A Big Mess!

This is what my quilt studio looked like this morning. . . . like a bomb went off in here! Yikes!

For my birthday, my DH finally made me some more shelves to go in my armoires, for storing fabric, and I've been in the process of transferring fat quarters around. The armoires only had 2 shelves each and it was a big waste of space for what I needed them to do. So, one more shelf per armoire solved my problem!


This is where I've been storing many of my fat quarters. Not very easy or convenient to access, as I'm not 6 foot tall, and those bins are heavy. Not to mention that there's stuff in front of the shelves most of the time, like the ironing board. So, most of the time, I just didn't bother to get the bins down to use the FQ's. Kind of defeats the purpose of having them, doesn't it?

So, I've been working on this for a few days, and in the process have turned the quilt studio into a complete mess. I had stuff in the armoires and on the floor in front of the armoires, and stuff in the little plastic shoeboxes that I had purchased to put the FQ's in. It's been a process, let me tell you! Especially with one arm not functioning too well. I over-did the first day and had a lot of pain that night. I tried to go easier on it today, and we'll see how it feels tonight. I'm trying to pace myself, but what I really want to do is SEW, so I'm kind of pushing myself to get this done enough that I can clear a place to sew again. Never mind cutting! I still have a bunch of stuff that needs to be put away. Ugh.

Finally, all the fat quarters are transferred to their new homes! This is Armoire #1. I decided to leave the hand-dyes and marbled fabrics in stacks, because it's too hard to tell what they look like when they're bundled like the FQ's. I shuffle through them often, and I don't want to have to re-fold them all the time. So, it looks messy, but it suits my methods.

And this is Armoire #2. And yes, all the drawers in both armoires are full of FQ's too. (Have I ever mentioned how buying FQ's is like buying penny candy?? Especially when this vendor was at every quilt show I went to for years??) I even have a tiny bit of room left in the drawers . I'm really trying to not buy any more fat quarters ever again! Rarely, I'll buy one if that's all there is available and I love the fabric. But, I don't think I need any more!

I had no idea how many fat quarters I had until we moved into this house and I started storing the FQ's separately from yardage. Wow, they're not all that easy to store. I've been using this book to help me set up my studio, and she doesn't address this issue well enough for my amount of FQ's. (Otherwise, I love the book - it's been incredibly helpful.) And, that may be a hint that perhaps I have too many FQ's!

So, how do you store your FQ's? Please share with me!

Anyway, now that I have them more easily available, hopefully they'll start getting used up. I've been collecting patterns for FQ quilts lately, with that goal in mind. If I could quit injuring myself, maybe I could get more sewing done . . . . I need to remember this!!

Sorry there's no quilt-y content this post. I did manage to get about 3 or 4 9-patches sewn before the mess happened, but I haven't taken any pictures. Hopefully soon.

As I was working in the quilt studio this afternoon, I happened to notice this happening out in the street. This dastardly duo was enticing the ducks away from the pond, out of the park and down the street with bread crumbs. It looks like their bag has a LOT of bread in it! And these are our resident ducks, who are big greedy guts.

Sorry this picture is so fuzzy. I tried to get another one, but my camera battery died. While I was gone to get more batteries, they all disappeared. I have no idea what those boys had in mind to do with the ducks. . . maybe they were gonna be dinner!

By the way, just FYI, it's very hard to type with the cat's head resting on top of one's hand! I wonder if he wants some attention??