MAGPIE'S MUMBLINGS

A blog about my interests, which include fabric landscapes and various and assorted other artsy pursuits and sometimes known to contain mumblings of a random nature.

Thursday, May 03, 2018



I told you yesterday that I had a post planned but the weather was dull and pictures wouldn't be great.  Well - it's still dull (warm though!) so I decided to do it anyway.  A friend and I were into a discussion recently about crafting supply storage solutions for small spaces.  Many of you know that we live in an apartment and my sewing space is the second (and small!) bedroom, which also serves as a guest room when needed as well as housing my computer desk.  I have managed, through trial and error, to stuff a large amount of stash into this room so I thought I'd share what I did with the closet.  It's your typical closet - with double sliding doors, one shelf and a rod.  I removed the rod and left the shelf in place.  

I've taken four pictures to show you the four (more or less) sections of my closet....


This is the upper right side.  The red circled area contains plastic (dollar store) shoe boxes filled with all sorts of crafting supplies.....threads, ribbons, assorted embellishments for crazy quilting.  Below that I have stacked a three-drawer plastic unit (on the left) and two more, smaller in depth, three-drawer plastic units on the right.  The green circled drawers hold various types of fabric trims and my hankie/doily collection.  On the right are more sewing supplies, along with some of the papers I use for various things.  There's a plastic 'box' on the right that holds my paper ephemera.


This is the lower right side made up of two five-drawer plastic units.  The red circled area are my fabrics for crazy quilting (along with the pink red drawer in the first picture)...sorted into colour families.  The top two drawers - one holds my containers of embroidery flosses, sorted according to colour families and, on the other side, my knitting needles, crochet hooks & paint brushes.  The Misc. drawer on the bottom holds a lot of 'stuff' that doesn't fit anywhere else.


This is on the upper left side.  The blue circled bag holds my crochet cottons (using one of those zippered plastic bags that sheets often come in)....the red circled bag holds some misc. fabrics;  and the purple circled area is a bag of stuffing for toy making.  Three plastic bins hold my interfacing, denim and felt.  Below that there's another small three-drawer plastic unit that holds my paper punches and metallic threads for sewing.  


And here is the lower left side.  The red circled area is primarily things that fall under the 'office supplies' heading.  The yellow circle highlights another plastic drawer unit that has my folk art/water colour paints (top) and beneath that is a drawer that I call my 'component' drawer.  It holds all sorts of 'stuff' that can (maybe) be used for crafting.  It includes some techniques and things that I've tried and not liked, but have kept in case they can be re-worked at some point.    The green circled area holds two larger plastic 'suitcases' - the bottom one holds assorted cotton fabrics that fall under the 'yardage' category and the top one holds my lace fabrics.  The 'blob' of stuff above that is just some miscellaneous 'stuff' that doesn't fit anywhere else.  Someday I'll pick up another suitcase to hold those.   The purple circled section holds a quilt bat and the yellow/green box you can see holds a selection of greeting cards.  

Well, there you have it.  Storage.....According to Magpie.  This system works for me and I have a LOT of stuff stashed into what basically isn't a very large closet.  Of course I have other crafting supplies in other units elsewhere in my room, but this is the basic 'guts' of my storage.


  For the quote, it's another anonymous one..."Just because some people are fueled by drama doesn't mean you have to attend the performance"


9 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:29 PM

    Hi Maryanne you have your cupbords looking so neat and tidy,i must get to mine,hope you have a lovely day xx

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  2. Great ideas for storage. I've had to do similar in the past. The $ Shops have great plastic storage options. I like all clear boxes / drawers.

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  3. I'm impressed with the organization you've created with the containers and where there's a will, there's a way. Hope your guests never want to hang up some clothes. lol
    I have been watching YouTube videos on organizing card supplies and after ordering a few necessities I reworked everything and must admit, it's easier for finding what I want. My label maker had an extensive workout during the process.
    I saw the quilt you made of the old farmhouse and it is awesome, a barn project would be quite worthy. A few years ago the rural town south of us put together calendars with barns of the area for a couple of years which was nice historically but I would rather have seen them in a book.
    Since my blog is not functional any more, I've started a new computer bookmark with blogs to read occasionally so hope to come and see what you're creating now and then.

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  4. Very organized. I use clear plastic shoe boxes and I have a couple of those plastic drawer units on wheels.

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  5. Awesome! You have storage down to a fine art.

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  6. How exciting that you have two projects featured in the same magazine so close together. And your organization has me thinking I need to get to work in my craft room. Thanks for the peek in yours!

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  7. I adore seeing how others manage their supplies for creativity. You have yours very organized. Now that I am truly downsizing and purging more truckloads (I am not exaggerating) of my S.A.B.L.E. (Supplies Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy) I am not sure how I will manage to store anything I have. I am negotiating with hubby for my spaces I wish to claim in the new house. My new hobby will fit nicely...Needle and thread for tatting...except why do so many colors of thread have to be available?!! Today’s quote fits perfectly with what I told my family recently...I will not participate in their drama!! Lovely Weekend Dear...<3

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  8. Excellent ideas MA!!! I need to pick up a few more of those dollar store shoe boxes for some of my small things.

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  9. Your crazy quilt butterfly project sounds great, I've got to see that!
    The link to supermarket dyes was good, I like finding out about that whole
    process.
    And yes, a little drama can be entertaining, a lot is exhausting.

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Thank you so much for leaving comments! I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy life to talk to me. It's wonderful to know that someone is actually reading my mumblings and even more fun if I can connect with you and visit your blog.