This is funny – probably more funny to me and anyone who’s ever been around me but a reader asked me if I would do a post on how I organize my charts. Any time you see me using the word organize, walk away. There are some things I just don’t . . I don’t understand, I don’t get it, I don’t care! Map, directions, organizing, cleaning . . you get the picture – all those things I should be able to do . . nope, don’t do it.
The first thing I will say, and after you read this, I’m sure you’ll stop reading . . probably forever! I do not organize my charts . . at all . . with one exception.
Let’s talk about the unorganized charts first. This honestly makes sense to me.
For my unorganized charts, I have two ottomans (above is one), and three tubs. The tubs kinda look like the ottoman except they have handles and no lids.
Look at those charts! You might think I staged that picture just to prove my unorganized storage . . but I didn’t. the bags are going all different directions. You would think I would at least have them all going the same way. Nope . . doesn’t bother me one bit.
The two ottomans sit in front of two windows on the main level. I hate saying upstairs because the house has only a main level and a basement. From the front and the south side, the main level looks like the ground level. From the back and the north side, the main level looks like the 2nd floor. So when I say “second floor” or “main level”, it’s all the same place – kitchen, dining area, laundry room, bedrooms and bathrooms. OK . . now that we have that out of the way . . the two ottomans sit in front of the two windows in the family room. Boots sits on those and looks out the windows.
The two tubs are in the sewing room (basement/downstairs) closet.
The reason I don’t organize those is because every time I go through them, I enjoy looking at the charts. I’ve only been buying charts a bit over a year and seeing some of them is like the first time I’ve seen them. They are in no order – not by season, not by holiday, not by designer . . they are just in the ottomans or tubs. If I wanted to find a particular chart, I’d have to do some searching but in the process of searching, I’d probably find three more I want to stitch and maybe decide I don’t even need the one I’m looking for! I think it’s fun to look at all the charts again and again.
The one tub that is organized is the ottoman that has all my charts that I’m planning to stitch in 2022. If all goes as I plan for it to go, I should have to look in any tubs or ottomans except that one, which sits behind my recliner in a corner of the living room.
Last night when I needed to pull my next Sunday Stitch, I went to that ottoman, grabbed it and was done.
Sometime, my guess is about October, after the garden is done, I’ll go over all my charts and see what I want to stitch in 2023. I already know Huckleberry Farm is going to be on that list. I’ll see things others have stitched and I’ll want to find those. I may pull 30 or 40 charts out, spend some time looking at them, then put 20 or so back in the tubs and keep out what I will stitch next year.
How’s that for organization? Don’t answer that! 🙂
Joyce in Iowa says
Ha ha! My projects and charts look exactly the same — except just in a tub with no lid. 🙂 I did start a Word document today, though, with pictures/names of new charts I’d like to buy just so I keep more of a visual record. Wish me luck! PS: I know you’re much more organized than you give yourself credit for. I’ll bet you can find your 40 count linen pretty quickly. 🙂
Mary says
It works for you so go for it!
Liz says
Sometimes the planning part is the most creative activity and it is fun to sit looking through options.
I am currently planning a temperature quilt for the year, so I am having fun figuring out what block to use, what colors, and so on. I pulled temperature reports from the OK Mesonet for two years to figure out the frequency of color combinations, and I thought I had the colors selected. But, then I put some of the combos next to each other and it is back to the fabric closet.
Cindy F says
Well, I consider your system there organized! And….I copied some of the way you did it…lol. I had all my charts and fabric in the same bin but as I started adding more and more…well you know how unorganized that would be! I bought a bunch of those plastic envelopes and started kitting up my projects. I store them in one of those collapsible square bins I was gifted (it has a fox on it…so cute!). One of these days soon (I hope) I want to add tags to the bags because I want to be able to find a project without going through all of them. I decided on using those old cards I wound floss onto and using twine, crochet thread, yarn, something or another to attach to the zippers. I want to buy one of those storage ottomans but the ones I want are out of stock so I keep checking back. I have a collection (5-6) bags with projects sitting on the end of the couch and it would look nicer just to put them in that once I can find one. Gotta keep all my current projects around my “nest”…lol
judy.blog@gmail.com says
In the beginning I had tags but now I don’t. I was using yarn and cardstock to make my tags but old cards work nice.
If you have an Aldi, they sometimes have the ottomans there. Two of mine came from Aldi and one came from Amazon. They’re almost exactly the same but the one from ALdi was half the cost of the one at Amazon.
Shauna Trueblood says
I dislike organizing for a different reason. I always think there is a better way to do it, and so I constantly seem to change mine. I had them all in a tub no real order, then decided to put them in a box with hanging folders and sort them by designer. Which Ed worked but the box was so heavy that I couldn’t easily move it when I needed to do so. So now they are in the magazine holders by designer. Much easier for me to pick up and go through. I thought about a real file cabinet but don’t have room in Amy stitching space so then it would mean I have to go somewhere else to look at my patterns.