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
Biggest problem is space. I need to start finishing projects. That is why I have been trying VERY hard to shop out of my closet first. I have done well this past year. I actually have one empty container.
My sewing room is small, and much of my sewing stuff is downstairs, in the basement. Not a good thing, since, once it is in the basement, it is ‘forgotten’. After Christmas, I’ll be moving my sewing room to the basement, and try to get all my stuff organized at that time (flipping with hubby, who uses part of the basement as his office). I’ll finally be able to open my cutting table to full size, and set up several sewing machines at once.
My biggest problem is – where do I put the quilts that I am waiting to quilt on my mid-arm. If I put them on the table, I don’t have space to actually quilt the other quilt! Putting them on the floor just creates more mess!!!
My biggest problem is trying to get everything into one room. I currently have three rooms that I use.
Lack of storage/organizational space – my sewing area is in my bedroom so I try to keep it organized and tidy as I don’t want to look at a mess! And … it’s hard to stick with one project till it’s done before buying more fabric!
I’m using our guest bedroom as my sewing room. It has big windows across one entire wall, which is the biggest advantage. It’s difficult to keep everything picked up and put away at the end of every day, as there simply isn’t enough space to store all of my “stuff”. I could use our third bedroom, but it only has one small window, making it very dark. The second room is not big enough to switch the furniture from the room I use.
My biggest problem is that I sadly do not have a dedicated sewinging room. Right now, I am set up in the dining room — there will be no eating there anytime soon! Like Cath K, I try to keep separate projects in boxes where everything goes related to that particular project.
First of all, wish my room was as neat as yours. I’m trying to organize my room as well. I am having a difficult time getting all my fabric arranged. I have lots of it. fat quarters, lots of panels, layer cakes, jelly rolls and yards. Gives me a headache with all the confusion. Maybe you can teach me in your video.
My biggest problem is space. My sewing machine setup is in my living room. My spare bedrooms have no space to set this up. Would like to maybe move to my bedroom but would be tight. Plus I have several projects going on which doesn’t help. LOL!!!!
My biggest problem is that I pack everything away and then either forget about it, or forget where it is .
My biggest problem is not putting fabric away after i’ve Used it. Spent months organizing all my fabric in ikea cubbies. Now it looks as if a tornado blew through it!
That is a nice a bed sofa NOT husbands sofa. Haha. ….. Crazy spell check. Husband has his own garage for his projects 🙂
My biggest problem is storing my rulers and templates so I can find them quickly.
I must say, space, I miss my old closet. I have no clue what it was originally designed for.. but it was a hugely deep closet, i added 4 sets of shelves, and they rolled out but on tracks., like a bifold door. i could do and store all my fabric, but when id had enough I could push in and , then most mess out of sight.
I have a fairly large room, but fabric piles crowd out my walking space and creep onto my cutting table and sewing and embroidery spaces. My fabric die cutting equipment and dies take up space in another room. I have clear plastic bins stacked and labeled as UFOs and fabrics by color and theme. I have no attic and hesitate to use the basement for fabric storage. I guess I need to empty and put back in better places, as you are doing. My problem is deciding what goes where, without being distracted by finding interesting hidden treasures!
I need help!
My biggest problem is keeping my fabric organized. I get it sorted and then buy more.
Even though I have a large dedicated sewing room, I lack on enough storage for fabrics. There is also a husbands sofa for company that takes up a lot of space as does my mid arm quilting frame and machine. I store fabric in clear bins that stack. Rolls of batting are standing in a corner. I know where everything is… But when someone visits to them it is chaos … To me it is my controlled chaos.
my biggest disorganization is my ufos. I have to put them on my cutting table stacked up high. Takes up some of my cutting space. I have a small sewing room so I have nowhere else to put them.
My biggest problem is ‘fabric waste’. I’m sure there is a lot of ways to use ‘left overs’ but finding something that matches or looks good in the end is hard for me. I hate throwing away bits and pieces that can be so ‘valuable’ and useful.
My biggest organizational problem is all the little leftover pieces of fabrics from a project and the scraps I think I need to keep for future applique projects. You never know when you might need just a tiny little piece of just the right shade of orange for a snowman’s nose, ya know!
The need to divide sewing inventory between garment fabric and quilting products is a challenge. When these project items are intermingled, I waste too much time locating items to be deemed efficient.
