WIP Wednesday: Progress!

Piecing Station:

I've finished the last 20 blocks for Picnic in Serenade and am ready to sew the rows together for the bottom 2 Sunny Lanes blocks which I'm using as leader/enders. I've given Picnic in Serenade the Value Treatment and will leave it on my wall while I'm busy quilting for the rest of the week to contemplate any changes.

While I love this fabric line it has taught me a good lesson. In this 40 strip jelly roll there are only 19 unique fabrics which means that 2 fabrics are tripled and the rest are doubled. Which adds up to make this particular line not ideal for this particular pattern - it's still a pretty top but I would prefer more variety. Lesson learned: check the repeats and THEN choose a pattern.

Oh - and orange might be more of an "attention hogging" color than yellow!

Sandwich Shop:

Quilting Station:

I decided to use the back side of my whiteboard easel to try out a Kanban board inspired by THIS post from last years Finish Along at The Littlest Thistle. I printed out my active projects onto some 3" Post It Notes I had handy - orange represents 2015 WIPs, aqua is for UFO Donation quilts and purple means UFO Keepers. A very quick project to set up and it has a nice little payoff when I get to move a square.

Just another way to try and keep things moving! I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced.

Closing Ceremonies & A Give-Away

First of all, I want to thank each of you who left such encouraging comments on the blog throughout my Olympics Organizathon! I can't tell you how much you helped to keep me on the forward path. Not to mention all the great advice and ideas that were shared.

I'm still catching up on replying to comments (and am WAY behind on my blogroll) but I have read them all and wanted to touch on a few things today. I am really not an organizing guru - it has taken years to come up with systems that work for ME. I am a visual (out of sight out of mind) person who worries that I'll never remember unless I can see what I need to do next.

The funny thing about this is that as I moved into my new quilting room last spring I was amazed to gain an instant jump in productivity. Why? Because as I gradually moved in there was less STUFF to distract me. All the pretty studios I had saved on Pinterest with shelves of fabrics and cute quilty collections just don't work for me. No wall of pegboard or hanging racks filled with rulers as much as I would like them!

This discovery has changed how I organize. I try to find a home for things and then I have a period of habit building to trust that I WILL find those things again even though they are now hidden in a basket, drawer or bin. It might sound simple... but it isn't! Old habits are hard to break. Every Monday morning I clear the surfaces in my quilting room, regain a sense of order and immediately feel better.

I won the adorable mouse pincushion in a give-away in December from LeeAnna Paylor who blogs at Not Afraid of Color and I just love it! These 2 baskets are my concession to having some pretty fabrics on display. The rest as you have seen in my last posts are in drawers or behind doors.

Something else that really works for me are trays. When I need to use my table for basting I love being able to pick up this tray and move it elsewhere. I use trays or small baskets all over my house. It's a nice bridge between having it in sight but contained.

Notions are my biggest problem area. They are not uniform to store and oh so frustrating when I can't find them. For now I am trying to corral them in these boxes. The ones that are labeled are working... the others are still in process. But at least I know where to start looking!

I used to hang my scissors and rotary cutters where my rulers are hanging on the end of my cutting table but I dropped them too often reaching for them and my floor didn't take well to that habit.

Yesterday's give-away was all about labels. Did you notice the cute labels on my baskets above? I got the idea and the template HERE from Better Homes and Gardens. I buy my pouches at Amazon.com but I'm sure they can found elsewhere too. These meet my label criteria which is quick and easy! A package of these pouches will go to the lucky winner so if you haven't entered click HERE.

One more thing. I was going to comment on yesterday's post about the size of my stash on a more serious note but the post was so long already. I started quilting in 2002 after moving here in the midst of a bout of major depression that ended my career. I wrote a POST about this back in October 2012 if you want to read more.

As I look back to that time I was definitely self medicating myself by acquiring pretty fabric. I think I was more of a fabric collector than a quilter - and of course you all know I was an awesome UFO Maker! The upside of that (other than having lots of pretty fabrics) is that I have turned the corner into a "real" quilter who still buys some fabric but also uses LOTS of it. I'm good with that and I love my stash.

Today I'm offering one more give-away in sincere thanks for all of your cheers as I worked through my events and various venues. I have selected 2 groups of fabrics to cut a set of FQs from. Please leave a comment as to which set you would prefer - sewing or kids novelties.

