Disorganized, hoarder, collector or lazy??

It's funny how you find a blog you can relate to on many levels. I have three right now that I read on a daily basis (if the author writes that day, of course) because I feel a personal connection to the blog authors - though we've never met and I don't honestly know if they even visit my blog!

One favorite blog is Anita's Hints, Tips, Tutorial and Frugal Living blog. I think I've mentioned Anita's blog before, but if you've not been there, go go go. She has more frugal tips and tricks than you can shake a coupon at. I go over there and read for hours and hours.

Last week Anita very bravely posted pictures of some of the rooms of her house that were a bit disorganized, and she wondered if she might be a hoarder. Personally, I think the Hoarder TV show has us ALL wondering that! I know every time I watch that show I get motivated to get rid of things we no longer use or want.

My house, for the most part, is actually clean and organized. But did you notice? I said "for the most part"... dum de de dummm... drumroll... except for my sewing room.

So, this is for Anita - so she doesn't feel like she's the only one who needs to get a handle on organizing her quilting and sewing room:

 This is my cutting table. Not too bad because I'm working with what's on top for my quilted postcards for Christmas. But look underneath the table! Boxes and totes of fabric (but I will say, the boxes are labeled "Christmas fabric," "Home Dec fabrics," etc.) But notice there is some fabric and ??? just tucked in there. Obviously, it needs to find it's home.

 OK, this is bad. This is the floor to the right of my cutting table. The first pile (far left) is one of those net clothes hampers which I use to just drop scraps of fabric in after I cut. It all needs to be re-folded and put away on the shelves. The red laundry basket are all things denim (old jeans) for who knows what project. The two plastic bins need to be put back up on the shelves. And the pile of fabric nearest right on the floor are... are... I have no idea what that is or why it's there. L.A.Z.Y.!

This is storage to the right of the cutting table. Non-quilting (but still craft) books, sewing patterns. But the bottom shelf is just fabric scraps stuffed into the shelf, with some completed blocks laying at the bottom of the shelf. And those drawers? About 75% empty!!

You can see that I try and go vertical with my storage. This is one dresser with a bookshelf on top, and there's a second one of these (no, they don't match) on the left side of my cutting table.

 This is one-half of my fabric storage shelves (obviously with batting on top shelf). The fabric IS organized by color, but some serious re-folding needs to go on.

And this is the other half of my fabric storage shelves. Same thing going on here. Although it is still sorted by color group (or theme), it needs some serious refolding. The box sitting there open in the front has just been dragged out from under my cutting table -- it's Christmas fabrics that I'm using on the quilted postcards I'm making. Hopefully, that will get closed and put away when I'm done... hopefully.

This is my sewing area. Actually, it doesn't look too bad. The desk on the left is used for my light box and space for my laptop when I want to bring it upstairs. The desk on the right is my sewing machine (obviously), with that sweet little yellow porcelain basket on the left of the machine that holds items I use frequently (seam ripper, thread snips, pencil, a small ruler, etc.) The big wooden box just in front of the window is one of my greatest yard sale finds. It has drawers and I use it to keep my sewing machine feet, extra needles, etc., in. You can also see the closet, on the other side of the desk. I took the doors off and put in a wonderful old metal kitchen cabinet I found at a yard sale. The 4 drawer filing cabinet contains videos (for the TV above), plastic storage bags, quilting patterns and some misc. large cones of thread. In the drawer and underneath the kitchen cabinet are my embroidery supplies. Although you can't see it, on the top shelf of the closet are all my extra sewing machines -- OK, not counting the two that are downstairs. My beloved featherweight is up on the closet shelf, along with my first Sears Kenmore machine, and another machine my husband bought me a few years ago. I do pull one of them down now and then when I need to use a free arm.

This The floor in front of my sewing machine desk isn't bad, and I will say Joey the Killer Cat just knocked off that box of embroidery items you see laying on the floor on the bottom right. Though I guess I should also admit I still haven't picked it up! I don't normally have electrical cords all over the place like this, but my husband put Christmas candles in the window last week, and yanked the cords out so it's easier to plug and unplug the candles each night. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Am I a hoarder? Yes, I'm a bit of a fabric hoarder, I think. There are most definitely fabrics in there that I will probably never use. On the other hands, with one small exception last week, I have not purchased any fabric in the past six to eight months because I know that if I don't have things going out, there shouldn't be more coming in.

Once a year I usually have a major organization fest and completely clear out the room - moving everything (and I mean everything!) temporarily into the guest room, then bringing it all back in one item at a time to get like items grouped back with like, fabric folded and back in their color or theme groups, etc.

Apparently, it's "that time of year" again. Thanks, Anita, for the motivation!!! I will probably wait until after the holidays, but it is time to do a major overhaul in this room!