says:

    Well I thought I was the only one with bags and bags of scraps !! Can you share the project of the 2 1/2 square . I bet we would love to see the project.

    Take care,
    Karin

  2. Kathy Fraser says:

    A long time ago, I vowed that I would keep my squares no matter what size they were organized. It took some doing but I did it. Here is what I used.
    When we go to the grocery store I usually pick up a lot of fruit. Most of the fruits I get come in clear plastic containers of various sizes. Now I have a lot of these. Most of them are large so I can fit a lot in them.
    In one I have about 2500 2 1/2″ squares. In another I have 1500 2 1/4 squares. And so on and so forth. You get the idea. I have the all up to 7 1/2″ like that. I have the boxes marked and stacked in my closet in my sewing room. My room is very small so I have to stay organized.
    I don’t know what has happened to me but my interest in quilting has waned a lot. But I pick it up at least 2 times a week and trudge on. This has happened a few times to me. It does pass but it last sometimes a few months. I hope it passes soon. I have a lot to do.

  3. Wendy says:

    Wait — What? You were in Minnesota??? Shoot! I missed you! Anyway, yesterday I made a mess of my quilt room by deciding to go through quilting magazines. I really need to just toss ’em, seriously. If I can rearrange that mess, I might dig out my scraps and have some fun organizing them. Who needs to finish something for a blog post anyway, right?? 😀

  4. Judy S. says:

    No, it is a daily struggle. Refolded and reorganized my stash yesterday which made me feel much better. Now, I need to attack the table where I throw all the WIPs.

  5. Meloney says:

    My scraps are now fairly organized. I have bins with the scraps in them. Now, I could go through each bin, but I wouldn’t be quilting if I did that. 🙂
    So, I do think I am almost OK in this area for this moment in time.
    http://melsquiltingblog.blogspot.com/2016/07/prairie-moon-studio-organization.html
    I am using more of the scraps in my two projects on the design wall. I think I will continue last week’s task.

  6. Rose Marie says:

    This is a tempest in a teapot. Remember Betty H? She had a bin marked “pieces too small to be used.”
    I just spent a day trying to use some 2.5 X 4 inch rectangles. When I finished piecing them in the desired pattern, it still didn’t work. It was too narrow and long. Now I have to take that apart and figure out how to make two projects. I would have been better off just starting a new UFO from brand new fabric. Mwa-ha-ha!

  7. Kate says:

    How do you decide how to sort your scraps? Do you decide by size, color or shape? Do you cut pieces as you work? Do you toss them in pile and sort later? I am searching for a method that I can adopt.

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