I'll ask Mr. Random to select 2 lucky winners on Thursday, Feb. 27. Be sure to leave an email address in your comment if you are No-Reply! NOTE: This give-away is now closed.

I've yet to watch the Sochi Closing Ceremonies - I've got to get the binding done on my A Year of Lovely Finishes quilt so will be catching up on that too. I'm looking forward to a week of sewing and my Olympics Organizathon is now closed. My Gold Medal Sew Perfect Table has been ordered! Cue heart swelling music please....

Last Day of Competition & A Give-Away

As the Sochi Olympics wind down today so does my Olympics Organizathon. I am happy to show off my revamped venues today and officially close down my remaining events. My Closing Ceremony post tomorrow will wrap it all up in my quilting room.

Event #3: Quilt Kit Making

Event #4: Stash Folding

Event #5: Stash Storing

My definition of stash is fabric that is FQ sized or larger. In my quilting room I store most of my rainbow stash in my daughter's old dresser. FQs are stored in the top 2 drawers and 1/2 yd up to 2 yd lengths are wrapped on comic boards and stored in the other 4 drawers. I'm coming up on a year of using this method and I really love it!

The rest of my stash lives in our laundry room where I used to sew. This room is full of closets and cabinets so I have no desire to ever move my stash anywhere else. No worries about light, dust or kitty fluff in here. Yes, I like big stash!

On the right side I have some collections by designer on the top shelf. Below that are my solids, additional rainbow stash and my current Sewing for the Seasons fabrics. My kids novelties and brights are below that and on the bottom shelf are decorator fabrics and trims in the bin.

I'm going to try storing my quilt kits in the bins between the shelving units. Can you believe I have had these since I was a teen in my black, white and red bedroom?

On the left shelves I have florals, paisleys, shabby chic collections and a few other novelty fabric collections like teapots, gardening and sewing. It won't come as a surprise to you that my quilting theme for 2015 is already set - "All About Florals". I am a prewasher so I use the black basket to hold new fabrics.

I have been putting some of my new purchases on comic boards to fill in this upper shelf. In the file boxes above I store themed fabrics and in the far right corner there are some containers holding floral FQs for watercolor quilts. 

I get some fun reactions when I bring people in here for the 1st time. I also have to say that I love my stash and have had a great time petting it over the last 2 weeks. Now I am anxious to get back to cutting it up and using it!

Event #6: Bin Clearing

Event #8: Space Planning

This large pantry style closet with shelves that roll out now holds yardage for quilt backings, long pieces of my some of my favorites and muslin on the top shelf. Finished quilts, wall hangings and table runners are on the next shelf. Oh, and my Christmas Strings quilt which still needs to be unpicked... guess that won't happen until March Madness!

On the bottom shelves there are some bins holding some more fabrics that have been kitted up, some Christmas scraps, a bin of fabrics from finished projects waiting to be used for quilt labels and some painting supplies. I'm excited to actually see the bottoms of these shelves.

And the adjoining closet where I used to sew has been completely redone and I am feeling pretty darn proud of it because it was a MAJOR mess! I've moved my kid's flannels, fleece, fabrics for clothing and small batting scraps into the boxes across the top.

Here is a close-up showing how my labels turned out. Boy oh boy do I love using this tape! I ended up labeling more bins than I'd planned to because it was so quick and easy. The chevron pattern made it easy to cut same size labels (4 chevrons for the bins and 3.5 for the magazine holders) and the lines were a nice guide to keep my writing mostly straight.

I'm storing supplies for knitting, cross stitch, painting and other general crafts in here. I use the fabric bag to store my current projects.

The right side of this closet has also been tamed. The kitty litter boxes take up the floor space in between where my sewing table used to sit. Can you tell I'm participating in a pillow sew along this year?

Nothing too exciting except for a bare shelf (Woo Hoo!) and you can see my new magazine bins on the bottom. It's so nice to have some breathing room and I actually look forward to my daily litter scooping in here. Seriously!

For today's give-away I'm going to offer a set of tools that have nothing to do with quilting but are instead ALL about organizing starting with a roll of the tape I used to label my bins. I'm also going to include some Sharpie pens and some other labeling supplies that you will see in tomorrow's quilting room post. Trust me, you will want these! 

