Tis the season.  The grass is getting greener, the sun is warmer and the flowers are starting to peek through the ground.  It’s also the time of year where the spring cleaning bug comes out!  

While there’s nothing worse than a messy sewing room, I still always find that mid project my room always looks ransacked. It’s like once the sewing machine turns on my brain forgets what a garbage can or a peg board is. Then of course the digging for the scissors ensues. And before you know it the piles of stuff start to grow taller than you!

We have implemented a house saying this year. “Don’t put it down, put it away” Such a simple phrase, but it really does get into your head. Take the minute to put something in its spot instead of just setting on the counter to take care of later. That little extra bit makes such a huge difference! I think I’m going to have to embroider it in a frame and hang it in my sewing room as that seems to be the main place that I completely forget the house saying……I am getting better and it’s becoming more of a habit. 9 times out of 10 I’m putting the scissors back on the peg board above my machine instead of on the table.

Having containers and space next to where you work makes all the difference in keeping your space neat. If you don’t have to get up to put something away, you’re more likely to consistently put it where it belongs.

Now of course there are going to be times where the sewing room is a mess, and that’s just part of the creative process! Those who have multiple projects going on likely have larger messes. It’s natural.

Just keeping all the WIPs contained will help the overall clutter vibe of the sewing room.

For quilts that have a slightly more scrappy nature, I have baskets filled with all the pieces for the quilt once cut out. These function as both pretty and useful. Obviously, the bigger the project, the bigger the basket.

Project bags (Stitch Supply Co.sends some wonderful ones with purchases!) are great for storing fabric for a certain project. For me personally, if I put a project completely out of sight all zipped up, I’ll kind of forget about it. But putting fabric for needed for quilts in the bags helps keep future quilts organized and ready to go when you are.

Another thing that I do to keep WIPS organized is the paper plate trick. If I have a quilt that has specific prints and pieces set aside for each block, I’ll put all the cut out fabric for that block on its own plate and then stack all the plates together.

With all the WIPs organized, and things got put back where they go instead of just set down wherever, the rest is easy maintenance!

5 things I do after every project:

• Sort any scraps or fabric laying around
• Dust all the surfaces and shelves
• Vacuum
• Some machine care (needle, lint clean up, oil)
• Empty trash

All in all, it only takes about 15 minutes. I try to do these most of these things every day (organize fabric/projects, dust, vacuum), but let’s be real, sometimes I’m working right up until the last minute possible!

What do you do to organize your projects? Do you have a great tip that I didn’t share? If so, leave it in the comments to help out another quilter!