My Top 5 Tips to Getting it Done

As you all know, I have spent the last few weeks attempting to clean and organise my craft room. During today's torture cleaning session, I came to the strong realisation that no matter how organised the room is, it won't make a difference if the projects themselves aren't organised...so here are my top 5 tips for organising your projects and reaching your sewing goals.

I know what you're thinking, how can I possibly have tips on reaching goals when I spend all my time jumping from one project to the next? I assure you there is method to my madness...and some of these methods may actually work for you too.

Tip #1 - Know your goals
You need to know your goals in order to reach them.  Sometimes they're very clear: "Sew party dress for daughter's first birthday", but, sometimes they are a little more vague. I fall into the second category. My goal is to learn...everything. At this point in time, I'm more interested in piecing the quilt tops than becoming an expert quilter. This means, for me, my goal is to learn different methods of piecing and understand why some techniques work better than others. I have a lot of quilt tops sitting around waiting to be quilted and that's OK. I'm achieving my goal and will happily quilt them down the track. Knowing your goals helps you focus your efforts where they need to be.

Tip #2 - Be Realistic
It's great to have goals, and you should definitely always push yourself to try new things...but there's no joy in setting yourself up for failure. Make sure your goals are realistic and achievable. I am a stay-at-home Mum to a beautiful, though very active toddler. I would love to complete quilt after quilt until they've taken over the house, but this simply isn't realistic. My goal is to do 'some' piecing each day and be happy with what I'm learning along the way.

Tip #3 - Plan
Plan your sewing tasks and prepare for your sessions. It's no fun spending half your limited sewing time trying to figure out what tools you need and where you were at with your project. Read patterns ahead of time to make sure you have everything you need. Break your project up into small, manageable tasks. Write lists to help track which step you are up to. I know I can't sew of an evening, so I use that time for pressing and cutting. This may mean I'm cutting out my next project when I'm only halfway through my current one, but that's ok. It's the best use of my time and keeping me moving towards those goals.

Tip #4 - Make Sacrifices
There aren't many things in life that can be achieved without a few sacrifices. Maybe it's time, money or some other concept, but, you will undoubtably need to make sacrifices to achieve your goals. My sewing time is limited to short sessions throughout the day, with a toddler running underfoot. It's very difficult to achieve perfect accuracy during this time and I had to make the choice whether it was more important for me to finish fewer projects perfectly, or more projects with less precision. It was a hard choice to make, but I chose the latter. My goal is to learn, so I have reluctantly happily accepted that, in order to learn techniques, I will make do with the odd mismatched seam or less pointy star. I certainly won't allow myself to be 'sloppy', but I won't unpick every tiny flaw if it means other projects are being put on hold.

Tip #5 - Have Fun
The most important thing to remember is that this is all supposed to be fun. If you're spending your entire time stressing about your project then there's no shame in putting it aside until you're ready to enjoy it again. I do it all the time and, until the quilt police come knocking at my door, I will continue to do so. 

Organise Fat Quarters...Check.

Like most quilters, I'm addicted to fabric. I'm particularly fond of fat quarters. They're great for fattening your stash and they're always so pretty.

I really wanted to find a way to store all of my fat quarters together neatly, but still be able to see the design of the fabric. 

Neat and tidy.

I love being able to see the prints in full.

I found these magazine boards on eBay. They're like those used to store comic books but bigger...big enough for magazines in fact.

Magazine board and plastic sleeve.

I decided to buy the plastic sleeves too, as I thought they'd be a great way to keep the fabric folded neatly and protect it from dust. 

A fat quarter fits perfectly in the sleeve.

I found them a perfect size for fat quarters and large scraps. 

Magazine boards are a great size to wrap fat quarters neatly

If you leave the plastic off, you can even store up to a yard of fabric before the board gets a bit bendy. 

I'm just showing off some cuteness here.

I'm really happy with how they're stored. It's a much smarter use of space, they look great and I get a better view of the full print on each fat quarter. 

Another gorgeous print

The only downside is that it was an added expense, but, as far as I'm concerned, it was definitely worth it. I have a much better idea of what is in my stash now and it looks great...or at least it will once the rest of the room is clean. 

The Great Craft Room Clean Up - Starting Positive

It's Friday and that means it's time to organise the disaster zone I call my craft room. I thought we'd start things off on a positive note and have a closer look at some of the things I'm actually doing right. 

Thread and Bobbins

I have tried a zillion ways to store threads and bobbins...all of which ended up in a big tangled thready mess. It also drives me insane when I can't find the bobbin that matches a particular thread. After searching high and low for ideas, I found this (I can't remember where, so I can't give credit unfortunately). 

Simple, but effective.

This works perfectly. The rubber band both keeps the bobbin with the thread and stops the threads from unraveling. I just pop these onto a thread stand and I'm always ready to sew...assuming I can find my machine.

Needles and Machine Feet

These were an endless source of frustration for me. I was constantly losing my extra needles and feet until I came up with this idea. 

Needles neatly stored

Extra sewing machine feet, with instructions.

I've used spare beading containers to hold all the bits and pieces for my machine. As you can see, I've even labelled the extra feet and keep the instructions with them. Genius. 

Fun Toy

Finally, I wanted to show you my favourite sewing toy. You may have used one before but if not, you should run out and buy one right now. I just love this little guy. 

My favourite sewing toy

My magnetic pin tray. I started using one of these in sewing classes and have never looked back. They're great because your pins are always together, it's hard to knock them over, you can easily throw pins in them when sewing and, if you do happen to drop any pins, you can just wave this over the floor and it will pick them up for you. How brilliant is that? 

How do you organise your bits and pieces? I'd love to hear your ideas below or on my Facebook page. 

The Great Craft Room Cleanup: Let's Get Started

You may have guessed already that I'm, perhaps, not the hugest fan of cleaning. Don't get me wrong, I love having a clean and organised home...or at least I'm pretty sure I would love it, if I ever actually had one. It's just that, given the choice, there are about a million things I would rather be doing. 

Needless to say, my craft room is starting to more resemble an episode of Hoarders than the creative haven of bliss we've all seen on Pinterest. The main downside to this, apart from having no clue where anything is, is that it does start to affect the creative process. It's difficult to keep track of projects, or actually finish them, if you spend half of your limited crafting time looking for supplies or figuring out what you're supposed to be doing next. I decided to do what any reasonable adult would do...burn it all and start again. Then I remembered that I may not easily find some of the fabric ranges in my stash so I begrudgingly took the next best option...clean up and get organised. 

Each week I will share with you my progress in this somewhat daunting task. It might simply be some photos, or some cool ideas for organising knick-knacks. I will also hunt down some of my more organised blogging friends to share their own hints and tips on keeping your craft space neat and tidy. 

Here are a few before shots of my craft room. The ones I'm actually willing to share. 

I'll start with the good....

Nicely organised fat quarters

Scraps neatly sorted by colour...when I bother to actually put them away

...and move straight on to the ugly.

Ummm....yeah

As you can see, I have a bit of work ahead of me. It's not just about tidying up. It's about being organised and motivated with my projects. I have set the rule that I'm not to spend too much money. Mainly because I don't have any hahaha, but also because it raises the enjoyment factor if it becomes a crafty activity in itself. I'm already thinking of ways to pretty up those nappy boxes and would love some suggestions. 

I hope you enjoy following my Great Craft Room Cleanup. Maybe you'll even see this as motivation to organise your own space, or share some hints and tips. I'd love to hear your ideas on my Facebook page.