I've lost hope that I'll ever get my scraps and my stash of fabric under control, but I'm working on the tools a little bit at a time. On Wednesday morning it all started with this . . .
The parts and pieces for the April block for Saturday Sampler were all cut out and ready to fuse onto the background. Since I wanted to fuse the different units together before putting them onto the background, I went in search of the nice big silicone pressing mat that I knew I owned.
My cutting station is a section of kitchen cabinet with a butcher block top. It is the perfect height for me, and holds a 24" cutting mat, leaving room for tools, etc. I knew the pressing mat was in that long drawer, along with a zillion specialty rulers I don't use often (or at all) and a gazillion templates for marking quilting designs. Hmmm - I also found a few different marking tools for quilting - chalk, pencils, and more. Good to know where those are too!
I'm happy to say that the drawer is now cleaned and organized, my Saturday Sampler block has the pieces attached (ready for stitching), and I've put the discarded objects into a donate box I've begun. The specialty rulers that I'm keeping include some for cutting circles, tumblers, scallops, kaleidoscopes, wonky log cabins, wedges, and twisters. The silicone pressing mat and the quilting templates are back in the drawer as well - except for a couple of options I will audition for the Quick Strippee quilt that I plan to do mayself.
The scrap bins . . . still out of control.
I don't have a lot of drawers in this room to store things but I know things are hiding on me in here
ReplyDeleteI have some of the same rulers you do. Haven't used the X block for a long time but it was fun, I did a few quilts with that. I have the Twister, Kaleidescope, EB flying geese and of course the wedges.
ReplyDeleteNo drawers in my sewing room, so my rulers are on top of the cutting table in a wooden rack. I should replace some of the rulers because they’ve been nicked with a rotary cutter from time to time.
ReplyDeleteI love all your drawer space! Your block will be adorable.
ReplyDeleteI always had trouble keeping drawers under control, so most of the tools go on peg board. I had trouble with that as well UNTIL I labeled it. Now everything has a labeled spot. The only thing that EVER worked for my scraps was when I bought little cubby shelves on Amazon. They didn't cost a lot - under $50. I separated them out by color into the bins. Now when I need small amounts of a certain color, I pull out the little canvas bin. When I'm working on a project, all scraps go in the corner of my work table. At the end of the project, they THEN get sorted into their bin. For the first time in 30 years, scraps are organized and being used!
ReplyDeleteOne drawer at a time!
ReplyDeleteIt's like getting new stuff all over again!
ReplyDeleteI was saying to someone that I think scraps are an example of infinity. There is no end, so resistance is futile. I'm just going to accept that.
ReplyDelete