This 'n That

My brain is working on other things this week.  I am varnishing trays that my mother painted 50 years ago.  With usage over the years there has been some damage to the finish.  The only place I can varnish is my sewing room because I can keep it somewhat free of dust and dog hair by closing the door.  Meanwhile my thread painted portrait languishes because varnish, mineral spirits, brushes and paint have taken over its space.

What a mess!

This is a great time to take the sewing machine to my service person for its annual cleaning and adjusting.  I highly recommend that you do the same.  I sew 2-3 hours most days and it is ready for its check-up every May.  You get the best results when you take good care of your machine.  Just like a car.

Remember my post on folding fabric?  Well it looks great, but when I went to add a couple more fabrics I found it difficult to manage the long, folded pieces (about 10" x 6").  It is just hard to maintain the fold on both ends while squashing the rest of pieces in the drawer to make room for the new.  The most efficient way to do it is to remove the drawer, set it on its side, add the new fabric and replace the drawer.  Nuisance.

Long fold turned out to be inefficient.

Solution:  Fold each long piece of fabric in half.  This makes a smaller, fatter package individually, but doesn't take up any more space.  Much easier to manage.  I can go through a drawer and make the extra fold on all the fabrics in about 5 minutes.  When there is significant yardage it is hard to make this fold so I just leave it long.  It is thick enough to manage easily.

Much easier to manage.

I'll just do a drawer each time I go to my fabric storage shed.

Sew some happy seams this week.   I wish you a modicum of efficiency.

Folding it all Up

Does your fabric turn into a bird's nest by the end of a project?  I thrive on being neat and organized, but something happens when I get into creating.  The fabric seems to fly all over the place or is hurriedly squashed into an already overcrowded storage space.  I have to do something about this now that I am starting on a new project.  My stash was at least organized to the point that it was stored by color.

Before I could get started on my new quilt project I needed to assess my fabrics to see what I could use.  I came up a bit short so have to make a run to the fabric store, but in the meantime I went through 4 stash drawers and refolded every piece.  You think that's nuts?  I had those thoughts kicking around in my head too until I managed to condense two drawers into one because the fabrics are all folded the same way (more or less) and take up less space.

I got this idea from a You Tube video and adapted the process to my needs.  I store my fabric in an outdoor storage shed in stacking towers with drawers.  I label them with the appropriate color name.  It is a nuisance to go out there especially in the cold and fuss through a drawer to find the right fabric.  Using my new method I can easily see every piece of fabric in the drawer. I have decided that every time I tromp out to the shed I will bring a couple of drawers into the house and refold the fabric.  It is also a great project for getting reacquainted with my fabrics, and I have been able to weed out a few fabrics for discard.  What on earth compelled me to buy those in the first place?

So, how do I do it?  I fold the fabric so its width is almost the length of the drawer and roll it all up over my 6" wide ruler, pull the ruler out and it is ready to put away.  If there are any loose pieces of a particular fabric I lay them on the bigger piece and roll them up inside....all nice and tidy.  Anything too small to go around the ruler (very few) I fold into squares that slip down in the front of the drawer.  I draw the line at ironing out the wrinkles.  That would really be nuts!  I am not obsessive-compulsive.

Folding

Folded.  It is a bit uneven but is a cut, used piece.  Unlike a show quilt it can be
somewhat imperfect, but close.

The only trouble I have encountered is that if the drawer is not reasonably full, the fabric tends to wilt and fall down.

Not quite full.

I can add another color or category to that drawer, or I can lay the fabric down neatly and lift the folded edges of the stack to see what I have.  I could also buy more fabric!  Lots of options.  Since some of my drawers are above my head and I have to stand on a stool to see in them I find that positioning my fabric lengthwise allows me to see them all.  If I set them width-wise, it is hard to see what is in the back without pulling the drawer out of the tower.

Width-wise vs lengthwise plus a yellow anomaly.  Will I redo the white/yellow box?
Probably.  It was the first on my folding spree.

So now  you can see what I do to amuse myself between projects.

Sew a happy seam this week.  I wish you an organizing opportunity.