Design Wall January 24

Oh, who am I kidding, there isn't much on my design wall. My sewing area is a mess.

To see what other quilters have on their design walls go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Before I talk about the mess though I did get more piecing done for Dinner Plate Dahlia.

Now, on to the mess. This room has been a work in progress for a long time. I waited a few years after Son moved out before I turned it into my sewing room. I leave the bed there for when he visits. I can't get it organized in a way that makes it easy to work in. I know that part of the problem is that I have too much stuff! You can see in this photo that I can't use the big ironing board because it has piles of stuff as does the bed.

I started with this four-drawer filing cabinet. One drawer holds sewing machine parts and manuals.

One drawer has counted cross stitch kits and fabrics. The bottom two drawers held the embroidery floss. I was given a lot of boxes of DMC thread. I decided I didn't need all that thread. I pulled a few skeins of each color and will donate the rest. I now have an empty drawer. I am sorting through my buttons, organizing them by color. I've ordered small clear plastic bins. I think they will all fit in the bottom drawer with some room left to store various trims.

Next, I chose patterns to go with bundles of fabrics. These got put into bins and labeled.

I got smart and taped labels to the handles. That makes it much easier for me to see what is in the bins.

I also decided what patterns I wanted to use with fabrics that I bought to make some tops.

Husband bought these baskets for me thinking they would be good for storing fabric in. He was right! I got them better organized. They are actually meant for use in the garden. You can find them here.

While going through things, I found this project. Several years ago I intended to make Roman shades for the bay window. I actually got one made for one of the side windows. It is lined with an insulating curtain liner. The only thing left to do to finish it is the hem. 

I decided not to make the curtains and now I don't know what to do with this. Take it apart? There are more panels made that haven't been sewn to the liner. I might just sew the panels into a quilt. I am also thinking of making a quilted jacket. That blue sweatshirt in the photo above was purchased at a very good price and would make a good base for that.

I had some split 9-patch blocks left from a quilt I made. Sewn together they make a 30-inch square. Small baby quilt? Table topper? Wall quilt?

I also found this old UFO. I had started hand quilting it. I am working on finishing it. It is called Magna Chroma and was bought as a kit. I have appliqued our last name initial in the center of mine. 

Do you see my helpers?

This is a photo of one made by someone else.

I'll get back to organizing today.

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting!