March Organizing Task One

Posted on March 11, 2021 by prairiemoonquilts in Studio Organizing Challenge

Well, that went fast, didn’t it?

Were you able to find three troublesome things to deal with in your sewing space?

I have way more than three, but there were a few that were really bothering me.

ONE: My batting storage closet. I have EIGHT rolls of batting that belong to customers (who send me lots of quilts to quilt, so it’s easier to just keep their batting on hand in bulk), but it has filled up my closet until I don’t have room for any of my own batting! So I have a few rolls in places I really don’t want them to be, but as I get more caught up, I should eventually get them all corralled again. It’s so bad right now, I don’t even want to show a picture of it. Hopefully, in a couple months, I can get it more organized. I did clean out the closet, but that didn’t make it any bigger! It can only hold so much!

TWO: My office bookcase. I decided to tackle one shelf at a time, and I only have one shelf left to go. However, there is more stuff to put in the bookcase than will actually fit in the bookcase, so I’m weeding through it to see what can go, or be situated elsewhere.

Here’s its current state:

Here’s what’s left to either put in the bookcase or get rid of (not the cat — I can’t get rid of him!):

THREE: My scrap storage. Here’s how I’ve been keeping my pre-cut scraps stored (by size):

Here’s the problem: They’re all now so full (even tho I use out of them quite a bit), that on most of them, the lids will not close any more.

Since there are many nights that I have trouble sleeping, I lie awake trying to think of ways to do things better, more efficiently, etc. Sometimes I come up with a good idea, too!

My new idea for my scrap storage cost me a little bit of money, but I’m calling it a good investment. I purchased one more rolling cart (that matches the three I already have). The drawers in the cart hold more than the little bins I have them stored in now, and having the scraps stored in drawers instead of tubs will make them easier to both use from, and add to, which will save me time and frustration in the long run, and I’m all about that. I’ll show you more about it once I get everything moved over.

This will serve a couple other good purposes as well:

  1. I have a pile in my studio floor of stuff I don’t know what to do with. To make room for the cart, I’ll have to clean that up, and there won’t be room to make the pile back again — a good win!
  2. Moving the scraps out of the tubs and off the bookcase shelves in the end of my island will free up the tubs AND the shelves, so I can put other things away in those tubs and shelves and get them neatly stored. Or even get rid of the tubs if I determine I don’t need them (my ultimate goal).

So that was my three things, and you can see I have a long way to go. I still haven’t completely gotten rid of the pile on the end of my ironing board, but it did get a bit smaller.

Sometimes I still feel like I’m just moving stuff from one pile into another, or getting rid of one pile only to make one somewhere else. Someday, I hope that can stop happening!

What were your three things, and did you make any progress?

I hope you did, because now it’s already time for the next challenge. This time, it’s an easy one, thankfully:

For me, the hardest part will be deciding WHICH drawer! Maybe it will spread to cleaning out more than one drawer — that would be great.

How about you? Do you have a drawer that needs to be cleaned out and reorganized?

Remember, if you don’t need to do the task I’ve assigned, or prefer to do something different, you can draw out your own card (if you have a deck of the cards), or you can look back through past lists of tasks HERE and choose something different.

Or if you want to do more, you can draw out a card or choose a task from past lists more often. (You can get a deck of the cards HERE, if you want them.) We don’t all have to be doing the same thing, since I’m sure we all have different issues to deal with in our studios.

11 responses to “March Organizing Task One”

  1. Rose Marie Smith says:

    This doesn’t have anything to do with quilting but I cleaned out a drawer at my work station at church. Because of the shutdown I haven’t been there much. Boy was that an eye opener. At the back of the drawer were three pairs of clean white panties that I had there “just in case”.. LOL I had completely forgotten them. They have probably been there for more than 5 years I guess. But they are going to a donation site now. Will wash them one more time, of course.

  2. Wendy says:

    I don’t think I named three things, but I did get my sewing table organized. I had hoped to get it cleared (meaning, things relocated to another spot for good), but that didn’t happen. Still thinking on that. And I went through my bin in search of the panel and found two small UFOs to finish (one’s already done). As I was finishing that UFO, I realized I never did find the panel. LOL. Sheesh.

  3. Karen E. says:

    Shelly, I think you accomplished a lot! I understand storing batting for others makes sense for you and them, but think how much room you’ll have in that closet once those jobs are done and the batting moves out of your house as a finished quilt!

    I cleaned several drawers and will be able to share some things and donate others once I’ve had my 2nd COVID shot (this Saturday!) and waited 2 weeks. My groaning dining room table will be ever so grateful. I’ll be cleaning out other drawers with this new challenge. As always, thanks for your inspiration.

  4. Tonia says:

    Where did the month go? I have been cleaning up after myself…therefore I’m not making more disorganization…. Does that count? I have a drawer in mind..fat quarters that are sadly scrambled. See you all next month with one more drawer sorted….now, how do we keep them nice?

  5. PAULA M MORGAN says:

    I picked the room where I store the bulk of my fabric. I had plastic tubs, plastic drawers in two different rooms. I ordered comic book boards and folded everything over 1/2 yard. I was amazed at what I own… I have been organizing by color, not really folding-shoving more likely…I tend to put everything in the middle and work my way out… I ended up with some empty totes…thankfully as I needed a place to put all my fat qtrs till I decide how to fold! Other than folding the fat qtrs….I have a TON of precuts…jelly rolls, charms..layer…OMG I can not even think how I am going to handle those… Again I thank you for this motivation! Will send pictures for you to share tomorrow…

  6. Amanda M. says:

    I worked a bit on my piles but once I got my long arm fixed I’ve been quilting some. Yesterday morning I planted 16 cabbage plants, onion plants, spinach, peas, and carrots and radishes. I know it’s probably too early but the ground was ready. Thankfully I don’t have drawers for anything but sewing thread which is organized. I’ll continue working on my piles as it is an ongoing battle.

  7. Angie in SoCal says:

    Well, I found the panel I want to do. The pattern says it is 50 x 65″ . That’s not going to happen! Never did find those three. Too many to choose from so did none. Me bad.

  8. suzanne says:

    I wish I could send you a pic but I put a shelf up and with Eye bolts hanging down from the and used a broom handle to hold the batting roll. Saved me some space. I too have a few rolls here and no closet. I have seen people use the base of office chairs to place the rolls on. You can roll them out of the way and easily dispense the batting as you need. So I am on the look out for anyone disposing of an old chair. Right now they are all shoved in a corner.

  9. My three things didn’t happen 😢. I was too busy working on a quilt that HAD to be done and so my cart (which has 3 full, messy shelves) didn’t get cleaned or sorted. In fact it got stacked higher with the bits for my SAHRR. 😉. Instead of cleaning a drawer (which are all tidy) I’m going to put my cart back on the list for this month.

  10. Joan says:

    Had neglected to do the three piles, so did them yesterday when I read your post. Ended up starting another quilt–a small one–why not as I was almost at the bottom of the third pile!!! But those piles have disappeared, now on to the next task/a drawer this week.
    Thanks for motivating us. Also great job on donation quilts–fun to see them. My favorite is the last one, as I see you have a helpers boots and fingers in the picture!!!

  11. Cindy W says:

    I got 2 of 3 done – not the paper piles. Have pieced one panel and ready to start the 2nd. Since i got sick this week sat around and cut apart thrift store shirts (13) so that freed up closet space. Trying to catch up on scraps & put the shirts away. Pieced the batting & back for the panel so it is ready to quilt.

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