Moving My Piles Around

That's what my husband calls it whenever I try to clean/declutter/organize my things.

He's not wrong.

I am STILL trying to get my sewing areas better organized. I really, really dislike having to move something to get to something else. I also like to have things in sight and easy to reach.

I decided the sewing area in the corner of the living room needed to be a little more tidy.

I have an eight drawer unit that holds scraps organized by size. It had gotten really messy. At least two drawers were filled with miscellaneous items that definitely were not fabric. That caused me to forget which drawer held the 2 1/2" strips or the 3" strips and I had to open several drawers to find what I was looking for. 

Those drawers and the whole area is now cleaned out and better organized. I have two projects that I am actively working on behind the sewing machine. On the bulletin board are patterns and instructions that I refer to frequently. The cutting and ironing mats are clean and easily accessible. The machine on the floor will have the walking foot put on and left on so I don't have to remove feet every time I want to bind a quilt.

But, now I have another problem.

The things that came out of the drawer unit are now piles on the big ironing board in the sewing/guest room. Now you know why Husband says I am just moving my piles around! Most of these things will go into the green cabinet he got for me so it's not as bad as it looks.

Notice the wooden bin full of fabric on the right. My son made that when he was in high school. It is suppose to be a casserole carrier/trivet kind of thing. 

I was, and still am, proud that he made that and gave it to me. But, I knew I would not use it as a casserole carrier. I don't have any bakeware that would work with it. I felt bad. Then one day I needed to move some fabric for a project from one area to another. I had an AHA moment. I covered a paint canvas thing that I found at a craft store with muslin to make a solid bottom.

And filled it with fabric!

Works great for that and I am using it. These are some of the fabrics I am using for the 365 Challenge and I need to keep them together but separate from other fabrics so I don't accidentally use them for

something else.

And, speaking of the sewing/guest room, Son had installed a switch plate cover that fit with his hunting theme. 

He has asked for it for to put in his 'man cave' room in the house he rents. So I needed a new switch plate cover.

I haven't actually made the switch (ha ha) yet as I just got the new one, but it is on my to-do list to do soon.