i've been refolding fabric again. a lot.
oddly enough, i got on a cleaning kick after the last bit of organizing i did while searching for my "missing" hexagon paper pieces. it's contagious; once one shelf is clean i want to do another one. i don't particularly enjoy all the folding. when i'm in the middle of it, i get antsy and just want to quit, but i keep at it until it's done. then i'm so happy i did it because i love the tidy shelves and i want to start the next shelf right away sometimes i have to just leave the room or i won’t stop!
this time i reworked a whole section on the main fabric wall. the middle two shelves above (under the solids) are all the pieces i have set aside for my "gypsy wife" quilt, divided into a few types of fabric i'm using in the quilt: polka dots, stripes, monochromatic, novelty, blenders, busy multicolored florals. this is the only fabric pull i have dedicated shelves for because when i first set these shelves up, there was plenty of room for having these fabrics here and i wanted them handy for making that quilt. once it's complete, these fabrics will be reabsorbed into the general stash and the shelves redesignated to new catagories. but for now, i've cleaned them up smartly. i didn't refold these pieces but sorted and nicely stacked them and that alone looks so much better.
i didn't take a before photo of these shelves prior to fixing them, but you can see them in the background in this photo from last month when i was quilting "frosted forest star" (which is still on this machine waiting it's finish - the thread is breaking again and i’m mad at it). the shelves from the first photo are the top shelves above the machine in this picture. do they look better now? even in the crummy indoor night lighting you can tell they are much neater now.
the lower set of shelves in the top photo is my denyse schmidt collection. i made it all pretty, too, which was a lot more work because i not only sorted by large pieces, color, collection, and a stack of just patchwork panel club yardage, but i also refolded all these pieces to have the single fold facing forward. this is now my preferred way of storing the fabrics because it's easier to identify the fabrics and looks really nice.
i've worked out that if i start with a half yard piece, i first make sure it's folded in half across the width with the selvages together, then into thirds (about 6" across), and then in half again. this is the size and shape that fits on my shelves best.
if it's yardage i'm folding, i get it folded into a half yard across, then proceed as above. this also works for fat quarters as they are the size of the half yard piece folded with selvages together. the skinny quarters are trickier. i just try to get them in a similar shape/size, but it's much less standardized.
i
reorganized all my solid fabrics a few weeks ago but i wasn't yet decided on the single fold forward method and it's been bugging me now i've been doing that with the other shelves. if you look in the opening photo, you can see the bottom of the solids shelf (above the blue sticky notes) and notice i did refold the large cuts of green fabrics. the rest will have to wait until the mood strikes, but i will be getting around to them, for sure.
the top of my
scrap drawers, which sits just to the right of my cutting table and in front of my design wall, was getting overcrowded and sloppy looking. i'd put a few stray new fabrics there that needed proper putting away and the bin situation wasn't good.
the only items that are supposed to be here are two bins for scraps that need to be processed (one i filled when
i went through my backing cuts and one that catches all pieces i don't cut immediately when i'm trimming fabrics for quilts), a bin each for my two sizes of
"bonnie lass" blocks, and my rectangular cutting rulers (so they're convenient and handy for when i'm cutting).
i got all the extra things put away, found all my rulers and put them back, and moved the "bonnie lass" pieces into smaller boxes. it's a small change, but it makes a difference in the room. every little bit helps!
next i was drawn to this eyesore. it's an overflowing basket of pieces for "
wensleydale." i knew i could make it look nicer by organizing the pieces by type and color and turning them upright in the basket.
i was really surprised when i pulled the basket out to work on it to discover there were actually two baskets there; the second one was hiding behind the towering mess of the first basket.
as i wasn't refolding but just sorting, this project went a lot faster than the shelves, too. i have all the ginghams/checks together, all the low-volume blenders, and the rest of the pieces are now in color order in the second basket. i couldn't fit all the pieces upright in the two baskets, so i just left the extras stacked on top of the back basket. it's still a little messy, but there is a method to the madness. i moved the completed blocks and foundation papers to the same area as the baskets to keep the whole project together. i hope i can get back to this one when fall rolls around as there are some other projects that are further ahead of it in the queue. once i'm done travelling, that is.
you'd think i would spend my time before leaving for thailand doing some actual sewing, but i felt like leaving a tidier sewing room instead. i'm eventually going to be packing all of this up for a move, so the organizing i'm doing now is partially in preparation for that coming herculean task. and it actually makes me happy. i don't know what's gotten into me that i'm being so responsible (relatively speaking) with all my cleaning/organizing, only working on wips, and still no fabric purchasing this year, but i like it!
oh, and there's the "100 days of epp" still going. getting that 13 year old wip moving is another thing i can pat myself on the back for. all this responsible behavior in my hobby is not ruining the fun, it's just a different kind of pleasure and satisfaction i'm getting. i'll get back to my free spirited, start-all-the-quilts ways soon enough, i'm sure. first i'm going to get some finishes, chip away at my stash, and build a new sewing room.
