I clean my machine out every 8 hours of sewing. Approx. Of course. It's an older machine, and I love using it,so I oil the bobbin one drop, clean all the fuzz out, and go back to work. Yesterday, while looking for trash I came across a pair of snips I haven't seen for months. So declutter is working great already.
@@susanbaker8023 That's the great thing about using old machines - it forces you into regular maintenance habits and rewards you with straight seams. I love mine even.
To move out stuff that doesn't belong there you need a place to put it. That is what slows me sometimes as now I have to declutter another area first to make room for where that stuff actually belongs. But In moving out my Christmas wrapping paper, (which originally had all been shoved in a space under my bed) I found a fabric wrapping paper box on Amazon that holds 40" long rolls of paper along with bows ribbon and sheets of tags and tissue paper. Fits under my bed and easier to pull out what I need. Now it is all neat and I finally know what I have (and no need to buy for next year!). So win-win on that front. Now to the rest of it! Just don't let the stuff pile up somewhere else when it is removed from your sewing room. This is my challenge. Great tip Karen!
It's very interesting that this is your day two. I just went through this on my first week off on Christmas vacation from teaching. I found all sorts of things in my house that belonged in my sewing room, and then I found things in the sewing room that belonged to my office, belonged to my bedroom, belonged in my classroom! It feel really good to get things where they needed to be!
I love the term “squirrel”. We have used it ever since watching Up, when Doug was talking about how much he loved his master and it happened. Squirrel, and Doug lost his train of thought. ❤
I am thankful you do this challenge every year. My space seems to just collect "stuff" and becomes overwhelming. Your tips do help and remind me we are all facing the same struggle.
I love your yearly decluttering videos. Baby steps is the key to this. I had to give up my sewing room due to my MIL moving in with us. Now all my sewing is in the upstairs bedroom. My biggest challenge is planning ahead since I have a hard time going up and down the stairs. I will be productive this year and get my stash to a manageable amount. I have been doing a ton of charity sewing and plan to continue this year.
Thank you for these declutter challenges. I have done these for 3 years now, and I realized I now have the habit of tidying up regularly. So...when the challenge comes it's not a big job. Thanks, Karen!!
Off topic Karen, but something for your hacks repertoire that I saw. At Gettin Stitchy, she uses skateboard tape to keep her rulers from slipping, and it's removable. Looks like a nice outside-the-box idea. Thank you for your great videos! 🎉
I worked with a declutter buddy for TWO HOURS yesterday and FINALLY got rid of two storage boxes that had been shoved into my craft room. 🎉🎉🎉 I was so happy I almost cried. Thank you, Karen, for the motivation!
Oooh geeze i have a dresser top half full of items that belonged to my MIL. I put them there a year ago. They blended in so well. Then there are a couple craft items to be hung on the walls. Past things that were in a drawer that i lived but had no place for. Today is the day to do it..
Thank You. I need this. I love the term "Squatters"! It's perfect. My sewing room is also my laundry room (it's the size of a bedroom) and it's at the top of the stairs. So EVERYTHING that gets carried upstairs gets dumped on the table by the door. And that doesn't even touch the Christmas Stuff. 🙄 Happy New Year everyone
Karen, after two years of following your declutter advice, I find very little to do this year to get my sewing room in order. Thank you for the inspiration to help me keep my sewing room a welcoming space for sewing fun.
Third year doing the challenge. We moved into a new home last year with a larger sewing space. I’ve been able to keep most of the clutter at bay so the first couple days are easy. Harder decision to make in the days ahead. Thank you for doing the challenge each year.
It is apparent to me that I need to concentrate on getting my small declutter areas done first - my corner end table in the living room where I thought it was a great area to keep everything for maintaining my Featherweight sewing machine there. But in reality most of the supplies are only used every few months. I dust and oil daily. So I need my oil and dust rag, as well as the fluff remover tool and screwdriver bit to remove the stitch plate to get the fluff. Don't need scraps, cleaning cream and polish, multiple note pads, etc. They can go in my storage case and get them off the table. So today is table day. I want my daily and weekly tools and supplies in easy reach, not anything else. Next is dining table, which is where I cut and iron. I can get those two areas done today. Big project us to clear out my big closet in my sewing room of anything
My big project is to finish my daughters quilt. her birthday was the day after Christmas. Also to get my new sewing room all finished. I am moving g some things upstairs, so the does this belong? question has been asked a lot today! I also have a set of Christmas stocking to line and they are done.A late Christmas present. It has been a fall fall at my house emotionally so things didn't all get done. Tomorrow is another day.
I just had my last young ones move out so now I can reclaim my sewing rooms. Its be a challenge to stay focused on where to put stuff but I figured that to put all yarn crafts in one bedroom and in one drawer the me with items, and keep sorting by type of craft. Its amazing how much yarn I found after crocheting 16 blankets this year. Now I'm going back to quilting so I have 2 christmas quilts to sandwich and see together. I hope I get to them this year.😊
Yesterday we had a gale here in Holland and my garden fence started breaking... So now I can reward myself with advance pruning roses, taking down trellises and cutting back prickly shrubs in preparation for a new one 🙄🤣
Ohmigosh, you just solved a month long mystery for me! I sew in a she shed so rarely is there a household item out there. I've been long for my heating pad for a month, trying to remember if I loaned it out or what. Saw this and remembered using it while sewing awhile back, found it in my scrap bin! Apparently when I swept unused scraps back into the bin my heating pad was buried in that pile. So glad I watched this one!
My de-clutter includes packing up everything to move to a new house the first of February. Yesterday I made an apron from an old saved shirt I couldn't part with and threw out the others that I was saving for someday, something. Cleaned and oiled my machine to pack it away for the next month of packing and moving. I have a cross stitch project that I will work on for the new house as a reward for cleaning out and packing. Thanks for all of the encouraging comments and video!