Image from amazon.com

I'll use Mr. Random to pick a winner on Wednesday, Feb. 26th. To enter leave a comment on this post and be sure to include your email if you are No-Reply. If you are at a loss for words tell me your favorite color.  NOTE: This give-away is now closed.

Scrap Management

Scraps... we all have them! Whether you love them, give them away or toss them is a different story. I am currently defining a scrap as anything less than a fat quarter.  Fat quarters in my system are stash and will be part of tomorrow's post.

Event #9: Scrap Management

For years I followed a version of Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User's System and that worked really well for me. I love working with pre cuts and I was doing a lot of fabric swaps so it made sense to take a little extra time to "finish off" scraps into sizes I used often.

2.5" strips and 5" squares are my favorites going back before charm packs and jelly rolls were on the market. I belonged to an active Yahoo! Group that was inspired by Pat Speth's Nickel Quilts series and we swapped multiple themes each month. 2.5" strips were added later to our monthly swap list. I also hosted monthly swaps on HGTV's Quilting Forum for a couple of years.

I store my 5" charms in these Sterilite ShowOff containers - here is a peek inside my Thimbleberries bin. When I run out of room length wise I fill in on the side. Some bins are themed and others are by color. These bins were a happy accident when I noticed that the charms fit so nicely. I keep these bins stacked on both sides of my dresser - I think I have 10.

When I was looking for a storage solution for 2.5" strips I chose a drawer unit with 3" high drawers and basically folded the strips to fit as many I could which ended up being in quarters (folded in half and then again in half). Here is a peek at my blue & purple drawer.

The drawer unit lives in my quilting room closet and the strips are sorted by color. When this unit became full I started buying the scrapbooking cases by Iris because they are 3" deep. I use 6 of them for themed strips (fall, Christmas, florals, etc.)

I used to store UFOs in the drawer unit on the left but as of last summer it became the home for most of my strings and not so pretty fabrics to cut up for string blocks. Maybe this summer I'll be able to repurpose the drawers above it too!

If I couldn't get a 2.5" strip I'd cut 2" strips... and if I couldn't get a 5" square I'd cut 2.5" then 2" squares. They are kept in these white plastic trays underneath my cutting table.

The bright bin has 3.5" x 6.5" bricks from recent swaps so there are a few other sizes for specific patterns kept here as well. I also have started a tray of Moda's Mini Charm packs. Now that my Dollar Store carries these types of trays in red I use white for storage and red for projects.

I guess if there is a recurring theme it would be find a container that fits what you need to store and then buy several! And, yes I do use these fabrics. Many of my go-to patterns and books are designed for these sizes. Cutting isn't my favorite part of quilting and as my hands get older (unlike the rest of me LOL!) I figure I'll be ahead of the game for happy scrappy quilt making.

When I started quilting again in late September 2012 I decided to focus on UFOs and not deal with scraps. I kept a basket near my cutting table and everything went in there. When I moved into my quilting room last May I started using bins under my cutting table to sweep all the leftovers into.

I had two bins jammed full and now they both have been emptied and sorted. Most of these scraps are now sorted by color in this over the door organizer. The outer pockets store binding remnants coiled up and the inner pockets hold folded up scraps.

This system is really growing on me! Since I have plenty of pre cuts this will be nice for paper piecing or applique as I move forward. And now that I've started doing Angela's RSC Sampler blocks it's great for that too. I like that they are out of the way yet easily accessible. If or when they overflow I'll change things up again.

I have also started keeping snippets for crumb blocks and selvages (when I remember to cut them!) and they are stored in a basket. Since I keep everything else what's a few more small pieces right?

Event #10: Batting Management

Last but not least is batting. I've decided to keep the larger scraps of batting under my cutting table where I keep my rolls and packaged battings. It's kind of messy but it's empty space that is hidden unless you really look for it and I might as well use it!

Smaller scraps and strips are now in a box in my craft closet which I'll show you tomorrow. Going forward I'm going to measure my larger pieces and pin a note to them... but I've decided I don't have the patience to back and do this now. I am committed to piecing these leftovers and using them however.

