Found a Way to Organize my Acrylic Templates

I've been collecting acrylic templates for a while, and never had anywhere to store them that was easy to get to when I was quilting on my mid-arm/frame.

I had found this shoe tree at Walmart, and seen an idea to hang fat quarters from it, using paperclips and binder clips. Good idea, but didn't work for me.

So I decided to hang my templates (and some rulers) from the shoe tree and it worked! Using the same bent paper clips and binder clips (you can buy snap clips that work well too) I hung everything, and it looks great! It's sitting on a plastic drawer unit next to my frame, and I think it will work really well -- as long as I put the templates back after using them!!

I love creative solutions!

Mary

Tuesday's Tip - Curtain Rods

For Tuesday's Tip, I wanted to list a a couple of the ways I use curtain rods!

Freezer Paper - Freezer paper has loads of uses, especially with applique and paper piecing.  For machine quilting, you can even iron it down and quilt around it to make your designs.

I put a small curtain rod on the end of my cutting table and put the roll of freezer paper there -- really convenient!

Quilt Frame Tool Holder - it's hard to have a place to keep your tools on a quilt frame that is handy to reach.

I took 2 small curtain rods and hooked them loosely over the rollers on my frame, then duct taped (don't we love duct tape!) a small plastic bin to the curtain rods.  It doesn't get in the way, and I can roll the quilt without dislodging it.

Quilt Hanger - I hung a curtain rod with clip rings, and clipped the quilt on the rod for display.  When I want to change quilts, I just un-clip the current one and clip up the new one. (excuse the bad photo, I was in too much of a hurry)

I've also heard of curtain rods used for:

- Holding rolls of masking or duct tape
- Holding rolls of ribbon
- Holding hooks for rulers or other tools
- Make a quick design wall with a flannel backed tablecloth
- Make a  headboard for a bed with a pretty quilt

Have you heard of other good ideas for curtain rods?  Leave a comment and tell everyone your tips!

Mary

Tuesday's Tip - DIY Thread Storage

For today's tip, I'm going to show how I made a great DIY thread storage drawer.

I have a thread hanger on the wall by my small sewing machine, but I needed something for my mid-arm machine that's on a frame.  It needed to be convenient, hold even large cones, bobbins, and keep the thread clean.

The plastic drawers in the photo were next to the frame, and had an empty drawer.  I saw a picture on Pinterest that showed dowels hot glued to a plastic drawer, and that got me thinking -- I could do this!  So I got out an old thread holder, a scrap piece of wood, bamboo skewer, glue gun, electric drill, and a few other odds and ends and started to work.  I was determined to use materials on hand and do it myself!

After several ideas that didn't quite work, I ended up drilling holes in the piece of wood, breaking the skewers in half, and hot gluing them in place if they were loose.  The skewers needed to be long, so the  bobbins that match the thread could go on top of the thread spool. The whole piece was then spot glued into the drawer.

I did use half of an old wooden letter holder (I think that's what it was) on one side, for my really big cones and to fill the space, but a larger piece of wood would have worked just as well.

This is still a work in progress, I may shorten the skewers a little, and it's not the prettiest thing, but when it's filled with thread and bobbins (someday!) it'll look fine, and it works!!

What do you think? Have you made something like this?  I'd love to see pictures!

Mary

Ah Ha Moment Organizing My Stash

For a long time, I've been trying to find a good way to organize my stash....and yesterday I had an "ah-ha" moment.

As you can see, I have wire shelving in my studio for storing fabric, but nothing to separate the stacks and keep them from falling over. I tried all kinds of things - baskets, clear plastic containers, stacking on shelves, etc.

So...

Yesterday I got some cording from Lowe's, and strung it through the shelves, and have great dividers!  This was so easy, and really works well!  I put my fabric on the shelves by color, with the fat quarters in front, since the shelves are really deep.  I can move the cording along the shelves if I need to adjust the size of the opening, or I can just untie them and move them!

As you can see, I've definitely moved from prints to solids!  And, the blog where I explained my folding technique is here.

Easy, fast, and cheap!!

Mary

Easy to Make Design Wall

Here's a great idea for an easy and inexpensive Design Wall -- your fabric sticks to the flannel so you rarely need pins!

I made two - here is a picture of one of them.  They are side by side so I have a total of 8' x 8' of design space!  They can be rearranged or I can just use one if I want!

Simple Instructions:

Organizing My Studio - Part 2

Once I got my shelves organized, it was on to the rest of the studio. I've made a lot of progress, and wanted to share some of my storage, display and sewing solutions.

My budget isn't large for my studio, so I've tried to be creative with my storage solutions. It helps to have a handy husband! This is my quilt "ladder". It's made of two 2x4's that were sanded and painted white. Then holes were drilled in the 2x4's about 22" apart, and 1" pvc pipe was put through the holes to make the "rungs". I can lean it against the wall and hang quite a few quilts on it, as well as my purses and bags. With the quilts on it, it's heavy enough to be fairly sturdy. It's also easy to take apart and move and the width is adjustable.

WIP's or UFO's -- there are always lots of projects "in progress" that need a place that is visible, so I'll finish them! This wooden drying rack was very inexpensive, but works great.

Cutting Table, Sewing Table and Quilt Frame:

Organizing My Studio -- Making Progress!

Is this organizing ever finished?  I'm pretty sure the answer is "No!"  I really enjoy organizing my studio, it looks so nice after, and I get to use my creative organizing ideas!

My first project was organizing my shelving where I keep my stash.  I still have some labeling to do, but so far --

• Refolded ALL of my stash, using 6" ruler folding technique
• Sorted the fabric by color and value, and put the smaller pieces (fat quarters) in clear plastic shoe boxes  
• Fabrics that I wanted to stay in a group were put together in the green basket
• Scraps are sorted by color on the upper right side of the shelves, again in plastic shoe boxes
• Fleece and flannel are on the top shelf, with some of my quilts and craft supplies
• Strips are hung on the end of the shelves
• Bolts of white and off-white are stored on the bottom shelf, with smaller pieces of batting
• Rolls of batting are in the corner

Here's a really simple explanation of how I did the folding --