Sunday, January 8, 2012

First Week in New Year - HELP!!! Digging out from under in the Work Area

After the mad dash of Halloween and Christmas creating, and other asundry "future" projects started since spring 2011, I find that I cannot safely pick my way into the work space I call my "studio" without stepping on some sort of remnant, stumbling into a hidden box or any other relics of my past 2011 projects.  Also to my despair, I can't seem to find even the simplest and most routinely used of my reliable sewing tools  in any place that makes sense.  Sooooo, it's time to buck up and straighten up the place.  Yuck!  but this must be done. 

Started by emptying the shambles of the crime scene with the care and determination of an experienced archaeologist focused on making sense of a ransacked Egyptian tomb ...  out with the elliptical equipment, out with the stacks of bags of "post-Christmas sale" fat quarters and "deals," out with the empty plastic lidded tubs for storage of this and that needing to be labeled and relocated.  After pushing everything cumbersome and unnecessary into the hallway, I took a deep breath and sized up the bare bones of the work area from the doorway (of course, by this time I had blocked myself into the room and had to stay put to conquer the mess).

My work table, a converted 1950-something student desk used for a sewing table was nowhere to be seen ... buried under piles of snipped and slashed remnants of tea towels, extra doll legs and feet, assorted arms and unstuffed bodies all awaiting future ETAs.      This is the most critical area where I must begin.  I did have a sewing machine in there somewhere .... So, I  start with some newly acquired banker's boxes.  Love those great old things; they keep "stuff"  in small portable nuggets of space that can be marked, lidded , removed and restaged quickly and neatly.  As I attack this crazy bedlam of remains of creative insanity, I crank up the music and wonder how my fellow artists are faring in recovering from the holiday jam sessions of incessant sewing, cutting, dashing and reeling ....

What are your reorganizing strategies and storage ideas?  I could sure use some help as I sit here  alone in a room that needs to be at least three times its size for all the supplies I need to keep on hand.  Love to hear any hints other than burning the house to the ground and starting from scratch  (believe me, as I look around me, the thought has entered my mind).

Help!!!

1 comment:

  1. I usually go attack the big things first with bursts of focused work. For me, the variation between big moving and detail work make the process more endurable, even though it is a bit chaotic. Also playing episodes of Horders in the background makes it easier to throw stuff out that you don't necessarily need. :)

    ReplyDelete