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A Battle Brewing

I’m declaring war on the mess in my sewing room.  If you never hear from me again, you’ll know the mess won, I’ve accepted defeat and will never show my face again.

I’m so brave!  I’ve taken “before” pictures of what a sewing room looks like after 7 months of trying to meet one deadline after another.  OK . . I’m not that brave!  I’m not sharing the photos.  Here’s what I might do . . when I’m finished with one section (because I have little faith that I’ll ever get the whole room clean), I’ll show a before and after picture of that one area.  Don’t hold your breath waiting though . . it’s such a mess.

Wish me luck . . lots of luck, lots of energy and hope that my family doesn’t expect a home cooked meal or clean laundry for at least a month!

And, if anyone is counting, I my chickens . . only the red stars . . have now presented me with 26 wonderful brown eggs.

And, I think I need a nap.  A girl can’t start a major cleaning job if she’s sleepy, right?

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  1. Judy Go out and buy a bunch of those tucker totes. the largest you can find. Fill them up and stack, they stack nicely, look neat. It does not really matter what is inside the totes, You will feel like your space is clean. Later on as you need to find things you can organise one tote at a time.

    I have a small tote for each project I am working on, the current ones. I have a larger tote that has bags of projects that I want to make someday. I have larger pieces of fabric in totes, I have a tote for stuff that I have no idea what I will ever do with but I am not sure I want to get rid of yet. When tat tote gets full I tape it shut and wright the date on the tape. If after two years I do not break the tape and dig inside for any reason then, that tote must go. It can go any where but it must go I can not keep it. My local guild has a garage sale or a silent auction or I could just donate it to some one but it must go. LOL Of course I have never gotten that far, I have always broken in and found something I had to have. Of course as you are filling up the totes you must have a trash bag to toss the totally unusable stuff in, then you must carry it out the the garbage can right away with out looking to see if you tossed any good stuff.

    Good luck with your cleaning. I really do use the totes and I do love them at least I feel tidy and organised.

  3. There is a battle brewing in my sewing room too. Here’s hoping that you and I both win. I could use a snow shovel to clear a path right now.

  4. I’m all about the naps — I agree that tough jobs should never be tackled until one is properly napped! Still and all, I think you should cowgirl up and show us all the before pictures. And I’m real anxious to see the after ones, too. I love getting peeks into other people’s sewing rooms!

  5. I need to do what we used to call ‘Big Green Garbage Bag Day’ and really get mine cleaned out, too. Fill the bag, take to the curb, and get on with it. Maybe knowing others are not quilting in pristine sewing studios will give me the motivation I need. Good luck to all who are deciding to win the battle…. but first… a nap!!!!!!!

  6. Good for you girl! I have been struggling with mine and I’m really making headway. A good friend has been cheering me on with helpful suggestions and I’m getting a handle on it. I am excited with the way it’s coming along. And the new basic arrangement of things is perfect, finally. I will share some before and after picture in the future, perhaps on my blog, http://www.marylourupp@blogspot.com

    Keep a watch out!
    MaryLou

  7. Stop that napping and get to work! 🙂 Yes, I’m not a confirmed non-napper. Too much to be doing instead of sleeping. Seeing one area cleaned up will spur you on – course this is being said after I looked around my sewing room last weekend and say – nah – I’ll wait to clean it up until the current project is done since most of the clutter is from that, and simply kicked those fabric scraps out of my way. Besides, if you can still wade through it all, it can’t be too bad and it saves wear and tear on the flooring if you’re walking on fabric and scraps.

  8. Good luck going off to war. I hear the good guys always win and since a mess is not good, you are bound to win. Can’t wait to see before and after pictures. I love studio pictures.

  10. I have a maze right now and after my trunk show tomorrow my studio is getting a good clean also.

  11. I need to get my sewing room packed up for the upcoming visit by the grandkids who sleep in that room AND, at the same time, I’ll not be able to use the master bedroom or master bath as the contents need to be packed away and stored while the repairs are being done on the damage to that end of the house from the tree that fell on us last Friday. SO…I doubt you have as much of a mess as I have. (Maybe that will help you feel better about it?? LOL) Great news about the # of eggs now…are the eggs getting bigger, too?

    • A-w-w-w, come on… we will all feel better if you show us “before” pictures.

      To make some extra room for fabric, I just flung a large bag of denim to a good-cause group. Now I can’t even find the hole where it was. I’m not very good at de-stashing.

  12. I just posted a pic of my disaster of a sewing corner on my blog yesterday! The messes have been piling up for some time and I can hardly stand it. I am just about to be graced with my own sewing room soon, so if I want to be sewing on the first day I move all my stuff, I better get on with the sorting and putting away! Luckily I do not have to paint the room or customize the closet, just move it all upstairs…Good luck with your oversized project. Can’t anyone give you a hand?

  13. Take it easy there girl…don’t go getting crazy and cleaning everything!
    Have a nap and it will pass!
    Then tomorrow you can just start sewing again!

  14. Judy dear, you just need to align your camera with the clean parts and fool us all into believing that the whole thing looks that good. Surely I should know – from experience. ;->

  16. ROTFLOL at Vicky’s comment above ^^^.

    congratulations on those 26 eggs. that’s a very nice harvest after all the trouble you’ve gone thru getting the chicks set up in their castle.

    I am a napper as well, but only because i’ve discovered the joy of having plastic bins for my projects.

  17. My solution to cleaning my sewing room was to literally move the whole room out to the living room! I have too many hobbies. Not only quilting (which includes applique), but needlepoint. Oh and then there was a phase where I collected boxes of hankies. We are already in fire season, so have to hurry and get things sorted. Going to put all my vintage patterns (oops, another huge collection) in one tub. If it doesn’t fit, out the door. One tub for the needlework. If it doesn’t fit, out the door. You get the idea. In case of a fire, I have to be able to grab the important, irreplaceable items quickly. A bunch of us girls are going to get together in October and have a yard sale. And guess what, with the proceeds I can go buy more material!!

  18. Oh Judy, don’t loose heart! I’ve been working on mine for months. About the time I think I’ve got it licked I think of another way to organize! Then I sew for a while and WHAM! the mess has returned. Keep plugging away but don’t despair, find some time to enjoy yourself so you can re-energize and start over again! LOL I look forward to the pictures so don’t forget to post them. Good luck!

  19. I would put my before pictures against yours and know I would win hands dowm–mine is in the biggest mess in the world. Its because I can’t seem to get the stuff put up from one project that I finished, before I get another one going. I figured if I would not buy another piece of material -not even a fat quarted-unless I needed something special for a quilt, that that would help—OH HA!!!!!! Hugs, Bobbie

    • Oh yeah-I forgor to tell you all that I NEVER EVER have more than one project going at a time. Bobbie

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