Sewing organization Part One

Well lets get this party started on organizing your sewing/quilting room. Going to Start with magazines. 1st go around and gather up all of your quilting/sewing related magazines. Start thumbing thru them and tear out all of the patterns/quilts you want to make or articles you want to keep. Or make copies of them if you choose that route. The leftover magazines put in a recycling bin, give to senior citizen place, or give to your fellow quilters at your next guild meeting. Make sure you get rid of them no longer then one week. They have recycling bins all over you can throw them into, DON'T keep them any longer then a week. Or if all of the magazines is intact sell them & pay for your next subscription. Then take a regular 3 ring binders and some plastic sleeves (aka binder pockets), place all of the article/patterns you want to keep in those. Make sure the plastic sleeves have 3 holes to match the 3 ring binders. Now to save space use a plastic sleeve to hold 2 patterns, just put them back to back with the picture of the quilt on part facing out. If you have applique pieces or pattern parts, & they go to two different quilts, make copies for one of them. Then put them in the binders for safe keeping. My binders are sorted by, applique quilts, how to ( techniques), machine quilting, and so on. So when I need something I can find it quicker then trying to remember what magazine I saw it in, saves a ton of time. You can purchase your binders, plastic sleeves at walmart, office supply place, dollar stores, ebay or just about anywhere. They come in such fun colors now.

Now if you can't just part with those magazines, you need to get some type of storage system going on to keep it all nice and tidy. I recommend either making your own or buying Magazine files. Now I'm all for recycling if you can so here are a couple links to make your own, heck you can paint them, wallpaper them, contact paper them or glue fabric on them. http://craft-therapy.blogspot.com/2008/08/thrifty-magazine-file-tutorial.html , here is another one http://www.instructables.com/id/S4I65QLFBSYW7Z5/ or try this one http://www.ehow.com/how_4456046_magazine-file.html. none of those fit your fancy, just google making your own magazine file. After you get those ready or bought then put your magazines together by the type example: Quick quilting, mccalls patchwork, fons and porter etc. The find a spot to put them on a shelf. When organizing and not having a lot of space always look up along your walls with shelves, great way to keep stuff off the floor, looks nicer and you can always see what you have. Now the key here is limiting yourself to a certain amount of binders or magazine files. Seriously think of a number and stick to it. In our lifetime are we really going to make them all, nope didn't think so but you can always go back pull the ones that don't work for you and replace them with new ones from time to time. You need to keep it manageable size otherwise you will so overwhelmed & that is when the you get piles of stuff laying around.

While going thru your magazines keep these things in mind to help sort them: Is this something I'm really going to make? why do I like this? Do I have a duplicate pattern or article? Do i have the room to keep it all? This is cute but will I really use or make it within the next 3 years?

One gal told me she after the magazines come she keeps them less then a month, then rips out the things she wants to keep and recycles the magazine. She said the stress of all of the magazines laying around gets her stressed out, unproductive and lazy.

Okay will post another part come Monday. You have 4 days to get this part completed. After you done that sit back and relax. Remember just have fun with it~~ don't forget to post a link on your blog so you can be put in a drawing for something.