Catalog

It's a beautiful labor of love, and how I spent a good chunk of my week last week.
9 tabs in a spreadsheet.
176 pieces.
223 yards.

We're going to ignore the fact that I have yet to count the linings or the interfacings or the net/tuelle/crinolines or the flannels and just marvel at all the pretty fabrics now.  They're lined up on a shelf where I can see them, wrapped around tiny bolts made from comic book boards.  It's been a 2 day process, but I think it'll be worth it if it means I can see my fabrics, I stop buying duplicates, and I want to sew more... which is what it's all about, right? If I can see my stash I can sew my stash.

This process is part of the complete re-organizing and un-cluttering of my sewing space in the guest room.  As I cataloged the fabrics, I folded them the width of the comic book boards, and stored winter fabrics that way until after we move.  Summer fabrics, knits, bag fabrics, and quilting cottons all went onto the shelf.  Decor fabrics were put away till it's time for curtains/slipcovers in our new house, folded in their own bin, and I have yet to find the solution for cuts of fabric under 1 yard(mostly quilty stuff) so it has its own bin, where everything is neatly folded and arranged vertically in rows so I can see it all.

Now I'm off to drool at fabrics and finish the rest of the room... Maybe I'll come up with some sort of grand reveal to do here on the blog.

Springtime

It's over 70 degrees! Easter is in 3 weeks!

My "sewjo" as phrased on Instagram is here with a punch-packing presence and so it's off to the machine for me... I have quite a bit I would like to get through before Easter, so it's a good thing I've gotten a kick in the pants from the unlikeliest of places- a bed for our dog, Winston.  He outgrew his puppy crate a while ago, and I was ASTOUNDED at how much people pay for pet beds... So I made one with Minky and canvas. It's stuffed with scraps and clothes too worn out to give to charity.  He's one happy customer. I'm one happy customer because I didn't have to buy a dog bed, AND everything was stash.
Plus I have an excuse to share a picture of my dog, since he would kind of growl and whine if I tried to take the bed out of his crate to get pictures of it.  Apparently it's a good one.

#SewMyStash2015

I'm gonna jump in, albeit a month late... I am committed, y'all.

I haven't sewn anything yet this year but plans are brewing and I have a whole weekend ahead of me.  It's so exciting. And to think it started with Instagram! Leasa of Project Leasa posted a photo and said it was gonna be the year of sewing all the fabric she'd been saving for something special, and used the hashtag #sewmystash2015 and got an amazing response.  It balooned.  She blogged about it,  and every 3 weeks or so she has posted a challenge.  No rules except the ones you set for yourself, lots of quilty inspiration, and a really amazing group of sewists gathering to cheer each other along! There's even a widget, and a list of blogs... It's all very exciting.

Our first task was to post publicly a picture of our fabric stash, and here it is:

5 32 qt bins, 3 15 qt bins, and 2 of those dresser drawers. There's also a bigger a bigger bin full of WIP/UFOs, and these bins with projects in progress:

And the next task is not to catalog or sort or otherwise organize, but to MAKE SOMETHING. Y'all, I can get behind that one.  I have a rainy weekend and no on-calls on the horizon, so after spin class tonight I am going to cut some projects out and get to it.  Maybe even something with hearts.

Check out Leasa, and if you Instagram, follow that hashtag! You'll be inspired.