A random picture of some fabric because I've been taking pictures of stuff today and my battery is dead and charging so I can't upload them yet. I got this little stack sometime in the summer. They are all fat quarters (except the black - that's a quarter metre) that I found at the quilt store when I was looking for something else. I like the shiny circles. They make me think of Star Trek. I took a picture of them when  I got home. It's been in my blog pictures folder since then. I don't know why I never blogged it. They now live in a box labelled "tv quilt". One day I'll get around to making them into a quilt and it will be great for sitting under to watch nerdy movies.

A couple of weeks ago I woke up on a Saturday morning and really wanted to sew. Unfortunately I didn't really know what I wanted to sew or which fabrics I wanted to use. I walked into my studio to find inspiration and didn't. I found this instead:


Some of the boxes hold patterns, some hold fabrics, still others hold supplies for different crafts; all are carefully sorted and labelled - none are in their proper places and many things were waiting to be put in the correct boxes. I've been using this system for a while now (a few years I think - I started it when I kept my supplies in the living room and wanted everything to look very tidy and uncluttered) and it works pretty well (provided I put the boxes back where they go and put things away in them) as long as I know what I want before I start. Searching for inspiration tends to involve pulling out a lot of boxes and riffling through their contents until something speaks to me and then spending a proportional amount of time cleaning everything up again; it's a messy process and often results in haphazard tidying since really I want to get on to doing my project.

I realized, standing there wishing I knew what I wanted, that now that I had my own space I could change my system. I could make it more inspiring. I could make it easier to grab what I want and put back what I don't need. I've seen pictures of what others have done and it gave me an idea of what I wanted (and a bit of confidence - other people have survived stash reorganization - I might too). This is what I have now:


Every time I walk into my studio now I see all these little stacks and smile. They are so colourful. Oddly, it doesn't look like as much fabric as I thought I had when I was trying to find homes for all those boxes (lots of small pieces too). There is still plenty of work to be done to make my space more usable in general (notice how you're not seeing any of the rest of the room) but now that I've tackled the shelf of fabrics it doesn't feel quite as intimidating.

Zeke got very tired of my taking pictures, instead of carrying him around the house (that's my job you know), and braved the obstacle course to express his opinion.

Stacks of freshly washed and pressed fabric.

There are all sorts of things hiding in here. Old dresses, a new blouse, quilts, hankies, pin cushions, purses, pillows, napkins and placemats, a cat bed, a tea cozy, hanging wall pockets, a knitting basket, a tiny fabric bowl ...