I'm not in school anymore, but I'm married to a teacher, I babysit for teachers and my boys are all in school, so we are very much tied to the school year. Even though I never want summer vacation to end, the start of a new school year somehow still feels like a fresh start, even more so than the beginning of January. It also makes me feel like I need to get things organized. After the carefree, quilt-whenever-I-want days of summer, suddenly being confined to evenings and weekends (and maybe the occasional nap time) makes it feel like I need to have everything sorted out so I can actually get stuff accomplished in the time I have.
We're almost a month into school now, and to help me get more organized, I asked a few quilters I admire (and who seem to get so much done!) to give me their best tips for getting, or staying, organized. Here's what they had to say.
Kitty at The Night Quilter
* Learn your limits. It's hard to prioritize when
everything is a priority with a quickly approaching deadline.
* Another top tip would be: "Make
a prioritized list... and cross things off!" I love my Quilter's Planner
since it prompts me to make that prioritized list at the beginning of each
month, and also at the beginning of each week. Physically crossing things off
that list makes me not only more productive and organized, it makes me feel WAY
more mentally on top of the game. For the record, the
list includes not only quilting goals, but also personal goals (I include
cleaning here) and work goals (I include my blogging here, even though it's not
technically "work", it helps me to separate it from quilting goals).
I actually am better at keeping up with cleaning my house AND get more
accomplished in my sewing and blogging categories.
Rachel at Stitched in Color
When I was a little girl my mother taught me to
always put away the toys I had been playing with before getting something new
out. I guess that habit has carried over to my sewing. When I am
switching gears between projects or starting a new project, I always reset my
sewing space to zero. I sort and put away any cutting scraps, extra
yardage and waste. Starting fresh with cleared off spaces clears away
mental clutter too, which helps me to enjoy and focus on the new task at
hand.
Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs
1. This may sound like a commercial, but
the Quilter's Planner has really helped me organize my home, sewing, and work
commitments all in one place. I use the monthly calendar to schedule blog
posts (I usually try to schedule out at least 2-4 weeks of posts in advance),
and make note of different deadlines. Then I use the daily calendar to
write my to do lists out for that particular day. I used to use this
little free monthly calendar but I found that there was never enough room to
really write things out and it was so small I lost it frequently.
2. Between work, kids, house, I usually
do not have large uninterrupted times to sew or I start sewing around 9:30pm at
night after the kids are in bed, the kitchen is clean, etc. I try to have
a plan in place on what I am going to do when I get sewing time so I can jump
right into a project. Otherwise, I waste too much of my valuable sewing
time just figuring out what I am going to do, where I stored the fabric for the
project, and what step I'm at.
I try to have the project to be worked on next
waiting on the cutting board or next to the sewing machine so even if I get a
short 10 minutes to sew, I can make a little progress.
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
There are lots of things I do, but I have two that have really made a huge difference in how well I stay organized.
The first one is my Make-A-List posts.
Each week I post a list of the (mainly quilt-y) things I need to work through
that week, and review the list from the prior week to see how much of it I
finished. Posting it on the blog makes me more accountable, and knowing
that I'll be confessing to my progress (or lack thereof) keeps me on track
during the week! I work better with a weekly list, but for some, a
monthly list works just fine.
And the second tip is: Command
Hooks! These things are awesome - I use them to hold clipboards with
current project info on them, to post inspiration pictures on my "inspire
me" wall, and to basically utilize every spare bit of storage space I can
find. Here's a picture of the outside of the closet door that is to my left
as I sit at my sewing machine. I needed a place to store my rulers and
templates, and realized that the outside of that door was wasted space - until
I put Command Hooks on it!
There are probably other places and ways to use
Command Hooks - I find new ones every day!
Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts
When I first began quilting, I made myself a
promise. To be a finisher. I promised myself that I would always finish what I
was working on before beginning something new. While it's not for everyone, as
some people seem to manage quite well working on multiple projects at once, I
only work on one project at a time. This policy has many advantages. My sewing
space is limited, so keeping my work area used by only one project keeps things
orderly. And my mind clear. If I step away from a project for any amount of
time, I need to re-familiarize myself with what I was doing and what I had
planned to do next. So working on only one project helps to keep me from making
mistakes or forgetting steps. When my quilt is completed, I roll it up on a
pool noodle to keep it from getting crease marks. And then it can be stashed
away on a shelf until it is needed for my next trunk show or until it is either
gifted or sold.
Christa at Christa Quilts
My best tip for staying
organized with all of the deadline sewing I do is to use some sort of planning
system to keep track of everything.
I use a very low-tech system
of organized notes in my phone along with my calendar that I can access right
on my phone. I have an at-a-glance "to do" list and then individual
notes for each of my long term projects. That way I can always be thinking and
planning no matter where I am, as long as I have my phone with me.
Jess at Quilty Habit
My best tip would be to
organize works-in-progress into boxes. I purchase large, clear plastic craft
containers from Michaels when they go on sale (usually around this time a year
- I believe they are marketed to scrapbookers primarily). I keep all elements
of a quilt together - sometimes even a quilt top for months. If I'm working on
a long-term project, I'll pack a huge fabric pull into one of the larger boxes
(the one on the bottom in the photo). Then, the project is protected and
together as it waits its turn. It does get a little hairy when I'm looking for
a specific fabric and its been hiding in one of my WIP boxes, but so it goes.
:) Overall, they have changed the way I work for the better.
Yvonne at Quilting Jet Girl
Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation
I really have two things that help keep me
focused and organized, and therefore help me get a lot done. First- my
stash- I took the time to put all of my fabric onto comic book boards, and
organize them by color. Comic book boards are inexpensive, and they
really help me see exactly what is in my cabinet. You might be surprised
to see that my fabric cabinet is not huge. I don't keep an extremely
large stash, because I like a lot of turnover in my fabrics. It keeps me
from getting tired of what I have, and helps me actually use it.
Second- my scraps! My scraps are
organized by color into glass apothecary jars. Once again, you can see
that these jars aren't huge. You would be surprised at how many scraps
they can hold, though. I know that when these jars get too full, I have
about enough scraps for a queen sized quilt (or a few lap sized quilts).
I could use bigger containers for my scraps, but I know that if I collected
more than this at one time, it would be tough to really clean them out all at once,
and I like to do that periodically.
Both of these organization methods help me find
what I need for projects quickly, and as a result, I am able to get much more
accomplished!
That's a lot of great tips! Thank you to everyone who shared a little of their organizing wisdom :)
And my best organization tip? WRITE IT DOWN! If I don't write an idea down, then I'm guaranteed to forget it. It doesn't matter if it's something that needs to be on my to-do list, something I want to try making, how much fabric I need to buy for a particular project or whatever it might be; I have to write it down.
Now it's your turn. Are there any tips in this post that you want to try? Any great tips that help you stay organized?