The final countdown is on over at Prairie Moon Quilts.  The second challenge is to Organize Part of Your Stash.

I try to keep my stash organized.  I’ve got boxes of fabric sorted by color and/or theme.  Kits are together. Strings, strips, squares and bricks are sorted by size (and occasionally color).  My thread is sorted and in boxes. My UFOs are either in project boxes or zip bags and above all everything is labeled.   That’s not to say my stash is perfectly organized.

A couple of months ago I dug through one of my strips boxes for the Star-A-Day project (now 2 months behind) and that box got dumped into a box of scraps I was also digging through.  I think there are 4 boxes of new to me scraps that need to sorted through. But that’s not what I’m picking to work on today.

The other day I dumped a couple of boxes of notions in the cat bed (the cats prefer the basket of recycled shirts) in preparation for renting time on the long arm.  I need to get my long arm box put back together and in the long arm bag and I need to re-assemble my travel box of notions.

As for yesterday’s challenge?  Well it’s a work in progress.

Hopefully I’ll finish both tonight.

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is doing her annual Final Countdown Challenge. It’s a chance to do 3 things to get us prepared to quilt in the new year. Today’s task is to clear one flat surface – as in put the stuff away, not set it on a different surface. There are numerous surfaces which need clearing in my sewing room.

• The sewing table — a couple of nights ago I heard a thud — a big pile of papers had slid off the unused portion of the table and landed on the floor. Last night I gathered them up and put them back on the table without looking at them.
• The top of my printer — at the moment this isn’t too bad — let’s just say it’s been worse.
• My desk — it’s actually in pretty good shape as I had to clear it off this weekend to put a sound card in my computer.
• The ironing board – also in good shape – just the fabric for the pillowcase to go with the quilt I’m binding and a backing I just brought into the room.
• The floor — buckets of stuff sitting around on the far side of the room which need to be sorted through and put up.
• The treadle machine — in excellent shape — I moved the cat bed full of sewing stuff to a box on the floor so I could attach the binding to the quilt I’m working on. This is an example of what Not to do. (The cat sleeps in the laundry basket of shirts on the floor)
• Two chairs – not so flat, but both stacked with stuff. One has a crate of “stuff”, I’m not sure what topped by the trimmings of the quilt I’m binding and the sweater I just took off. The other has a top, backing backing fabric, plus a quilt. My husband just sits on top of it.
• The cutting table — There is assorted stuff on the table.  I’ve tried twice to get it cleared off, but before I finish, something else gets tossed on it.

For this task, I’m picking the cutting table. Check in tomorrow to see if I get it done.