Can you believe that the Creative Spaces Blog Hop wraps up this week? (I’m posting a couple days late due to my Dot ‘n’ Dash quilt along which just stared on Friday). If you have missed any of the Creative Spaces posts, be sure to click the links of all the designers listed the end of this post, and scroll back through their feeds to catch them all.
Previous Creative Spaces Blog Posts
Here’s a link of the other 5 posts I wrote for the hop if you’d like to check them out:
- Week 1 – My Sewing Room
- Week 2 – Favorite Tools
- Week 3 – Organization
- Week 4 – Fabric
- Week 5 – Thread
How I Organize My Rulers
This week, we are chatting about organizing our rulers and tools. I’m not much of a gadget gal, but I do love me some acrylic rulers! I have a lot of them: short ones, long ones, various size squares and specialty shapes. In the past, I used to organize them with small wooden racks that had grooves cut in them like this:
This worked for a time, but I found it to be a bit too clunky and it took up too much space. So recently, I’ve switched to storing the smaller rulers in a plastic drawer in my storage closet like this:
A bin of plastic drawers works well for my small acrylic rulers.
You can see some of my Aurifil Thread spools peeking out from the other drawers.
I hang my larger rulers using small command hooks attached to the outside of my storage closets. I like the small 1/2 pound size because the silver hooks easily fit in the holes of my rulers. Each hook can hold up to 2 rulers with no problem.
Command hooks are an inexpensive and versatile storage solution.
I have two of these storage closets shown below, so it provides lots of space on the outside for my rulers. They are easy to reposition if I need to change my configuration. I also use the command hooks to store some of my show ribbons which bling up my space nicely. 🙂
I’m in my sewing space 8-10 hours each day so I make use of every nook and cranny for storage!
I routinely purge my rulers and other tools if I find I haven’t used them in awhile. A general rule for decluttering I try to employ is this: if you aren’t sure you want to get rid of something, put it in a box in a closet for 6 months. If you haven’t touched it in that time, you probably never will, so get rid of it!
Be sure to check out the other blog hoppers for tips and tricks on how they store their rulers and other tools. And leave me a comment below letting me know how you control the clutter in your sewing room.
Creative Spaces Blog Hop Participants
Mondays
Tuesdays
Wednesdays
- Kate Colleran of Seams Like a Dream
- Kris Poor of Poor House Quilt Designs
- Jessica Caldwell of Desert Bloom Quilting
Thursdays
Fridays
Saturdays
Sundays
Christa Quilts 
I like the use of command hooks for the larger rulers. My daughter and I live together and both of us quilt. We need to organize our rulers because there is no need for both of us to have the same rulers except for the most basic ones. We have bought rulers when we didn’t need to!
These are terrific ! Thank you for sharing !
This is a picture of what I made and use .. Perfect.
I used to keep my rulers, etc. in a drawer but the one I wanted was always on the bottom. A hassle to find or get. I know have a pegboard with rulers and scissors hanging just above my cutting table. Works out beautifully for us … Would send a picture but have no idea how to attach it.
Hello everyone again,
I thought about the beg board… and use the command strips on the board… that way you can move them around when you need the extra space. …Also frame in the board as to make it a little more attractive to the room.
I keep my rulers in the slotted board on a shelf in my sewing room but it is full so I am thinking about peg boards or command hooks. Thanks for the great ideas. I appreciated each and every post for this blog hop!
Command hooks for the rulers is a great idea! I’m going to see if I can hang them from the underside of my cutting table near the edge and away from my plastic drawer units. Will add those to my odds and ends shopping list!
Peg board is such a great tool for a quilter to use. I also have the small and the long ruler holder. I keep the under 4.5″ up front in the drawer so they are handy to get and don’t get lost.
I do the same thing! I have several Command hooks within easy reach of my cutting table to keep my most-used rulers handy. Plus I use them to hang my favorite roller cutter and protective glove in the same area. Keeps me from misplacing them all the time!
Another good use is to hang pressing cloths near my ironing board. I machine-sew a buttonhole in the corner of each cloth and slip them on the hook. Works great!
Thanks for your decluttering idea! Put in box for 6 months is super plan!! (wonder if my Hubby would do this with his things too..Hmmm…giggle)
Hello everyone,
Another thought… now this one I do. I needed space to store all my fabric. I didn’t want it to get full of dust either … since I am slow at the moment getting things done.
I went to Walmart.com and went to their storage toats with with drawers… organized me a group of them that stack and then put them in my room… added it high enough that I could get an old door that I had that would fit over it…This became my cutting table… I took and bought the largest cutting mats and fasten them down to the door… and wala… they don’t move or slip…I labeled the drawer with my projects…and colors etc…. they even have a stackable that will hold all my thread and etcs…. The extra toats that I have I have stored them down under my quilting frame. I love my cutting table… Just some final thoughts for all…
“Great minds think alike” is what I say! I bought one of those wooden slotted boards but it took up too much space on my cutting board. I keep the rulers I use the most hanging from Command hooks on the wall above my cutting table. My smaller, specialty rulers are in a Sterlite drawer that I stack with others to organize my other supplies!
Like the idea of the rulers hanging where you can see… but I saw an idea the other day where someone took a peg board… and cut it to fit a wall around her cutting area… painted it white and got white peg hooks and hung her rulers on the board and labeled above where each was to hang. Just a thought..It is decorative and organized… I am going to do something like that soon.
I’m still working on how to manage clutter in my sewing space. I store my small rulers in a lidded plastic container. The larger rulers are laying on my sewing/cutting table or standing up in the closet. I have seen some nice ideas that I’m considering for the large rulers.
Hooks are great but you could put a peg board on the side of each cabinet and then you would have lots of holes for rulers.