My big squatter is old paperwork. Like 8 boxes.... and stuff from when I retired in 2024. It will take more than a day, but I've got a shredding station set up to get it done. I am now determined to get through it, finally! Going to make a lap quilt for fun.
I did that 2 tears ago with years of stuff my husband thought we should always keep. Good for you. Do a little everyday and before you know it you will be done. I had piles of recycle, shed, garbage, to file, give to someone else, put somewhere else, what do I do with this, pictures, containers, office supplies, stay here somewhere. the organization took time but was well worth the effort. Good luck and remember to be kind to yourself. Give yourself grace!
A lot of communities have e-waste drop-off events where they take old electronics to recycle. The events usually also include free shredding and medication disposal. If you have a lot, it might be worth it to look into.
The first day was easy for me as I get rid of garbage as the two cans fill to the top. Today's challenge will be difficult as my sewing space under my mid arm is also storage area. Box of already read books, a box of family pictures, you get the gist. So I'll have to figure that part out. My declutter challenge sewing project is going to be scarfs. We have a local organization in our community that ventures out, every mid January to count the homeless and unsheltered and distribute scarfs, hats, gloves, blankets, tarps etc. I have a tote full of fleece, flannel and tweed fabric from other projects.
I have limited space. All that is allowed in my sewing corner are the top 2-3 projects I plan to work on. NO other fabrics to distract me!! Just the (all inclusive) project boxes that have everything I need in each box. So, some fabrics are actually "squatters", until I actually need to use them😊. I have another area where I store those.
Got to watch the video today. But not enough time to get real with the task at hand. I will definitely be using the weekend to catch up since my evenings seem to go by so quickly and special time spent with hubby. will be interesting to see what the machine has collected, I just cleaned it before the Holiday season sewing started.
A lot of my squatters are supplies in the wrong part of my sewing room. The Cricut bits and bobs do not belong on my appliqué basket, the toy making fur should not be with my Tula Pink fabrics…. And this is where I need to remember it gets worse before it gets better 🙈🤣
My reward for decluttering is making a sweet little stuffed kitten for a great-niece. Thought I'd move away from the cutting, piecing, and quilting routine for awhile. What stunned me was how long it takes with pattern pieces, marking, sewing, ripping out, sewing, turning inside out. I keep thinking about how fast a quilt seems now! 😉
Not sure if that inserted Pic was your clutter buddy OR something you are decluttering....if it's the latter, I think all of us have room at our house for him🤣🥰 just remember my offer came in first
I started to declutter my clothes and also some of the cat toys my cats don't really play with ... tomorrow, i plan to do some paperwork and throwing out more stuff i haven't lookedat in the last 3 years...
I am out of town and I cannot wait to get home and start! Thank you Karen! You have always been fun to watch. You really keep me motivated to sew and sew correctly . Thank you so much for being you.
I will definitely be on day 1 and 2 for a while as my room has been a neglected catch all for over a year. I am glad for your videos as a reminder that it doesnt have to be an all day commitment to see progress. I have managed to clear a 4ft table and chair of all their accumlated items and get the table and chair, which didnt belong there, removed from the area too. Its a good feeling to see progress. 😊
Thank you for doing this each year! I got a long arm this year so it’s now more important than ever to keep my sewing space neat, clean, and organized.
I enjoy reading the comments and learn something from the others watching and doing this Declutter Challenge as well. Thank you everyone. ❤yesterday I removed the Christmas decorations I’d put up in my sewing room so I guess I did Day 2 on Day 1 .🤭I keep up on garbage so didn’t really have much of that. 👍🏻😁
Thank you for this declutter challenge. Watched it last year but doing it this year as its an unreal mess and taking me alot longer. Also signed up for a scrap organization class. It suddenly dawned on me that that's part of the problem
I am going to finish sewing my Franken batting first. Then clean my machine. I sew in my dining room, so I am the squatter!😂 I do have a donation box to drop off today. Thanks for the reminder. A few other squatters will go as we clean up from the holidays this weekend and my son goes back to college, boxes mostly, not little things.
I have so many dishes in my sewing space... 😅 I usually will chuck everything out of the room that doesn't belong and then put them away once I've cleared things out. Otherwise, I absolutely will get distracted as I go to put things away.
Well squirrels got in the way of yesterday i did alot garbage and then i saw my 3 bags of scrap fabrics then started making scrappy blocks and sewing together batting to because then the empty bags could be thrown out.. i still have more day 1 to do i think because of squirrels. But i also share that sewing room with my "office". Yup my brain is bouncing around like a super ball. I think i am my own squirrel
I have moved to a smaller home. No sewing room, yet I’ve created three spaces in my home. One hold fabric, one hold acquit, and one has the actual sewing and serger.
@@laurastratton8614 my goal this year, is to get to know my AccuQuilt..shamefully, I have so many die...almost none used. yet....sadly, have had it 3 years now.....
I’m mostly moved in from my old sewing space to the new. Both were used as guest bedrooms once or twice over the holidays so the garbage is gone but I haven’t figured out all the organizing stuff yet. Hopefully, the challenge can my rear in gear! 🤞
I decluttered my material yesterday and felt so accomplished! I organized the material by solids, spring prints, dark prints, character prints, and then tackled my material scraps to light, dark, and red white & blue - for a future quilt. I was so excited to tell my friend ( who doesn’t sew} and really couldn’t understand but appreciated my joy in getting it done!
I am going to take a short break from quilting and use my dressmaking stash to make some cloths for me and the grandkids while are still small enough to be happy to wear things Granny has made.