Whew! That wraps up 2 more events in my Olympics Organizathon and gives you an idea of my scrap management system has evolved over the years. I find that keeping on top of scraps is a ongoing process and the solution is pretty unique to each of us. How do you feel about scraps?

Books, Magazines & UFOs

Olympics Organizathon

Results are in for several of my Events and I'm happy to post the 1st of a 4 part series highlighting my efforts today. I plan to post about Scrap/Batting Management on Saturday, my Stash Closets on Sunday and everything else on Monday. I am definitely going for the Gold!

Event #2: Book Marking

I think it's important to consider what is working well and include that in the process of finding ideas for what isn't. For most purposes my system for storing books works well. I keep them on the back side of my cutting table organized by topic in magazine bins. If I'm looking for ideas to use a Charm Pack it's easy to grab the bin and take it to the nearest comfy chair.

What isn't working so well for me is keeping track of books I'm using for current projects. Sometimes they are in the project bin (bottom cubby with green handles) but not always and I find it incredibly frustrating to waste time hunting them down! 

Another thing that is not working well for me is keeping track of projects I want to make. I might not be in the mood to browse for ideas but would rather move right to the short list instead. Since this also applies to magazines I'll talk about this below.

I'm going to try using this plastic file box on the top shelf of my IKEA Raskog cart as the home for books and patterns for all current projects and my project binder. Easy to access and in plain sight which seems important for me in this case.

Event #1: Magazine Culling

NOTHING has been working with my magazines! They were scattered all over my home and randomly marked with either sticky notes or tabbed pages for projects I might make someday. When I first posted about this event I was encouraged by many of you to give ripping a try. 

I've thanked you before and I'll thank you here again... I LOVE this! Especially for my older magazines this worked really well. I found two binders and sat down to sort the projects into categories that seem pretty natural for me - applique, 3 tabs of scrappy (squares, strips and triangles), kids/charity, seasonal, special and techniques.

I then took another pass through the seasonal pile and sorted them into groups by holiday/season and stored them in the smaller binder. Next year when I change my focus to All Things Floral I'll change out the small binder. I also have a section in there for projects I'd love to make this year. The binders are in my quilting room closet next to my patterns in the green bin.

Now... what about the magazines that I couldn't bear to rip into? You know the ones... you love most of the projects now or feel you might be persuaded to someday! Sandy who blogs at My Material Creations left a comment recommending THESE containers by Really Useful Boxes that I ordered from Office Depot.

They are sturdy and hold a ton of magazines. I bought one for my quilting magazines and the other will house my home decorating/DIY magazine stash. And guess what - when they are full that will be my signal that it's time for another culling session. Thank you Sandy for a great tip!

Before I put these away I used a tip my Mom texted me after reading my blog entry about my magazine dilemma. I took pictures of the projects that I would have ripped out for my Sewing for the Seasons binder and have them labeled by magazine/issue/page and sorted in folders in my Dropbox account so I can browse them on my PC, iPad or iPhone. I did this for my books too. Perfect - thanks Mom!

Event #7: UFO List Making (Other Crafts)

Done! And I'm happy to say they are NOT as lengthy as I feared. My thoughts on these are to pick the low lying fruit and aim for a finish each month starting in March. My cross stitch UFO I'm putting at the top of the list is this pretty wall hanging that is completely stitched and I already have the hanging hardware for. 

As for my yarn UFOs... this might make you laugh!

3 knitted washcloths that simply need the yarn ends to be woven in. These are so low lying it's pathetic!

Getting organized is a moving target and not all solutions are "one size fits all". I'm just sharing what works for me and what I'm trying in case you might might find a helpful idea. And I'm still indulging my Olympics watching habit... I am so excited for the Ladies Free Skate today. I love that there is a tight bunch at the top so that the medals are up in the air. I hope they ALL skate their best and land their jumps!

WIP Wednesday: Organizing Edition

My Organizing Urge is still with me and now I've progressed to my favorite stage - filling up containers and seeing the visible results (needing less of them). And of course putting things away, admiring clear surfaces and starting to fill them with bits of fabric again rates pretty high on the happy scale too!

My design wall is doing triple duty at the moment and that leads me into my quilting tasks for the week. Our daughter and her boyfriend are coming for the weekend so I'm trying to get a few more UFOs quilted this week and would like to get my "And Sew On" blocks sashed so I can pick out the papers while we are catching up with them.

