September Studio Organizing, Task One
Posted on September 15, 2022 by prairiemoonquilts in Studio Organizing ChallengeI’d like to say I’ve been working on organizing, but I can’t. I haven’t been organizing — I’ve been putzing.
I have cleaned out a couple tubs of stuff.
I’ve put away some fabric.
I’ve dealt with some scraps, and even finished a couple quilt tops.
I cleaned out some file folders, and filed some loose papers.
But it’s all part of my slump, and it happened because I’ve been wandering around my studio looking at stuff, but not really DOING anything productive much. Just putzing.
I was hoping that as fall arrived, my mojo would come with it. Some days, it visits, but it doesn’t stay long, and it doesn’t come back around soon enough or often enough for me to get much done. But I’m hopeful that soon it will come back and settle in. If not, it’s gonna be a long, cold, boring winter for me! Haha!
Anyway, I’ve decided enough of this wallowing (and putzing) — it’s time to see if I can force myself into something productive. So here I am with this month’s first organizing task. And while it may once again be the only one for the month (I only managed one in August), at least it’s a re-start.
What are we going to do?
Well, since I’m short on imagination these days, I went to the deck of cards:
And this turns out to be a timely one for me. I’m taking my sewing machine in for service next week, so that will be a great time to clean the area around it.
In addition, I need to clean the area BESIDE my sewing machine. I have about 5 leader/ender projects all stacked up here willy nilly, and the empty tub is from having finished my log cabin blocks, so I need to get all that stuff reorganized.
So that’s what I’ll work on, and maybe having it all clean and neat will help my mojo return!
How about you? Is your sewing area getting a bit untidy? Have you recently finished something and need to put away the leftovers and regroup on the next thing? Or do you just need to pick up a few things and put them away?
Let’s do it!
My sewing area isn’t to bad so this will be a breeze…I hope! I try to clean each time I sew and this does help with the clutter quite a bit but there are a few little piles that need “putting away”! Sorry to hear you have lost your mojo and know there are quite a few people feeling the same…hopefully it will return and stay!
Finally I’m taking things out of the bedroom and into the new sewing room. Everything is in bags and boxes. I’m waiting for Ikea to deliver some Kallax cupboards, but also using part of the built in wardrobe for bigger things like larger yardage. I can’t believe I still have a load of stuff to find a home for! There is a nice quilt show next month and I’ll be visiting the people that do the Handiquilter longarms. I may get to finish some quilts this year!
Other than that, everything is in a corner and the machines are free of clutter! Whoohoo!
I hope your cleaning mojo and sewing mojo returns! You definitely don’t want a LONG boring winter!
I will be cleaning up around my sewing machines!! Thank you for the motivation to do so!
Last month I organized and purged all my books, magazines and patterns. My sewing table is in pretty good shape and I vacuumed the floor yesterday. I do have a second sewing machine table that has a bunch of stuff I’m trying to clear, mostly by finishing the project, so I can get it out and have space for a larger ironing area along with some sort of scrap management system. Haven’t found the right solution yet and don’t see myself building something. I also don’t see it getting finished in a month but it is my area of focus till I can manage without it😊
This past 6 weeks I have been going through clearing, 3 piles – stuff for my sister, stuff for thrift store, and stuff if I can find a spot I will keep….Just kidding, need to decided sister or thrift. I rearranged my sewing area in that I have 2 tables plus my sewing table in a corner, so I can maybe quilt my block count from last month. I started the Alison Glass mini sal, so cleaning around my sewing machine would be a good idea!
I sure wish I had a mess of clutter. Having just moved in and then gone for a month my clutter is every where. And here I am gone again and then home for 10 days and gone again. Right now I wish I was to be home bond for a while.
Shelly, I’m always amazed by you.You talk about your lack of mojo and that you are just putting but then you list all these things you have done!!! I don’t think you realize how little the rest of us get done by comparison. I think what you see as slowing down is just becoming more normal.
This sounds like a good thing. I’m working thru a paper box of scraps that has be sitting beside my sewing desk for a few years. I am setting a timer and working on it 30 minutes a day. So far so good.
I also want to thank you for getting me started on keeping my cutting area and ironing area clean. (No piles of fabrics). Because of your monthly clean ups more than once for these areas I have gotten into a habit of doing that all the time. It is so nice to be able to cut/iron without the clutter☺️
I’m aiming on switching out my kitchen table where I have my cutting mat and sewing machine. My mojo is gone as well; reckon ours are out running around together?! I’m hoping to get more stuff done once I get the tables swapped. I’ve also been living by that Scarlet O’Hara quote “After all, tomorrow’s another day.”
The wonderful weather outdoors keeps me away from sewing much. Therefore projects have been languishing–but there are some mid-October and November finishes to aim for. We will have a story book & quilt (that relates to the story) open house at the library over a long weekend and we will have a project half done completion show ‘n tell–both through a quilt guild I belong to–FUN! Thank you for setting another target to aim for, as my sewing machine has at least five projects surrounding it that need to either be worked on next or stored away for another challenge!
I did something totally out of my comfort zone.
I attended a National Association of Certified Quilt Judges seminar.
I am now looking at quilts from an artistic view point as well as workmanship. It was intense but I learned so much.
I feel revived !
My studio is messy at the moment but I am catching up and I am motivated!
At this point in unpacking and organizing, am just glad I have both embroidery machine and quilting/piecing machine up, running, and all accessories accounted for. I am actually working on this organization task right now! I thought I had the solution with some nifty file cabinets that are just the right height to slide under the sewing tables and provide drawers for “stuff.” Alas, Amazon will be getting them back!! Might as well be made of cardboard as flimsy as they are. So, my modified organization task is finding ones that WILL work for my stuff stashing!
I’m still working on strings. Have finished one quilt and am working on 2 others. Need to tackle the rest of the strings in the trash bag they came in. I’m hoping next week to press trim and put away the rest of the strings so I can move on to something else.
You’re organizing project comes at a great time for me. I really need to clean the area around my sewing machine.
Sewing machine area ok but cutting table has been dumped upon – guess i will do it after jury duty tomorrow.
I cleaned my quilting area because I was having a guest I wanted to show around all my stuff. Since I use the room for my computer and clothes storage and husband’s bed, I can’t let it get too messy. But the clothes closets needed some help. I am trying very hard to use up lots of fabrics and not buy new ones. LOL. Went to Ben Franklin and found a few!! Thanks for keeping us on track, Shelly.