Thanks to a subscriber of our newsletter, Lynda of Clearwater, BC. She shares with us her solution on how she keeps herself organized while enjoying her love of needle working. If you have a tip to share with your fellow “Out of Chaos” seekers, get in touch with us.

Lynda’s Story

I’m an avid fan of needle working – knitting, sewing, crochet, quilting. I am also partially disabled and in constant pain from a broken back. I have a great many magazines and books, especially those for quilting. Even when I can’t be working on a quilt, I enjoy looking through the books and magazines.

My husband of 40 years and I are retired. Our children have left home, although they visit often and we babysit as often as they need us. Because I suffer from chronic pain, it is important that our home is well organized. There are some areas that are better than others when it comes to organization but I’ve come up with the perfect solution to my large library of quilting books and magazines.

I’ve created an index in an electronic document on the computer. I number each book then list the names of whatever patterns in that particular book or magazine appeal to me. At some date in the future when I want to make a certain pattern, I’ll go into the “Quilt Book Index document” in my computer, do a word search such as “log cabin” or “bear paw” or “nine patch”. The computer looks for those words in the document and shows me which magazines have that pattern that I’m searching for. It’s a fabulous thing for me. Before I created my index, it would take me too long to find what I was looking for. Often, the pain created by searching would be too much. It would be two days before I could even look at the magazine.

If you have a great idea to share with our readers or need help in getting organized, contact us through our website.

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