Worse Before Better

by admin May 27, 2020

You know how cleaning projects often have to get worse before they get better, well, that’s where my sewing room is. It’s on the worse stage.

A blog reader asked if I’d show pictures of my progress. Seriously, I about laid on the floor and laughed and laughed. My room actually looks way worse than it did when I started. But…I know I’m making lots of progress.

I have cleaned some totes out and have some empty.

I have the hallway lined up with things that need to be taken away or passed on.

I have another flimsy quilt top on the frame.
But I still have this mess….

and this mess….

The cutting table was covered with fabric that needs to be cut into strips and put in my scrap users system.

But I’ve been doing a lot of cutting…

I always get asked how I do cut my fabric into the scrap users system and how I decide on strip size. Well here’s what I do. I stack fabric on top of each other like this. These are all folded in half. I stack in graduated layers with the largest on the bottom.

I line them up and trim off the edge to even them up.
From experience I know I most often use 2″ strips and 2 1/2″ strips so I want to cut predominantly that size. The top red and black piece you see in the above picture was a little bigger than 5″. I cut two 2 1/2″ strips off of it.

Then I had this left. The top piece was a little more than 2″ so I cut a 2″ strip.
From there I cut a couple more 2″ strips until I was close to the edge. To best use the remaining fabric, I cut another 2 1/2″ strip. I didn’t cut any 1 1/2″ strips or 3″ strips this time around.
No worries though…I cut them in different sets. Here’s what I got cut so far….The tote at the bottom of the photo below is full of 2 1/2″ strips.

I have piles and piles of strips in batiks and Civil War type prints too.

But all that cutting has left a mess around the garbage can….

bits and pieces that have missed their mark.

I have so much more to do…I unearthed another bag of yellow and blue shirts that I have plans for.

I had the white garbage bag full but found the green reusable bag full. Rosie then dug them apart. I need to get them deboned. UGH.

So that’s my progress. It’s looking MUCH worse rather than better but I know it actually is getting better.

My goal is completely caught up. My goal is projects that are unfinished to get finished…not all the UFOs but the little projects…the patch this, fix that projects and the flimsies have to get finished for me to consider this room clean. I have two more boxes of scraps to sort through. That’s what I’m planning to get to this week…among other things.

I ordered a bunch of new totes for the shelving in the closet. I got it all sorted and ready. I just need the new totes which should be coming at the end of the week. I can’t wait. Things for so long have been in mismatched totes or totes that are to small. Now, everything should fit. The calicos found a tote. The Kaffe prints have two totes. I really had no idea I had so many.

I have a stack of things I’ve doodled out on paper hoping to make and submit to magazines one day. I’m trying really hard to not start anything. I really want to get to a point I feel like my sewing room is a fresh start. I was hoping to finish by the end of May and seriously, I think I’m going to need that long!!

Those of you who jumped on the bandwagon with me to clean your sewing room, how are you doing?? I’d love to hear.
#Quilting #Uncategorized