My sewing room is now my hobby and sewing space so I have a to rethink which things do not belong. Some things are obvious like a box of recipes (torn from magazines) that have been sitting there for a year for me to sort through (out they go to another room) others less so because they are related to a non-craft hobby. Decision day on those items. I have also decided it’s time for me to move my current (10 year old well-loved) sewing machine from from my sewing desk and install my brand new one that has been buried under a pile of ‘stuff’ for a couple of years. So installing the new one seems to be a task for today. I’m assuming my older one now gets stored in my craft room (perhaps in the same corner I had my new one in) until I decide what to with it. (Sell it, keep it as a spare). So many decisions!
Keep it as a spare! I took my new machine in for a yearly professional clean and tune up this summer and it was a month before I got it back. Used my older machine during that month.
I have a well loved and cared for 30 yr old Huskquvarna Viking Freesia as my regular workhorse for piecing. Use my newer 15 yrs old Brother for mostly embroidery and quilting smaller items and my Jazz 2 for all my Free Motion quilting. Do not know how I would part with any of them!
@@jeandryja6992 That’s what I’ve decided to do. I also realized my new machine has different bobbins so I have a lot of bobbins of thread to use up on my old machine. Might keep it handy for some projects until I use up the bobbins that are still full.
Oh my today could get interesting! I noticed a box of sea shells yesterday when getting rid of trash wonder what’s hiding in the boxes under the sea shells.
This is Challenge #3 and have found the first 2 days easy as I've been careful not to bring stuff into my room over the past year. It was my grandson's bedroom over Christmas but now back to 'normal'. I didn't do the reward sewing before but have picked out a UFO 'Red Brolly' embroidery that needs to be made into a quilt. Doing the Challenge is a great way to kick start the year. Cheers from Australia
My squatter is my design wall. Or it could become garbage. I put up some felt a year ago and I have never used it to lay out a quilt. Not even once. What I want is a bulletin board. I put notes and lists and reminders up on a corner of that design wall. A white board will not work. I have had that and didn’t use it. Bobblins got in and made sure my markers all dried out.
Yesterday I went through a box of quilt panels that I had bought from a mystery bag online several years ago. After working on one panel project, I hated it so much that I haven't done a panel since. .So I went on Facebook and joined a group called Sharing Fabric US. I posted pictures of 4 random bags .full of panels and some 1 yd cuts of fabric as well as 2 or 3 quilt patterns per bag and did a random drawing for them. In exchange, anyone who won one of my grab bags would send me one yard of ugly, or unusual fabric from their stash. I announced the winners yesterday, and I'm mailing out the boxes today. It's a great way to get rid of some fabrics and get a little something for your stash in return.
Love this tip cause I have been decluttering my sewing room now you got me looking a better way to do it . Thanks again for helping us to stay stress-free bout our sewing space😊
This is my year for clearing out the project kits i will never make and gadgets/ tools i will never use. I may figure out Facebook market place and just seel it all as one big jot mess for someone else to deal with. I may just add the pile of fabric i will never use (those that just don't even make me smile.)
Where do thought squirrels come from. I love it and it so apt for my adhd, I need multiple places for all my squirrels to mmm there a squirrel start a bullet journal instead of cleaning 😂
Day 2 will either last several days for me or I’ll need to accept sharing my sewing room with a few items. Neither one of my decluttering buddies (sons) is available to help on a work day and I’m unable to move these items myself. In addition, as someone else mentioned, things that don’t belong need to have a place to go. They can’t just sit out in the middle of the family room. It’ll get done…just not today. My sewing machine is cleaned out.
Think of the capacity of your home. If there is no place for them to go, are they essential. If they are, then you need to remove something else from your home
I don't have much that does not belong there; I am pretty good about regularly picking up and putting stuff away. I am going to work on 2 baby quilts with birds on them from White Plains Quilt. They also happen to be scrap busters. After that, I am working on 2 oversize lap quilts for 2 fellow grandmothers who help me get my granddaughter home from dance classes after I deliver her late afternoon. They like to stay and chat with other people there, but i do not like driving after dark, so I come home. I am grateful for help as it is an hour drive one way! My challenge this year is prijects in boxes that i have not gotten to as I get so many requests from family to make quilts for them or their friends that I am not getting to the challenging quilts I want to make for myself. These quilts I am planning have either new techniques or are just rated as for advanced quilting and I am up for it! I want yo whittle down on some of those. I intend to go hrough the challenges and list them on my list for this year. I will not get through them all but i woukd like to do it just for me for a change. At 75 as of today, maybe it is time for me just a little.
Happy Birthday! I am a few years ahead of you, 78 in April, but have decided to work on only what I want to and not necessarily what everyone requests of me. It is finally "Me time!"
Oh dear. I got sidetracked with the holiday and totally forgot about both Day 1 & 2! Sheesh. Now it’s bedtime so guess tomorrow will be three days in one to catch up. Sigh. In my defense I did manage to mill some fresh flour and make two great loaves of bread. lol
Just start with day one, two days late, and finish to days longer, or you may get overwhelmed and give up..... do you get the feeling I'm in the same position as you 😊
Now how did you know I cleaned my machine and did a small amount of sewing today? Jan 2 will be for moving out the stuff that doesn't belong, there's not much thankfully.
My sewing room also is kind of an office space for occacional home office days and all the papers (insurances, taxes...). I'd like to seperate those parts better (I have one IKEA Kallax which holds items of both categories, the rest ist mainly sewing and one drawer of office supplies). Not completely sure how to address this problem in the declutter challenge, but maybe I could pull all sewing stuff from the Kallax, then sort everything to one side for the office stuff and have the rest free for sewing. Sounds like a path forward...
