I am fortunate to have a few days of uninterrupted sewing time coming this week. Yes, I said days! I have been excitedly waiting for this time and have plans to work on several different projects.
Let’s face it though, I probably won’t get as much done as I think I should but I’m ready to give it a go.
My sewing room is a mess after all the OSU sewing and my shopping trip in PA a few weeks ago – I haven’t taken time to put anything away properly, I simply stuffed piles of fabric wherever there was room.
This pic shows just how messy my fabric cabinet was:
So for the last couple of days I’ve been organizing, folding fabric, putting things away, and generally just cleaning up. I’m happy with the progress I’ve made. I am so much more productive in a clean and organized space. Look at that cabinet now:
So now I can actually see what fabric I have! Pretty cool…
But I have to say, I’m most excited about my scraps. Until this weekend, all my scraps were just stuffed into a few bins and then promptly forgotten. To be honest, the thought of dealing with them was so overwhelming I found myself doing nothing. I’m always searching the internet and reading anything I can find on how other quilters deal with their scraps. Which really made it worse – should I sort them by color, cut them all down into squares and strips, sort by size and if I sort by size, what size? See my dilemma?
So on Saturday I emptied every scrap container I had and started sorting. I chose to sort by color and didn’t worry about size. I gave myself permission to throw away tiny pieces that I will probably never use and I didn’t feel bad about it. 🙂
I ended up with the following color piles: reds/pinks, yellow, orange, blue, green, neutrals, gray/black/brown. I then put each color in their own bin. I discovered I use green a lot – it was my biggest scrap pile. I would never have guessed that!
I Â am so relieved to finally have a system for scrap storage in place. This has been a project I have wanted to tackle for a long time, and having them sorted will make it easier for me to do scrap projects. Yay!
There are still some organizational things I want to do in my sewing room, but for now it’s good. I’ll be able to sew these next few days in a cleaned up space and hopefully get a few things checked off the to do list.
This cleaned up space is my crush for Main Crush Monday. What’s yours? I would love to see what projects you’re working on and what has you excited about sewing this week! You can link up any post or Instagram post – here is how:

Great job on your scrap organization. I found size worked better for me. I just can’t get the rhythm of truly scrappy unless all the colors are piled together to begin with. LOL So I picked 6 sizes and found I can make most anything from them. My glass front cabinet inspires me to be neater too!
I had the same dilemma when I tried sorting my scraps last weekend! I ended up sorting out the strips and 2.5 inch squares, but I still have loads left to organize. I think I’ll probably sort by color too. I like the idea of cutting everything down to the same size, but then I worry I’ll want different sizes one day 🙂
how picture perfect your studio looks colorful and enticing. If they could only stay that way! But that would mean we aren’t working wouldn’t it?
LeeAnna
I loved the peek at your stash, scraps, and quilt hanging on the wall. 🙂 I also work better in a clean room.
i am so jealous too. I never succeed in a tidy organisation. But when I see this I must try again. It is worth while. Congrats with such a tidy cupboard.
Love from Amsterdam
Your organization is so tidy; congratulations for tackling your scraps! I hope you have a wonderful, productive, and thoroughly enjoyable sewing week!
Oh, I’m so jealous! I keep *meaning* to get to this, but you actually did!