We've lived in the same house for over 42yrs now, the kids have come & gone, & come back, & now gone again, both sets of parents have passed on :( and there has been a constant stream of newly acquired, but old, items wanting needing to settle in... somewhere... anywhere! Of course I've donated things, and sold things, it's more the sentimental things that remain an issue. And storage is proving to be a much bigger problem than I ever imagined around here!
My sewing space is no exception.
It's not easy sharing a small single bedroom with two desks+computer+shelving unit+sewing machine+stash! Ah yes, that stash! In my defense, you know you do need a lot of fabric to make scrap quilts, my very favourite kind of quilt! I mix my stash & scraps together, sorting by colour, then fold and store them in these little white baskets, and then they go onto the shelving unit, easily accessible and visible...
It's not easy sharing a small single bedroom with two desks+computer+shelving unit+sewing machine+stash! Ah yes, that stash! In my defense, you know you do need a lot of fabric to make scrap quilts, my very favourite kind of quilt! I mix my stash & scraps together, sorting by colour, then fold and store them in these little white baskets, and then they go onto the shelving unit, easily accessible and visible...
All my neutral fabrics get thrown into this basket...
And as I sew, those little cut off bits & pieces get tossed into this basket under my sewing table...
I even have a little place for those very precious Liberty snippets...
So I thought I had my 'sort & store system' working quite well here! But lately though, I've been migrating further out into the floor space with my baskets of scrappy fabrics, books, and WiP's, making things really kinda tight and very messy in this little room!
So, not a new topic I know
but it's interesting reading about how others make their sewing spaces work {big or small}
... I would love to hear about your storage solutions.
The book Sunday Morning Quilts has lots of practical ideas too on this!
Linking up with Cynthia here for 'oh scrap'
While having a storage shed provided a temporary solution to this doubling up of household 'stuff' {and it was all outta sight, outta mind}, it's been an expensive option. The inevitable had to happen, and this week we've been v. busy decluttering, detaching, and finding new homes for all sorts of things. The good news is that the storage shed is now e.m.p.t.y!
And, I now have a new-to-me but old shelving unit that will be perfect for my sewing overflow of WiP's, finished quilts, & books, thereby making more room on the bigger shelves for my precious scrap baskets ...
And, I now have a new-to-me but old shelving unit that will be perfect for my sewing overflow of WiP's, finished quilts, & books, thereby making more room on the bigger shelves for my precious scrap baskets ...
... oh and guess what? I can finally see the carpet again!
So, not a new topic I know
but it's interesting reading about how others make their sewing spaces work {big or small}
... I would love to hear about your storage solutions.
The book Sunday Morning Quilts has lots of practical ideas too on this!
Linking up with Cynthia here for 'oh scrap'
14 comments:
My scrap baskets under my cutting table are migrating out into my room. It is time for me to get things a bit more organized too. Thanks for sharing!
You'll just spread out again and tidy! Those shelves look lovely though full of bright colours.
Like what you've done here with your storage and shelving Linda. Doesn't fabric look lovely all neatly folded in baskets and just sitting there for us to enjoy!
Love your neat storage shelves. All looks very accessible. I use plastic storage boxes with lids, in different sizes for different purposes: large for batting scraps, unfinished projects and quilts I want to keep, smaller for packs of squares and strips cut in 2", 2.5", 3.5" sizes, embroidery threads, ribbons, spools of thread etc. And under my sewing machine table ( our son's old desk!) are paper carrier bags of scrap strips, all different sizes ready for making scrap strip blocks. I also have a chest of drawers(drawers are labelled) containing everything else: FQs, novelty fabrics, solids, larger fabric pieces and yardage, tiny scraps colour sorted into plastic bags, project packs which I have put together ith fabrics ready to make those quilts(one day). Some of the smaller plastic boxes are on the bookcase shelves along with my quilt books.
My goodness, you have got quite a great set up! Sounds wonderful!
Thanx for sharing!
Very helpful and some great tips - thanks! I've been eyeing my scraps lately and wondering if they should be with the larger cuts. Also I like commenter Linda's mention of "project packs". When I had less fabric, I had it organized by possible projects, and I miss that! This may be a day of reorganizing!
Love your shelf of bears with the doll. ;)
Your space looks great - that shelf makes a big difference. I too like to store my scraps and whole pieces together. That way if you wind up needing just a tiny bit more, it is right there. I find it easier to use that way, and easier to sort. It would be too complicated for me to store by size and color.
Hi Linda! Your scrap baskets and selves looks great! I sort my fabrics/scraps also by colour. Scraps in my scrap boxes are very small and those have spread themselves now to 3 boxes - should separate them by colours. x Teje
I like your little white baskets! I use a couple small shelves that were meant to be CD/ DVD holders for folded pieces, but my littler scraps are all jumbled up in a basket, with no organization. Need to work on that!
Thank you Teje! Rummaging around in my multicoloured scrap basket gets a bit tedious sometimes, so I’ve ended up sorting mainly by colour now.
And I like to store stash and scraps together, as most of my fabrics are fat 1/4’s. I don’t tend to buy a lot of yardage as it’s too expensive here in NZ. Linda
I like your set-up a lot! I've started buying little plastic bins in hopes of getting things more organized. One of these tomorrows I might actually start sorting stuff...
Isn't it interesting how much you rediscover when you tidy up? I'm pleased that more left my house this week than came in (two holiday parties with white elephant exchanges followed by a party with a "trash or treasure" silent auction).
Hi, found you via Cynthia. Appreciate your good ideas and photos. I'm on the fence, with Stash and strips by color, but scraps by size. They are all outgrowing their space. But a mansion is not an option. Thanks for the good info. Is your little doll a Littlest Angel hard plastic? I have three of them.
Hi Gayle,Thanks! Getting organised in my little room has been a mission!
It’s all tidy now.. but am sure it won’t last long!
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