I’m busy making my main studio space more usable… check out my progress AND enter my giveaway!
I give you a BEFORE tour
My main studio space is where I work all the time. It has my projects in progress, machines, computer, and most of my fabric.
About 3pm I started pulling all the projects out of my studio space to resort them and put them into better size container and more effective & productive spots for my use. I did a video for you
For the post part I’m not doing fabric, just projects.
That includes all the different products I review or test. PLUS I had some UFOs in my main space that were not being worked on and taking up valuable work space. They needed to be moved.
Taking it out is EASY.
Deciding how to regroup and where in my studio should it now be, is more difficult. I started when I got up.
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For our family business we work at home, so our whole small home has become our office.
We have no basement and no usable attic. So my business takes up 4 rooms in our home.
- My studio is my main work room and what you see all the time. It is the family room of our home, it’s what in the videos with my beautiful Koala Furniture and my Baby lock machines
- The shipping department has one room as his office.
- We have 1 other rooms for quilts, batting, notions, projects not being working on, other fabric, books, etc.
- AND the ‘over flow’ room right now is our dining room as it can’t all fit in the one room upstairs. The photo above is one wall in my dining room. On the wall is my village quilt (BUY the pattern here), and the blocks are from my Triangle book (HERE)
In my studio I keep JUST what I’m working on and my main fabric. On that video I talk about it being messy. It is ‘messy’ in that projects were not in optimum work places, split across areas, and things got put in spots that took up valuable space in my small room
Now for a few photos of my ‘after’
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Keeping it organized keeps my sanity 
Hope you enjoy watching as I make progress!
If you are new here, welcome! I run a lot of fun projects
These are my 2 latest FREE sew alongs, join me!
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1,818 Responses
My biggest problem is I now live in a small house in UK without my own dedicated working space, as a result I store everything everywhere. How I miss the space in my farm house back in Zimbabwe
My biggest problem is not enough space. Going to be working on reorganizing soon when I get to a better stopping space with projects. I have been doing a little here and there though.
My biggest organizational challenge is arranging a small bedroom closet to hold my sewing supplies so the bedroom can remain a guest room when needed and a sewing room.
My biggest organizational problem is making time to get back into the Studio to work on the projects I have lined up to do! I guess it’s more of a time management problem with the rest of my life and volunteer work than actually knowing what to work on… Well, that is, once I’ve organized my Studio! Let’s be honest here, I just have too many projects in the works! I guess that IS my organizational stumbling block!
Keeping the stuff away from the preschoolers hands! Haha!
I am my biggest problem… I see fabric and THINK I need it even though there is no project in my mind. I have LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of fabric and should never need to buy anything for years….. BUT I’m sure you all know how that goes:)
My problem is I hate to get rid of anything!! I figure that I can use that scrap of fabric SOMEWHERE! As a result I have bins and bins of fabric semi organized into fat quarters, Christmas fabrics, larger pieces of fabric, and then there are kits and oh, just so many bins!! I have them labeled so I know what’s in each one, but I need more space to store all the bins….right now they align my room on all sides, and they are stacked on top of each other almost to the ceiling!!! Some of the smaller pieces are organized by color….and, oh, it is just over-whelming!! I need to take a nap!! LOL….Love your room and with the big windows, you have so much natural lighting….I am in the basement with lots of fluorescent lights, but I long for a window so I can see what is going on outside!! Thanks for the peek into your sewing studio, Pat!! 🙂
I also work my small quilting / fabric business from home. Everything that is business related is in the Studio (20×15) including the office, long arm, cutting station, sewing area & 550 bolts, etc. I keep any personal supplies in the guest room closet. Not that I ever get to really work on any of my own projects very much! But I have been able to carve out time for your Mystery & Christmas Mystery this year! If everything wasn’t organized, I wouldn’t be able to work!
I have a large space but my biggest problem is that I do not have good furniture/storage pieces to organize my fabrics and “stuff”. I’m just not good at organization.
Organizing all my fabric and notions in a small area. Especially all my new fabric and notions that you tease me daily with from the fat quarter shop! Stuff I can’t live without🙄🤣 Thank you Pat for all your quilting blogs! I love your taste in fabrics and quilting!
I love plastic containers… Now I have too many containers and need to organize my organizing! Yikes!
My biggest problem is too much stuff and not enough space. I use totes and plastic boxes so I can see where things are and I label each box don’t remember which room the box is in.
My biggest problem is midlife spread. I have a sewing room where I usually do not sew; I love the dining room table – these quilts are big……..and sew is the table. Then, there is my living room it is truly a mess too; because unlike you, I am not organized. I work full time and then I feel obligated to clean, and can never organize because I want to sew…. Loved your little video!!! Also, loved that red and white quilt, what is it called and where is the pattern. Thanks so much!!!!
Hi Pat! My biggest organizational problem is too much stuff! I try to have my fabrics sorted by color but my blue drawer is full so it is hogging some of the red drawer. I should probably pare it down or make some blue quilts! ~smile~ Roseanne
I recently took over older child’s bedroom (he moved out 4 yrs ago- took me that long to get him to take the rest of his stuff with him 🙂 ). My biggest problem is what to do with all the scraps, I have buckets full…. how small is too small….I’ve cut some into leader/ender common size/shapes, but every time I close the door, they seem to reproduce!!! And of course I have Waaay too many works-in-progress/UFO’s. I better live to a very old age to get all of the projects currently in my sewing room done…. 🙂
Getting so involved in the organization that I don’t spend time designing and implementing!
