A cleaner room for 2010

After Christmas, I figured the best thing I could do for my quilting was clean out 2009's messes.


I started off with my sewing machine. A bit of lint had built up from all the free-motioning.

I also put in a fresh needle. If you can't remember the last time you put a new needle in, it's time for a change!


Time to retire my free-motion starter. It's just two pieces of fabric with some leftover batting. This really has prevented moments of frustration over bad tension - it's on the scrap piece, and not the quilt. No need to get friendly with my seam ripper!

For whatever reason, certain Essential threads aren't holding their tension. I just blame the age (2+ years old) and the air (very moist in the summer, rather dry in the winter). Thankfully the bad free-motion threads still piece just fine, so it's not a total loss.


My cutting table certainly has seen better days. :P

I have a habit of slicing off the ends and then pushing them to the right. It's not so bad when it's fabric, but when I'm trimming completed quilts, it piles up real fast!


Nice and clean now. I can find my rulers, I only have 2 projects on the table; this is much more manageable.

Sometimes I ponder on buying a larger mat, mine is only 18x24. I think a 24x36 would be just lovely, but somehow I never remember about that when I go to JoAnn's. I guess it's not that important. ;)


I figured the year's end was also the perfect time to refold the pile of quilts. Don't want lifelong creases in them!

Refolding quilts will probably end up being one of the baby's chores down the road - they're perfect for it, since they would fold them lopsidedly. :)


All refolded, and a couple more quilts added. I was letting them pile up in the bedroom for no logical reason.

I might need to relocate some of the quilts, to shorten the pile. The cutting table is to the right of the stack, and since I'm left handed, I keep whacking my elbow into the quilts. Thankfully it doesn't hurt, but one of these days it'll take me by surprise and I'll drop an open rotary cutter on my other hand or something.


Don't think I'm perfect though, there's one part of the room I haven't even touched! The fabric and batting.

I kept digging through my fabric for "the piece I KNOW I have!" at Christmas. No time to refold it then. The batting pile is half back-less quilts, as I don't have ready backing pieces for them. At the bottom is the big ol' yellow bag with at least 30 yards of batting left. I definitely have everything I need for making quilts from start to finish. :)


Is your space all set for a new year of sewing? If not, what'cha waiting for? Santa Claus? ;)

Leah