I am SO NOT a tidy person. Don’t get me wrong, I really love having a calming, organized space to work in, but I have so much trouble forcing myself to put in the time.

I moved my studio to a different room in the house back in November. (In case you’ve lost all track of time due to social isolation: It’s now late April. So almost half a year later.)

It took 3 things to light a fire under me to get cleaning:

1. The looming deadline for my stop on the Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop.
2. My almost-7-year-old coming in 2 days ago as I was sewing and telling me “You should really tidy your office.”
3. The discovery of evidence that a small rodent had decided to eat a snack in my studio. (I have a no food or cats in the sewing room policy. I clearly chose the wrong policy to relax on during “these uncertain times.”)

Yup. Looming deadline + shame + disgust = motivation.

The Before

That was taken almost a month ago. Not bad, but pretty typical for me.

The Timelapse

I spent the first few hours sorting, folding, and putting away fabric. (At one point what was left in one bin was a really cute accidental bundle of Lizzy House fabrics in a color palette that I generally wouldn’t have chosen, but now want to use for something!) A few months back, I did a massive sort of my miscellaneous scraps, fat quarters, and yardage, but left my designer-specific bins in their usual semi-chaotic state, so that’s what I tackled.

UPDATE: Here’s the video of how I fold my fabric!

I kept on noticing that the timelapse didn’t seem to show a lot of progress, even when the bins were all sorted and done. My work space was what I consider tidy (nothing to trip over), but it still looked like a mess.

Y’all, I’m so SO glad I happened to choose that camera angle for my timelapse! I literally DON’T SEE the mess in the stuff that’s shoved up against the wall, because it’s always there, and it’s not really in my way. That pile? That’s the “I’m not sure what to do with this stuff” pile from when I moved my studio into this room. Some of it was the “I’m not sure what to do with this stuff” pile back when this was the master bedroom, and I knew it didn’t belong in the new master bedroom, so it just stayed in that corner.

Granted, some of that stuff got shoved under the longarm. And some of it got shoved under my desk so you can’t see it, and yes, I really do need to deal with it so I can, you know, sit at my desk and stuff. But the important thing is, the pile is gone, and I can roll my ironing station into place!

To bring this back to quiltmaking, this is like using your phone to take pictures of your quilts so you can better see the changes that you need to make to them.

The After

Any bets on how long it will stay this way? Maybe the biggest lesson learned is that I can get out of making/ordering supper by putting on an audiobook and tidying my studio. Because the other motivator in my life is shirking responsibility.

Here’s hoping the other blog hoppers are a bit less stream-of-consciousness and neurotic!

Please follow the rest of the blog hop here:

April 1 – Sam Hunter – https://www.huntersdesignstudio.com/blog
April 2 – Marian Pena – http://www.seamstobesew.com
April 3 – Jennifer Fulton – http://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions
April 4 – Martha Wolf – http://Www.pinwheelprodns.com
April 5 – Jennifer Strauser – http://www.dizzyquilter.com
April 6 – Steph Carton – http://www.theelimonster.com/blog
April 7 – Simone Fisher – http://www.simonequilts.com/blog
April 8 – Kate Colleran – http://www.seamslikeadream.com
April 9 – Carlina Moore – http://www.alwaysexpectmoore.com
April 10 – Jen Frost – http://www.faithandfabricdesign.com/blog
April 11 – Leanne Parsons – http://www.devotedquilter.com
April 12 – Becca Fenstermaker – http://www.prettypiney.com/blog
April 13 – Sarah Myers – http://www.quilted-diary.com
April 14 – Mitzi Redd – http://www.reddhomestead.com
April 15 – Jeanette Larson – http://www.Jenonthefarm.com
April 16 – Camille Ainsworth – http://www.stitchinthenw.com
April 17 – Becky Philips Jorgenson – http://www.patchworkposse.com
April 18 – Bobbie Gentili – http://geekybobbin.com/category/blog <<< YOU ARE HERE!
April 19 – Janellea Macbeth – http://www.janelleamacbeth.com/blog/
April 20 – Lisa Ruble – http://lovetocolormyworld.blogspot.com
April 21 – Debra Davis – http://www.tuning-my-heart.com/blog
April 22 – Rona Herman – http://www.Ronatheribbiter.com
April 23 – Sue Griffiths – http://www.duckcreekmountainquilting.com
April 24 – Sarah Ruiz- http://www.saroy.net/
April 25 – Jessica Caldwell – http://www.desertbloomquilting.com/
April 26 – Tammy Silvers – http://tamarinis.typepad.com
April 27 – Ebony Love – http://www.lovebugstudios.com/blog
April 28 – Cheryl Sleboda – http://blog.muppin.com