My biggest problem is trying to organize my scraps so I can use them in different projects. Do I keep all the coordinating scraps together or do I sort them into bins of similar colors? How do I organize my leftover fabric so I can easily find it?
My biggest problem is neatly storing my fabric and wool pieces (for wool Applique) neatly. It is hard to work in a space that is not neat.
My biggest problem is that I have too much stuff for a small room and too many hobbies. Thanks for a chance to win.
My biggest problem is knowing what to do with odd shaped pieces of fabric. I keep the big pieces folded, but what do I do with the rest?
I have a great sewing room too. I put things away in bins and drawers and then forget where I put a certain piece of fabric! Old age, mmmmmmmmm, maybe!
I try to keep a list for each storage bin and drawer. It does help some.
My biggest challenge is space to organize. I sew in a corner of my bedroom. I use the top of my dresser as my cutting surface and a small folding table with a mini ironing board atop it. Trying to organize my scraps by color and size takes up to much space.
I don’t know best way to organize tools for best efficiency and best way to organize scraps
My biggest organizational problem is lack of shelving to put things. So everything is in tubs stacked on the floor—of course what I need is always in the last tub I look in. Also, because I have several projects going at the same time, many tubs are opened and being used at the same time, which clutters my small work area.
My biggest problem is I don’t have enough space for all my stuff! I did get large containers for each UFO. That has helped. But I need help with when I finish a project what to do about the left over fabric.
I take fabrics out of the bins and never seem to put them back and end up with a cutting table full of fabrics and they seem to spread out to my long arm table and everywhere. Last year I sorted 33 bins by colors and it’s time I do it again.
To me, I hate waste and partially used fat quarters drive me crazy. I sometimes cut them into 2.5 strips or squares, but what if I want 5 inch square piece?? How do you deal with pieces you want to keep that don’t fit fat quarter, strips or square collections
Purchase a label maker.
Wow! Where to begin? My biggest organizational problem is dealing with the smaller left over scrap material and sorting them into some kinda make sense way. Like flower fabrics together. Then I get hung up because maybe I should put the red flowers with the red fabric? On and on I go and there they sit waiting on my indecision :0)
I’m an organizer, but still haven’t found a good way to organize scraps – despite reading a multitude of others’ suggestions. AND how in the world do you organize all those small notions and then remember where they are!
Dealing with fabric once a project is done. Can’t seem to just get rid of it because I might need something somewhere down the line. Hope to use in Charity quilts. But when?
My biggest problem is my scraps. I have boxes, baskets, bins and so on.
just getting my sewing/craft room set after moving into this house three years ago. I am also recently retired from a job that i traveled all but four days a month. have been to many places and collected a lot of fabric/craft supplies. love going thru my boxes and finding things i forgot i had. have finished one quilt top and am working on Pat’s SS2 and merry and bright. love them
My biggest problem is scraps – I have too many and they are a mess. I have a hard time getting rid of them and I keep getting more. I know I will never use most of them yet don’t want to let them go as I never know which ones I will use.
I share my sewing room with my office. I find myself expanding to the dining room for cutting and am constantly going back and forth because whatever I need is always the other room.
My biggest problem is not being able to let go of anything … especially fabric.
Just reorganized my sewing room. Since I’m also a garment sewer I have a hard time cutting off unusually shaped pieces since it might be just enough for say a triangle that will allow me to use the fabric in a block.
I have works in progress in my bedroom and my sewing room. The sewing room has some built in shelves, but they’re so deep, stuff gets lost in the back. That being said, my biggest problem is me! I’d rather periodically dig around to find something I need than try to organize!
My biggest problem is most is out in a shed which I can not move other things to get to my sewing needs and projects! I do have some inside but till I empty things out we can`t re-wallpaper and then my new quilting table can be placed at the end of the lounge. Doing this is so daunting 🙁 Hence slow sewing time.
My organization problem is not enough space and too much stuff. It’s too small a room for all that I have and keep buying…..
How to keep scraps organized is my biggest challenge!
No dedicated sewing room. Use dining table and our home is open concept and only 2 bedrooms. So short also on storage.
My problem is a small room with fabric that just seems to multiply but when I want to make something, I never seem to have the right thing. I’ve bought new Christmas fabric to make the Merry and Bright blocks – so much fun!!
I have a lot of UFOs with new projects. I just moved my sewing room to the finished basement but don’t have time to organize and put away my supplies yet. it is a mess in boxes 🙁
I understand COMPLETELY what you mean about needing to work “tidy”. I need that, too. I just can’t concentrate if I look up to a mess.
My biggest problem is having to store my machine and fabrics and not being able to have them set up all the time, so that when I want to sew it’s a major undertaking to even get started.
My biggest problem is lack of space. I’m using one of my bedrooms and too much stuff in a small space.
My biggest problem is storage for batting. If I put it on a shelf, it takes up A LOT of space. If I put it on the floor, I’m constantly moving it.
My problem is that I want to make everything at once, and can’t decide on one thing so there are multiple things going and it makes my room look like a mess. I need to prioritize and maybe work on one thing in the morning and another in the afternoon. Loved your tour and solutions.
My space is small 9×10, and I’m a organization freak! Wish I had floor to ceiling cabinets for all my fabric and supplies… so I had room to move!