Think of capacity. You are still trying to manipulate your space to fit your stuff. Try reversing that. You only have this space. What is valuable enough to stay
@JustGetitDoneQuilts I see where you are coming from and you are absolutely right that I only can fit in the room what it can hold comfortably. Still I believe that deviding the stuff by "category" it's easier to see what can leave. But that indeed is one step further than just decluttering so maybe I should focus on that first.
Why, why, why do I save empty containers??? They are pretty or functional (if I have something to store, but I don't because I am decluttering). Maybe I'll just move them to the attic... Before they go to the trash 🙄😬
I have an old Husqvarna Viking machine and it cannot be oiled. A completely closed machine or they use a grease that does not degrade over time. I have learned oiling the bobbin hook works on most machines, including the Husqvarna I have. Interesting how different the machines can be.
I have a Bernina and I was told by the shop where I bought it to clean and oil the bobbin area at every bobbin change. From the amount of lint in the area I think that was good advice but has anyone else heard of this?
Yes! I oil my bobbin area every day before I begin, not just on bobbin changes. You can really hear the difference in the sound of the machine if I forget to do it.
@@DaphneWagnon Thanks. My bobbin area is so dirty after one use that I just wondered if it was just me. I don't seem to have as much build up on the Babylock though. Same space, same conditions but the Bernina just attracts it.
My Bernina dealer (also a dear friend who taught me to quilt decades ago) told me to take the time when I sit down to sew to oil and clean the machine. Her point is that it takes a few minutes and can only help. Then when the sewing errors happen (and they do) it is easier to solve because it is most likely you and not the machine!
@Karen-ru4tv I use all cotton thread to piece. That seems to be the culprit in all the fuzz accumulated. Clean and oiling has become part of the overall process.
@@Karen-ru4tv I’ve never oiled my machine. I’ve been worried I would get oil on my sewing project. How do you oil it so nothing is left to get on your fabric?
Karen, I discovered that my "future patterns and projects" don't have a home. There is something about seeing them that remind me of all the great things I want to make! However, I can't figure out how to store them and see them at the same time. Any ideas?
@@pattystein3143 I bought one of those plastic rolling drawer units that has see through drawers and I keep my patterns in there. Easy to see if I open a drawer. You could also take the drawers out and put them on shelves so the contents are even easier to see.
@pattistein3143 i keep my "ideas, patterns i like', etc in notebooks in clear pages used to keep documents...i flip thru them when im looking for inspiration
MS to fog the brain and ADHD to squirrel it, my sewing room becomes my whole house, year after year. Maybe I should eat more nuts or avoid them and starve them out. But yeah I think this will be a 3 week challenge rather than a day. But that's okay enough years and bats in belfry to no longer stress about getting thing in a day.
Ich habe es geschafft doch noch einzusteigen, auch wenn in umgedrehter Reihenfolge: gestern Tag 2 und heute Tag 1. 🙂 Hier folgt nun mein Bericht für Gestern: Nach dem ich bei Video für Tag 1 erst mal nicht wusste, wo ich starten sollte, habe ich mir einfach gesagt, dass ich mit Tag 2 starte und mich um den Inhalt meines Adventskalender kümmere, welchen ich in meinem Nähzimmer gesammelt habe. Ich hab nicht auf die Zeit geachtet, sondern mich Stück für Stück durch die Sachen gearbeitet und die Kiste leer bekommen. Teil 2 der heutigen Challenge muss ich nicht machen, da ich meine Maschinen mindestens einmal im Monat und immer wenn ich ein Projekt fertig habe säubere.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
It just occurred to me-I don’t know why I never thought of this before-that squirrels are the brain’s defense to get out of doing hard stuff! 😳😊
😂🤣
😂Brilliant!
Exactly.
And then the squirrels have babies
@@donnabullard6770 OMG, that’s the worst! 😂😂😂
I clean my machine out every 8 hours of sewing. Approx. Of course. It's an older machine, and I love using it,so I oil the bobbin one drop, clean all the fuzz out, and go back to work. Yesterday, while looking for trash I came across a pair of snips I haven't seen for months. So declutter is working great already.
@@susanbaker8023 That's the great thing about using old machines - it forces you into regular maintenance habits and rewards you with straight seams. I love mine even.
To move out stuff that doesn't belong there you need a place to put it. That is what slows me sometimes as now I have to declutter another area first to make room for where that stuff actually belongs. But In moving out my Christmas wrapping paper, (which originally had all been shoved in a space under my bed) I found a fabric wrapping paper box on Amazon that holds 40" long rolls of paper along with bows ribbon and sheets of tags and tissue paper. Fits under my bed and easier to pull out what I need. Now it is all neat and I finally know what I have (and no need to buy for next year!). So win-win on that front. Now to the rest of it!
Just don't let the stuff pile up somewhere else when it is removed from your sewing room. This is my challenge. Great tip Karen!
Squatters and squirrels - both are the bane of my sewing space! Thank you for the reminder that we all share in this struggle.
It's very interesting that this is your day two. I just went through this on my first week off on Christmas vacation from teaching. I found all sorts of things in my house that belonged in my sewing room, and then I found things in the sewing room that belonged to my office, belonged to my bedroom, belonged in my classroom! It feel really good to get things where they needed to be!
I love the term “squirrel”. We have used it ever since watching Up, when Doug was talking about how much he loved his master and it happened. Squirrel, and Doug lost his train of thought. ❤
I am thankful you do this challenge every year. My space seems to just collect "stuff" and becomes overwhelming. Your tips do help and remind me we are all facing the same struggle.
