My Sewing Room

I know I'm not alone in this---our stash and what to do with it. It is a common problem amongst quilters.  But we military quilters have another problem.  We move, about every 3 to 4 years, if we're lucky.  I am now preparing for another move due to my husband's retirement from the Army.  I have to face my stash and I'm nervous.  It has grown alot during the time we've lived here.  After over 4 years in Germany, I went overboard when we moved back to the states.  Quilt shops, Jo-Ann's, Hancocks, more quilt shops,...so many fabrics!  There is a wonderful quilt shop here (that I found while we were still in Germany and that I work at on a very part time basis) that has been the source of a lot of my additions, especially when the owner had a huge inventory reduction sale.  I bought even more at that sale.  After all, in my defense, you have to take advantage of 50% and over off the price, right? 

My sewing room is now suffering from all that collecting.   The closet is full top to bottom, stuffed in every corner, to the point where the doors can't close all the way.  Every shelf, drawer, and even the space under the table in the room is full.  All the scraps have just been piling up.  Something has to be done and soon.  We will be moving sometime this summer!

There's always a moment of silence when the movers first see my stash.  A look of astonishment.  Then the inevitable look at me, ...are you serious!?  I hear, "That's a lot of material" in some form or another.  I'm sure if I were to hear what they were really thinking, it would have some colorful language thrown in!  It's not all loose piles of fabric; I try to keep it somewhat organized in bins, totes, and bags.  But it's a lot of bins, totes, and bags!

I've let my sewing room go here lately, trying to get quilts for others done. Honestly, it doesn't always look like this!  Really, it doesn't!  I'm trying to straighten it up, get things somewhat organized for the move. In working on the closet, I found 8 quilt tops with their backings ready to be quilted.  I knew they were in there, but you know, out of sight, out of mind.  I don't even want to count how many kits from shops and kits that I've put together are in there. I think I'm better at selecting the right fabrics, planning it all out than I am at actually getting the quilts made.  (Tony would say, "You think?") 

 

 

I have to get ready for this move.  My sewing machine is in the shop for general maintenance and cleaning.  It's going to take me a while to get the house ready for the move.  I try to go through our things on a regular basis, but you know how things tend to pile up.  All closets and drawers have to be looked at.  I don't even want to think about the garage.  But I can't go without sewing some; it's my therapy!  I have a hand project (that's a whole 'nother story for a later post) that I'll be working on during all this preparation.  But I know one thing I won't be doing...buying more fabric!  Well, maybe just a little!

LaDonna