What's Hot:

• Finish last "And Sew On" block.
• Quilting Arkansas Crossing.
• Quilting Scrappy Chevrons.
• Assemble "And Sew On".

What's Next:

• Assemble Blue & Yellow Strings.
• Quilt "And Sew On".
• Make additional Christmas Strings blocks.
• Start Schnibbles "Morning Joe".

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced.

One of Those Days...

I hadn't planned to do a post today but it is one of those days where I'm zigging instead of zagging so I might just as well!

I started out this morning thinking that I needed to clear off my cutting table so I can sandwich two quilts... then I remembered that my cleaning friend is coming tomorrow instead of Thursday so I really should get the floor cleared and tidy up a bit. So I put on some peppy music and got started.

Suddenly (it seems) I'm starving and still in my pajamas at 1 PM after a morning of sorting through this, that AND the other thing! I took some quick iPhone pics from the door

 and from the cutting table to share my productive chaos.

As you can see, I DID achieve one goal as the floor is clear. But guess what? I'm getting an AMAZING amount of sorting done putting like with like and it's all good! I moved in that shelf you see in the corner of the first picture to reclaim some vertical storage space even though it means I have to rehang some wall decor.

Those bins and boxes you see laying everywhere are either being emptied and or being filled with things that belong together which is long overdue. And some things "gone missing" have been found. I'm even looking forward to getting back to it after something to eat besides the bagel I just wolfed down and a shower!

Yesterday I was on a paper piecing groove working on these little bits.

Which magically turned into this! "Cut it Out" is block 8 of 9 for "And Sew On".  The light colored patch on the lower left will have lines of embroidery added to show that it is a ruler - so cute!

And I even got started on Block #9 which is called "I Like Big Stash". It's another challenging one but I had a blast making my stash piles last night and I'll get back at it tomorrow. I think I'm finally feeling like a bona fide Person Who Can Paper Piece!

I'll be back tomorrow with a super organized quilting room and my regular WIP Wednesday post.

Thursday Thoughts

UFO Collection Before (10/2012):

UFO Collection Today:

When you have finished 66 UFOs you need MUCH less space! Just look at all of those tops on hangers last fall waiting to be quilted... some of those hangers had several tops on them. I will keep that photo handy as a reminder to NEVER EVER let things get so out of control again.

Instead of having UFOs hidden all over my house they now reside in my quilting room. The top drawer labeled UFOs NOW are the ones I'm working on the current quarter. The UFOs LATER bottom drawer is pretty self explanatory. Flimsies ready for quilting are to the left and larger nickel quilt UFOs have their own bins on top. There are a few more plastic UFO project bins on the shelf above which you can't see. If there are too many pieces for a large baggie I use the shoe size bins.

UFOs and WIPs that are being actively worked on are kept in these bins under my sewing table. I am a big believer of "A Place for Everything, Everything in its Place" in my quilting room and in having a system that works for YOU. This setup along with the UFO Collection tab on my blog has helped me so much. Chaos and quilting don't mix well in my mind!

The middle drawer above labeled HAPPY BLOCKS will be emptied in 2014 as a part of my goal to learn how to FMQ. I've found a book that really speaks to me on this subject by bridging the gap between practice squares and quilting real projects which was my hang up last winter.

Image from amazon.com

Christina includes several small projects to use as practice pieces which makes so much sense to me. I'm also going to piece some Project Linus tops from my Happy Blocks and use them as a part of the practice process.

A year ago sandwiching quilts, walking foot quilting and machine binding were all very intimidating to me. After many hours of practice these skills are just a part of the process to the Finish Line and I enjoy 2 of the 3 (sandwiching is one of those have to get it done tasks for me). I see no reason why I can't say the same thing about FMQ next year at this time! I'm excited about this.

Our son and I are getting ready to fly out east tomorrow for his last college visit so I'm tidying up my quilting room and will be running those last minute errands that seem to pop up. Our high school volleyball team is playing their opening match at the state tournament today so my husband who coaches their off season program is down there along with our daughter who used to play. He actually does the play-by-play announcing on our local radio station so I'm looking forward to following their progress when I'm able by streaming it on my iPhone. It's going to be a busy weekend for us all!