I love your yearly decluttering videos. Baby steps is the key to this. I had to give up my sewing room due to my MIL moving in with us. Now all my sewing is in the upstairs bedroom. My biggest challenge is planning ahead since I have a hard time going up and down the stairs. I will be productive this year and get my stash to a manageable amount. I have been doing a ton of charity sewing and plan to continue this year.
Thank you for these declutter challenges. I have done these for 3 years now, and I realized I now have the habit of tidying up regularly. So...when the challenge comes it's not a big job. Thanks, Karen!!
my goal too.....
good for you!!
Off topic Karen, but something for your hacks repertoire that I saw. At Gettin Stitchy, she uses skateboard tape to keep her rulers from slipping, and it's removable. Looks like a nice outside-the-box idea. Thank you for your great videos! 🎉
Thanks for sharing
Also a reminder - change your needle, and your rotary cutter blades so you can chuck them in the sharps together. Fresh start for the year!
I worked with a declutter buddy for TWO HOURS yesterday and FINALLY got rid of two storage boxes that had been shoved into my craft room. 🎉🎉🎉 I was so happy I almost cried. Thank you, Karen, for the motivation!
Oooh geeze i have a dresser top half full of items that belonged to my MIL. I put them there a year ago. They blended in so well. Then there are a couple craft items to be hung on the walls. Past things that were in a drawer that i lived but had no place for. Today is the day to do it..
Thank You. I need this.
I love the term "Squatters"! It's perfect. My sewing room is also my laundry room (it's the size of a bedroom) and it's at the top of the stairs. So EVERYTHING that gets carried upstairs gets dumped on the table by the door. And that doesn't even touch the Christmas Stuff. 🙄
Happy New Year everyone
My decision is to move knitting gear out bc i really dont knit in there. Going to find a container to sit beside chair i do knit in.
Karen, after two years of following your declutter advice, I find very little to do this year to get my sewing room in order. Thank you for the inspiration to help me keep my sewing room a welcoming space for sewing fun.
Third year doing the challenge. We moved into a new home last year with a larger sewing space. I’ve been able to keep most of the clutter at bay so the first couple days are easy. Harder decision to make in the days ahead. Thank you for doing the challenge each year.
It is apparent to me that I need to concentrate on getting my small declutter areas done first - my corner end table in the living room where I thought it was a great area to keep everything for maintaining my Featherweight sewing machine there. But in reality most of the supplies are only used every few months. I dust and oil daily. So I need my oil and dust rag, as well as the fluff remover tool and screwdriver bit to remove the stitch plate to get the fluff. Don't need scraps, cleaning cream and polish, multiple note pads, etc. They can go in my storage case and get them off the table. So today is table day. I want my daily and weekly tools and supplies in easy reach, not anything else. Next is dining table, which is where I cut and iron.
I can get those two areas done today. Big project us to clear out my big closet in my sewing room of anything
My big project is to finish my daughters quilt. her birthday was the day after Christmas. Also to get my new sewing room all finished. I am moving g some things upstairs, so the does this belong? question has been asked a lot today! I also have a set of Christmas stocking to line and they are done.A late Christmas present. It has been a fall fall at my house emotionally so things didn't all get done. Tomorrow is another day.
I just had my last young ones move out so now I can reclaim my sewing rooms. Its be a challenge to stay focused on where to put stuff but I figured that to put all yarn crafts in one bedroom and in one drawer the me with items, and keep sorting by type of craft. Its amazing how much yarn I found after crocheting 16 blankets this year. Now I'm going back to quilting so I have 2 christmas quilts to sandwich and see together. I hope I get to them this year.😊
Yesterday we had a gale here in Holland and my garden fence started breaking... So now I can reward myself with advance pruning roses, taking down trellises and cutting back prickly shrubs in preparation for a new one 🙄🤣
Ohmigosh, you just solved a month long mystery for me! I sew in a she shed so rarely is there a household item out there. I've been long for my heating pad for a month, trying to remember if I loaned it out or what. Saw this and remembered using it while sewing awhile back, found it in my scrap bin! Apparently when I swept unused scraps back into the bin my heating pad was buried in that pile. So glad I watched this one!
👐
My de-clutter includes packing up everything to move to a new house the first of February. Yesterday I made an apron from an old saved shirt I couldn't part with and threw out the others that I was saving for someday, something. Cleaned and oiled my machine to pack it away for the next month of packing and moving. I have a cross stitch project that I will work on for the new house as a reward for cleaning out and packing. Thanks for all of the encouraging comments and video!
Watching this while I sew up today's squirrel project 🤦♀️
😂 I think short squirrel projects can give us a reprieve from an unpleasant task. Perhaps setting a timer for those would be helpful as well!
My big squatter is old paperwork. Like 8 boxes.... and stuff from when I retired in 2024. It will take more than a day, but I've got a shredding station set up to get it done. I am now determined to get through it, finally! Going to make a lap quilt for fun.
I’m shredding 15 minutes a day ( old business papers) - might take me a year but won’t take over my life!
@@hp-cs7mx And you won’t wear out your shredder if you keep those sessions short
I did that 2 tears ago with years of stuff my husband thought we should always keep. Good for you. Do a little everyday and before you know it you will be done. I had piles of recycle, shed, garbage, to file, give to someone else, put somewhere else, what do I do with this, pictures, containers, office supplies, stay here somewhere. the organization took time but was well worth the effort. Good luck and remember to be kind to yourself. Give yourself grace!
Thanks for the support. I've been walking around those boxes way too long!
A lot of communities have e-waste drop-off events where they take old electronics to recycle. The events usually also include free shredding and medication disposal. If you have a lot, it might be worth it to look into.
Starting a journal….to get things done.
