Hello sewing friends! I hope you are all kicking off the New Year with fun and exciting sewing projects! We are a bit snowed in at the moment. (Okay, more than a bit!) But snowy weather is my favorite and I’m not minding it a bit. It is gorgeous outside and warm and cozy in my sewing room. And clean. Soooo clean, it sparkles! I have spent days (yes, plural) cleaning out my sewing room. I am a little ashamed to say that it was a disaster! The last few sewing projects had taken its toll on my space.
The best way to start the new year is with a clean sewing space. And let me tell ya, the more organized the room became, the more creative I felt. I could just feel the new ideas and drive to sew creeping back into the room. I started by organizing my fabric. I try not to keep a huge stash, but somehow I still had way more than what I prefer. I have more fun if I buy fabric as I go. That said, I still have a lot of scraps and some impulse buys. I keep my fabric in small tubs (a little larger than a shoebox) and label them. (See picture below.) I went through all of my tubs and nicely folded everything, threw some old stuff to the donate pile, and put new labels on my tubs. I found fabric I forgot I even had! Can you relate??
In the midst of my fabric organizing, my room actually looked worse, rather than better! I was thinking I might’ve bitten off more than I wanted to chew, but alas, I persevered. Operation Fabric Organization was completed.
Next up, I organized the quilts that are ready for the longarm and went ahead and put one on the frame. I’m ready to start quilting that one. Then, I moved on to thread. I keep my longarm thread separate from my sewing machine thread – usually. But in the haste of my past sewing frenzy, they got jumbled. (Sounds like a legit excuse, right?) I put all thread back in the correct place. Patterns were next and any loose patterns were put back on the bookshelf.
These items are so perfect for organization! The ruler tray (left) is made to fit your rulers and templates. So handy to have them lined up and out of the way when not in use! You can find it by clicking here. And the Pattern Binders on the right are my fave! My patterns fit so nicely back on my bookshelf and tucked into these handy binders. You can find them here!
When everything was tidied up, I swept and dusted and voila! My room was clean. The piles were gone and I feel organized and creative again. If you’re not feeling the most creative these days, start with some organization. It always does the trick for me!
I hope you are all having sew much fun in the New Year! If you’re interested in the 2025 sewing challenges that were posted last week, click here.
Until next time!
Beth
P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Nancy’s Notions homepage! That’s where you can find all of the categories leading you to hundreds, yes, hundreds of articles all about quilting and sewing! I think of our website as a super fun sewing magazine – it’s just online and it’s free! Click here!
