Monday, June 16, 2008

Sewing Room Storage Containers

In celebration of her 300th post, Sweet P at Coffee Time Quilt Studio posted a contest of unique sewing room storage containers. Each day for six days she posted a different one she uses in her sewing room and invited others to do the same. Initially I didn't pay too much attention to it, but I got caught up in it this evening and couldn't resist sharing some of mine.

My husband built this white birch spool box for me several years ago for my birthday. It held my entire thread collection for a long time, but I've acquired some larger spools that won't fit into it anymore because the shelves are not deep enough. This is one of my favorite things my husband made for me. One of my other favorite things my husband built for me is this quilt rack that hangs on the wall in my son's room. It's also made of white birch, just like the hardwood floors and doors in my house, so it goes beautifully.



I bought chocolate covered blueberries in this metal tin, which makes a very portable container for all my sewing things if I want to sew at a retreat, a friend's home, or if I want to take some handpiecing with me. I have a small tote bag that the tin fits in, along with a 4" square ruler, a 6" square cutting mat, a small sandpaper board, a small Brooklyn revolver, my nylon bucket, and the project of the moment.




This is my nylon bucket. It's about 4" square and collapses flat, so it fits in my tote nicely. I have two of these--one sits next to my sewing machine and holds pencils and paper, scissors and a 1" x 6" ruler; the other holds trimmings and other trash generated from my sewing. I also have a tiny Longaberger basket next to my sewing machine with bobbins, a couple spools of thread, needle packs, a couple of sewing machine feet, and the key to remove the throat plate on my machine.

This storage container is not unique, but it is one of the most useful containers in my sewing room. I have about a dozen of these and wish I had more. I bought these very inexpensively at Walmart, I think. They are stackable, and they contain bits and pieces of projects and ufo's in various stages of completion. Because I often like to work on three or four projects simultaneously, these are pretty handy to keep everything together, and I can just grab one out of my cabinet and stick a different one back in there.

I am off the next two days and am hoping to make some real headway on the Orange Crush mystery quilt. I now have 13 of 20 blocks done for Step 5, all 4 corner blocks, and 1 half block for the edge. As so often happens with me, I like this quilt so much more than I thought I would when I first started it.

6 comments:

Cathy Champion said...

I'm a hopeless collector of bins and containers for my sewing room, but I get mine from Dollar Tree or Deals for $1.00 each!

I recently purchased ten small square plastic containers that make great organizers inside the drawers of my sewing tables.

You are so right about keeping your projects stacked in these containers - no lost pieces!

Sweet P said...

I love your thread rack! Your DH is talented. Thanks for joining the contest!

Where in Maine do you live? I am in NH and I have a couple of quilting friends in Gray and in Buxton. We get together for a sewing day once every two months. Perhaps you live close enough to join us.

Margo in Maine said...

How neat everything looks...I just got my table from Tony's and in process of rearranging and organizing...I love bins and containers...Oh and I got a quilters cruise control to go on my brothers...hooray...I opted to do that instead of stretching...now I think I have all my ducks in order...you organization gives me incentive...

Hannies Annies said...

I love the thread rack!!! I also love all the tins and containers...you are certainly organized..not like me...hehehe....I will go check out Barbara's blog and say hi!!

Becky said...

Neat containers. I especially love the thread rack that your husband made. Nice to organize your thread by color.

Teresa said...

Very nice thread and quilt racks. Its so nice when our hubbies are handy with woodworking and he has done some very nice work for you. Thanks for sharing!