The first day was easy for me as I get rid of garbage as the two cans fill to the top. Today's challenge will be difficult as my sewing space under my mid arm is also storage area. Box of already read books, a box of family pictures, you get the gist. So I'll have to figure that part out. My declutter challenge sewing project is going to be scarfs. We have a local organization in our community that ventures out, every mid January to count the homeless and unsheltered and distribute scarfs, hats, gloves, blankets, tarps etc. I have a tote full of fleece, flannel and tweed fabric from other projects.
I haven't decided on a project, but definitely going to clear out any squatters in my sewing area.🙂
Karen, Thank you for doing this again.🌸
Lol. Squirls sounds just right. Everytime i sit to start to complete wips, i tend to start something new... a vicious cycle.
me too. So then we have another Wip!
I have limited space. All that is allowed in my sewing corner are the top 2-3 projects I plan to work on. NO other fabrics to distract me!! Just the (all inclusive) project boxes that have everything I need in each box. So, some fabrics are actually "squatters", until I actually need to use them😊. I have another area where I store those.
Got to watch the video today. But not enough time to get real with the task at hand. I will definitely be using the weekend to catch up since my evenings seem to go by so quickly and special time spent with hubby. will be interesting to see what the machine has collected, I just cleaned it before the Holiday season sewing started.
A lot of my squatters are supplies in the wrong part of my sewing room. The Cricut bits and bobs do not belong on my appliqué basket, the toy making fur should not be with my Tula Pink fabrics….
And this is where I need to remember it gets worse before it gets better 🙈🤣
My reward for decluttering is making a sweet little stuffed kitten for a great-niece. Thought I'd move away from the cutting, piecing, and quilting routine for awhile. What stunned me was how long it takes with pattern pieces, marking, sewing, ripping out, sewing, turning inside out. I keep thinking about how fast a quilt seems now! 😉
Not sure if that inserted Pic was your clutter buddy OR something you are decluttering....if it's the latter, I think all of us have room at our house for him🤣🥰 just remember my offer came in first
😂
😂
i second that comment!!! lol....🤣
😂😂😂
I started to declutter my clothes and also some of the cat toys my cats don't really play with ... tomorrow, i plan to do some paperwork and throwing out more stuff i haven't lookedat in the last 3 years...
I am out of town and I cannot wait to get home and start! Thank you Karen! You have always been fun to watch. You really keep me motivated to sew and sew correctly . Thank you so much for being you.
I will definitely be on day 1 and 2 for a while as my room has been a neglected catch all for over a year. I am glad for your videos as a reminder that it doesnt have to be an all day commitment to see progress. I have managed to clear a 4ft table and chair of all their accumlated items and get the table and chair, which didnt belong there, removed from the area too. Its a good feeling to see progress. 😊
Thank you for doing this each year! I got a long arm this year so it’s now more important than ever to keep my sewing space neat, clean, and organized.
congrats!!! and jealous of your new buddy/longarm!!..
I enjoy reading the comments and learn something from the others watching and doing this Declutter Challenge as well. Thank you everyone. ❤yesterday I removed the Christmas decorations I’d put up in my sewing room so I guess I did Day 2 on Day 1 .🤭I keep up on garbage so didn’t really have much of that. 👍🏻😁
You gave me a squirrel yesterday morning when I re-saw your quilt project. I have a new pattern now….😂
Thank you for this declutter challenge. Watched it last year but doing it this year as its an unreal mess and taking me alot longer. Also signed up for a scrap organization class. It suddenly dawned on me that that's part of the problem
I am going to finish sewing my Franken batting first. Then clean my machine. I sew in my dining room, so I am the squatter!😂 I do have a donation box to drop off today. Thanks for the reminder. A few other squatters will go as we clean up from the holidays this weekend and my son goes back to college, boxes mostly, not little things.
I have so many dishes in my sewing space... 😅 I usually will chuck everything out of the room that doesn't belong and then put them away once I've cleared things out. Otherwise, I absolutely will get distracted as I go to put things away.
Love the squirrel analogy. I’ve done this declutter 3 times but “squatters” hit home today. They are leaving.😅
Squirrells are a BIG problem. I will try to write a list.
Day 1 went well. I was surprised at the hidden trash lol.
Well squirrels got in the way of yesterday i did alot garbage and then i saw my 3 bags of scrap fabrics then started making scrappy blocks and sewing together batting to because then the empty bags could be thrown out.. i still have more day 1 to do i think because of squirrels. But i also share that sewing room with my "office".
Yup my brain is bouncing around like a super ball. I think i am my own squirrel
I have moved to a smaller home. No sewing room, yet I’ve created three spaces in my home. One hold fabric, one hold acquit, and one has the actual sewing and serger.
Same😊❤
I use AccuQuilt too. I couldn't quilt without it.
@@laurastratton8614 my goal this year, is to get to know my AccuQuilt..shamefully, I have so many die...almost none used. yet....sadly, have had it 3 years now.....
@@laurastratton8614 it saves time and makes such accurate cuts. I use to teach adult with special needs to sew, which was so much safer. Happy sewing.
@@debrahartwig8291 that's wonderful. I have bad hands and struggle with a rotary cutter or scissors.
I’m mostly moved in from my old sewing space to the new. Both were used as guest bedrooms once or twice over the holidays so the garbage is gone but I haven’t figured out all the organizing stuff yet. Hopefully, the challenge can my rear in gear! 🤞
My sewing project is to make diaper bags with By Annie’s Every Day Every Way Pattern. Two grandchildren coming in Jan and feb. squeeeee!
Congrats! We have our first coming in June 😁❤
(Now off to check out that pattern!)
I decluttered my material yesterday and felt so accomplished! I organized the material by solids, spring prints, dark prints, character prints, and then tackled my material scraps to light, dark, and red white & blue - for a future quilt. I was so excited to tell my friend ( who doesn’t sew} and really couldn’t understand but appreciated my joy in getting it done!