SPACE!!! I live in 535 square feet. My whole place… 535 sq. ft. I’m getting pretty good at organizing though! Thanks for the tips!
Keeping projects organized!! I have a small house-a large cupboard for my projects and must reorganize after every stage of each project. Your studio is lovely! Thanks, Pat, for all the fun!
Like so many other comments, space is always an issue plus the desire to take the time to organize. Who wants to clean when you can be creating? I’ve decided to quit hoarding scraps less than 2 1/2″. They are taking over everything.
My problem is lack of time and too many things I want to get done.
My biggest problem is living with someone who can’t handle how much more messy things look while one is sorting etc. What I’ve tried to do is sort in smaller amounts (eg all the scraps) because that does not make so much mess before it can be put away. Live and learn!
My biggest problem is wanting to start every project I see! Then buying the fabric, etc. and never getting around to doing them. Had a “professional” organized help me earlier in the year and have a bigger mess now than I had then! Need to start over and pull everything out to redo it all.
My biggest problem is that I buy fabric with a project in mind–so that is the way I store it. I keep it all in small plastic stackable bins–with the what I am working on next to my sewing table. All others are stacked in closets. Then, when I am looking for specific colored materials I have to root through ALL of my bins. Takes forever. But I don’t want to sort by color, since I buy certain materials to go together.
My biggest problem is I have TOO MUCH STUFF for a room that is 10’x12’. I am overwhelmed when Itry to clear it out. I have taken to just setting up my sewing machine in the kitchen , then no one can use the table! It’s a mess:(
My biggest concern is SPACE! I have an area in the breakfast nook of our kitchen since we only have a two-bedroom home. (Hubby’s TV room is in the other bedroom). I make it work, though!
My biggest problem is my scraps. Being able to find and use them up.
Biggest Problem? Where to start!!! Share a home with eldest daughter who also quilts, sews and designs. So much fabric around that it’s confusing. Not organized any more IMHO but she thinks we are. lol My biggest problem is finding the right fabric amongst too much fabric. Sigh!
I think my biggest problem is lack of discipline
Too small of space with too many projects going at once.
My biggest problem is definitely organization – I try really hard but still can’t find what I need WHEN I need it!
My biggest problem is lack of shelving. I have a lot of room, but things get piled into boxes in closets and corners and there’s really only one bookshelf to put things in. We are currently renting, so I’m going to have to find a way to organize the boxes and totes better for now.
Not enough time as I am still a working stiff. Also, not enough space and lots of fabric (that’s not _really_ a problem). Too many UFO and now my Mom’s UFOs too.
My biggest problem is having to share my space with a large upright freezer. The room is small, but would be adequate if that freezer lived elsewhere.
My biggest problem is lack of wall space. My sewing room is on the upper floor of a modified A-frame, so it has sloped ceilings, meaning I can’t use shelves or bookcases.
I recently had to move my sewing from my basement due to flooding and had to figure out how to fit my organizational stuff between my dining room and living room. When I started to work on a project I feel bad for taking over so much of the house.
Biggerst problem with orginizing is my scraps. I just throw them into a container or zipped bag and store them never to be looked at again.
Storage of batting-so puffy fluffy and long-it needs its own room!
1 . I have too much fabric😁
2. I have things well organized at times, but I tend to have too many projects going at one time & end up with the layered effect in my studio.
Trying to decide the easiest way to store everything
My problem is with keep scraps organized. Right now, it is ziploc baggies. Most are exploding from too many scraps.
Allocating time is my biggest problem. Life keeps getting in the way of my biggest joy, quilting.
I am not a very organized person and therefore I tend to have chaos in my sewing room. If I am work8ng on a new pattern and am using material from my stash, my cutting table ends up look8ng like one of my grandkids came into play. It is so hard to be creative when I see this mess.
I am new to quilting. My biggest organizational problem is organizing smaller pieces or scrap fabric. I like appliqued quilts so I want to keep the scrap fabric on tact and not cut it into squares. How do I organize all the different colored scaps?
My current organization problem is that my space is taken over by music equipment as we are in the process of converting our garage into a music studio. So we have most amps, sound barrier material, etc in our bedroom which is my sewing area. My closet is where I have all my supplies but also my clothes and totes of paperwork and sentimental items. Once the music studio is done I plan t pull everything out of my closet and reorganize.
My biggest problem is keeping things picked up so I’m not overwhelmed in my small sewing/craft room.