I am going to take a short break from quilting and use my dressmaking stash to make some cloths for me and the grandkids while are still small enough to be happy to wear things Granny has made.
Working on room #2 of sew stuff set timer first and maybe finish quilting baby quilt 😊❤
Today's quatter, squirrel and declutter combo: twelve picture frames. Five brand new in their packages. Moved them downstairs to find art for.
My sewing room is now my hobby and sewing space so I have a to rethink which things do not belong. Some things are obvious like a box of recipes (torn from magazines) that have been sitting there for a year for me to sort through (out they go to another room) others less so because they are related to a non-craft hobby. Decision day on those items.
I have also decided it’s time for me to move my current (10 year old well-loved) sewing machine from from my sewing desk and install my brand new one that has been buried under a pile of ‘stuff’ for a couple of years. So installing the new one seems to be a task for today. I’m assuming my older one now gets stored in my craft room (perhaps in the same corner I had my new one in) until I decide what to with it. (Sell it, keep it as a spare). So many decisions!
Save the old machine. You might need a backup when the new one needs service or if a quilting friend comes to visit.
@ Good point. I like that idea, thank you.
Keep it as a spare! I took my new machine in for a yearly professional clean and tune up this summer and it was a month before I got it back. Used my older machine during that month.
I have a well loved and cared for 30 yr old Huskquvarna Viking Freesia as my regular workhorse for piecing. Use my newer 15 yrs old Brother for mostly embroidery and quilting smaller items and my Jazz 2 for all my Free Motion quilting. Do not know how I would part with any of them!
@@jeandryja6992 That’s what I’ve decided to do. I also realized my new machine has different bobbins so I have a lot of bobbins of thread to use up on my old machine. Might keep it handy for some projects until I use up the bobbins that are still full.
Oh my today could get interesting! I noticed a box of sea shells yesterday when getting rid of trash wonder what’s hiding in the boxes under the sea shells.
okay... a declutter buddy is a good idea.... I made room in my bedroom bookcase for some on the squatters
My sewing room is also the staging area for Christmas. I am always glad to get everything back to its proper place come January.
It is always a relief to be done with the holidays.
This is Challenge #3 and have found the first 2 days easy as I've been careful not to bring stuff into my room over the past year. It was my grandson's bedroom over Christmas but now back to 'normal'. I didn't do the reward sewing before but have picked out a UFO 'Red Brolly' embroidery that needs to be made into a quilt. Doing the Challenge is a great way to kick start the year. Cheers from Australia
My squatter is my design wall. Or it could become garbage. I put up some felt a year ago and I have never used it to lay out a quilt. Not even once. What I want is a bulletin board. I put notes and lists and reminders up on a corner of that design wall. A white board will not work. I have had that and didn’t use it. Bobblins got in and made sure my markers all dried out.
Yesterday I went through a box of quilt panels that I had bought from a mystery bag online several years ago. After working on one panel project, I hated it so much that I haven't done a panel since. .So I went on Facebook and joined a group called Sharing Fabric US. I posted pictures of 4 random bags .full of panels and some 1 yd cuts of fabric as well as 2 or 3 quilt patterns per bag and did a random drawing for them. In exchange, anyone who won one of my grab bags would send me one yard of ugly, or unusual fabric from their stash. I announced the winners yesterday, and I'm mailing out the boxes today. It's a great way to get rid of some fabrics and get a little something for your stash in return.
Love this tip cause I have been decluttering my sewing room now you got me looking a better way to do it . Thanks again for helping us to stay stress-free bout our sewing space😊
Now this will be a challenge
This is my year for clearing out the project kits i will never make and gadgets/ tools i will never use. I may figure out Facebook market place and just seel it all as one big jot mess for someone else to deal with. I may just add the pile of fabric i will never use (those that just don't even make me smile.)
feel ya, for sho!!
Where do thought squirrels come from. I love it and it so apt for my adhd, I need multiple places for all my squirrels to mmm there a squirrel start a bullet journal instead of cleaning 😂
Day 2 will either last several days for me or I’ll need to accept sharing my sewing room with a few items. Neither one of my decluttering buddies (sons) is available to help on a work day and I’m unable to move these items myself. In addition, as someone else mentioned, things that don’t belong need to have a place to go. They can’t just sit out in the middle of the family room. It’ll get done…just not today. My sewing machine is cleaned out.
Think of the capacity of your home. If there is no place for them to go, are they essential. If they are, then you need to remove something else from your home
I don't have much that does not belong there; I am pretty good about regularly picking up and putting stuff away. I am going to work on 2 baby quilts with birds on them from White Plains Quilt. They also happen to be scrap busters. After that, I am working on 2 oversize lap quilts for 2 fellow grandmothers who help me get my granddaughter home from dance classes after I deliver her late afternoon. They like to stay and chat with other people there, but i do not like driving after dark, so I come home. I am grateful for help as it is an hour drive one way! My challenge this year is prijects in boxes that i have not gotten to as I get so many requests from family to make quilts for them or their friends that I am not getting to the challenging quilts I want to make for myself. These quilts I am planning have either new techniques or are just rated as for advanced quilting and I am up for it! I want yo whittle down on some of those. I intend to go hrough the challenges and list them on my list for this year. I will not get through them all but i woukd like to do it just for me for a change. At 75 as of today, maybe it is time for me just a little.
Happy Birthday! ❤
Happy Birthday wishing you an awesome day. ❤❤
Happy Birthday! I am a few years ahead of you, 78 in April, but have decided to work on only what I want to and not necessarily what everyone requests of me. It is finally "Me time!"
@@megharmon2298 Happy Birthday! Definitely time for you.
Yes it is time for you! I will be 61 shortly and feel.the same way!
I decided to watch the videos for each day - other videos are squirrels I am going to walk away from :)
I'm on it today!
Oh dear. I got sidetracked with the holiday and totally forgot about both Day 1 & 2! Sheesh. Now it’s bedtime so guess tomorrow will be three days in one to catch up. Sigh. In my defense I did manage to mill some fresh flour and make two great loaves of bread. lol
Got something done, even if it wasn’t decluttering! Feel good for that!
Just start with day one, two days late, and finish to days longer, or you may get overwhelmed and give up..... do you get the feeling I'm in the same position as you 😊
Proper nourishment is much more important than declutterring. Yum!
Yum! Wish I was there. I would help you catch up. I had to do day 2and 2 both together . done feel bad. it will happen
Ooph!! Day 2 and the boxes of baby clothes seem to be on the docket already 🙈🙈🙈
Now how did you know I cleaned my machine and did a small amount of sewing today? Jan 2 will be for moving out the stuff that doesn't belong, there's not much thankfully.
My sewing room also is kind of an office space for occacional home office days and all the papers (insurances, taxes...). I'd like to seperate those parts better (I have one IKEA Kallax which holds items of both categories, the rest ist mainly sewing and one drawer of office supplies). Not completely sure how to address this problem in the declutter challenge, but maybe I could pull all sewing stuff from the Kallax, then sort everything to one side for the office stuff and have the rest free for sewing. Sounds like a path forward...
Think of capacity. You are still trying to manipulate your space to fit your stuff. Try reversing that. You only have this space. What is valuable enough to stay
@JustGetitDoneQuilts I see where you are coming from and you are absolutely right that I only can fit in the room what it can hold comfortably. Still I believe that deviding the stuff by "category" it's easier to see what can leave. But that indeed is one step further than just decluttering so maybe I should focus on that first.
thx
I am doing 15 minutes a day when i sew!
In looking at my sewing room I realize that this is going to take more than 30 to complete,
Why, why, why do I save empty containers??? They are pretty or functional (if I have something to store, but I don't because I am decluttering). Maybe I'll just move them to the attic... Before they go to the trash 🙄😬
I am THRILLED with how much better my space looks after these two steps! 🎉🎉🎉
I have an old Husqvarna Viking machine and it cannot be oiled. A completely closed machine or they use a grease that does not degrade over time. I have learned oiling the bobbin hook works on most machines, including the Husqvarna I have. Interesting how different the machines can be.
I have a Bernina and I was told by the shop where I bought it to clean and oil the bobbin area at every bobbin change. From the amount of lint in the area I think that was good advice but has anyone else heard of this?
Yes! I oil my bobbin area every day before I begin, not just on bobbin changes. You can really hear the difference in the sound of the machine if I forget to do it.
@@DaphneWagnon Thanks. My bobbin area is so dirty after one use that I just wondered if it was just me. I don't seem to have as much build up on the Babylock though. Same space, same conditions but the Bernina just attracts it.
My Bernina dealer (also a dear friend who taught me to quilt decades ago) told me to take the time when I sit down to sew to oil and clean the machine. Her point is that it takes a few minutes and can only help. Then when the sewing errors happen (and they do) it is easier to solve because it is most likely you and not the machine!
@Karen-ru4tv I use all cotton thread to piece. That seems to be the culprit in all the fuzz accumulated. Clean and oiling has become part of the overall process.
@@Karen-ru4tv I’ve never oiled my machine. I’ve been worried I would get oil on my sewing project. How do you oil it so nothing is left to get on your fabric?
Karen, I discovered that my "future patterns and projects" don't have a home. There is something about seeing them that remind me of all the great things I want to make! However, I can't figure out how to store them and see them at the same time. Any ideas?
@@pattystein3143 I bought one of those plastic rolling drawer units that has see through drawers and I keep my patterns in there. Easy to see if I open a drawer. You could also take the drawers out and put them on shelves so the contents are even easier to see.
@pattistein3143 i keep my "ideas, patterns i like', etc in notebooks in clear pages used to keep documents...i flip thru them when im looking for inspiration
What is on top of cabinets? You can't reach them.
MS to fog the brain and ADHD to squirrel it, my sewing room becomes my whole house, year after year. Maybe I should eat more nuts or avoid them and starve them out. But yeah I think this will be a 3 week challenge rather than a day. But that's okay enough years and bats in belfry to no longer stress about getting thing in a day.
Ich habe es geschafft doch noch einzusteigen, auch wenn in umgedrehter Reihenfolge: gestern Tag 2 und heute Tag 1. 🙂
Hier folgt nun mein Bericht für Gestern:
Nach dem ich bei Video für Tag 1 erst mal nicht wusste, wo ich starten sollte, habe ich mir einfach gesagt, dass ich mit Tag 2 starte und mich um den Inhalt meines Adventskalender kümmere, welchen ich in meinem Nähzimmer gesammelt habe. Ich hab nicht auf die Zeit geachtet, sondern mich Stück für Stück durch die Sachen gearbeitet und die Kiste leer bekommen.
Teil 2 der heutigen Challenge muss ich nicht machen, da ich meine Maschinen mindestens einmal im Monat und immer wenn ich ein Projekt fertig habe säubere.
What is that gadget you use to oil your machine?
Sometimes other things have to share my sewing space. That’s ok.
Tissues always belong in my sewing room, lol
started a new apartment and I found garbage and now ... thank you
Is this ur real sewing room or ur studio.
My studio has my longarm
I thought I saw a video of you going to a new studio, not your extra bedroom. Did I imagine that?