16 January, 2014

Controlling The Ruler Rebellion

 I have an ample-sized drawer in my sewing room cutting table in which I keep all my rulers. Unfortunately, the contents of which are more often than not... unruly! Every time I want a find a straight edge or a square ruler I constantly have to shift the contents of the drawer, digging through the layers to find the ruler that I need. All of my specialty rulers are also kept in that drawer and, for some reason, they continually migrate to the top making the search for one ruler all the more difficult. Enough was enough! I removed every one of the specialty rulers and went down to the workshop in search of a handful of small nails on which to hang them on the wall in the stash closet. This brilliant idea of mine was met with resistance, Mr. Goodneedle didn't share my vision, he wasn't in favor of making swiss cheese out of the sheetrock; he said he'd make me a ruler board instead and we could attach them to that. Yesterday was installation day.
One board wasn't large enough, I needed two... with room for more rulers.
Here they both are in the closet, this is a huge improvement over the mess I had in that drawer.


Detail shot, he added small dowel "pegs" to the board for hanging and kindly drilled holes in the rulers that had no holes. Now there's a place for everything... and everything in its place just like Mom used to say! No more fighting to find what I need in the "heap", exerting control in the sewing room is a good thing. Oh, and a side note: removing the contents of the drawer was enlightening; I found duplicate rulers! Oh, my!
Life is Good!

19 comments:

Elita@Busy Needle Quilting said...

Yay!! Kudos to you for cleaning out the drawer. Kudos to Mr G for being so clever with a corral for the rulers (must figure out how to do that for myself). Could you please explain the process for drilling through rulers without breaking them? Would be handy to know round here too. :-)

http://www.busyneedle.ch

quiltkeemosabe said...

Glad to see that space (although small) for future rulers that might become absolutely necessary! Good job!

KaHolly said...

My goodness, you have a lot of rulers! No wonder you needed to come up with such a clever way to store them, yet keep them handy!! Good job. I only have 4!

Unknown said...

Mr. Goodneedle had a great idea!

Beth said...

It almost looks like vintage art! I may 'borrow' this idea for my rulers that don't have a slot on the ruler holder. Tell Mr Goodneedle he did GOOD!

AnnieO said...

It is very arty! You are lucky the Mr had a vision. And a drill!

45th Parallel Quilter said...

Ironic! DH just hung a piece of pegboard that I had gotten (free) on a wall in my sewing room. I found the metal "pegs" at the hardware store and now all my rulers are hanging neatly on that wall. Really like Mr. G's idea ... he did a good job. Our husband's must be related ... all it takes for me to get a long awaited project done is to go to the workshop and look around for a hammer and nails ... he's on it like a duck on a Junebug at the thought of me near a wall with a hammer! LOL

Janet O. said...

Them's a heap 'o rulers!! : )
What a lovely solution to the clutter and chaos. How wonderful to have a truly "handy man" about the house.
Things are so very ordered and usable now. Doesn't that feel good?

MARCIE said...

Wow, you had wall space! I love it! Someone should design fabric like that!

Paula, the quilter said...

Wall space in my sewing room is at a premium so I have a pegboard hung on the wall over my cutting area where I hang the larger rulers and the ones I use the most. The smaller rulers and such are in a shoebox. ;)

Gari in AL said...

I'm like several others, very little wall space. I bought file folders that are closed on the sides and am slowly getting my rulers organized that way. The straight edged ones are in slots on the cutting table but the specialty ones will be in the file cabinet. Did you mark each ruler space (draw around the ruler) so you know where it goes back? I know shops that do that with tools.

Unknown said...

Very nice! I took the Command Hooks, and hung all my Rulers on the back of my sewing room door.

NanaNor's said...

Hi there, What a great organizational idea-and so attractive too. My hubby made me ruler holders(2)years ago but when we moved here I lost my sewing table. Once we move and hubby makes my new table, I'll have a place for the holders. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs, Noreen

Karen Newman Fridy said...

Very cool! Your studio is an inspiration! (Can I borrow Mr. Goodneedle?) :)

jude's page said...

what a great idea, and looks good too!

straythreads said...

very nice with the frame!! mine are all on the wall behind the door into the sewing room

cityquilter grace said...

wow i am impressed....with a bit of tweaking i may be able to use this idea....thanks mrs g!

Millie said...

All my rulers hang in designated spots in my studio, and it is MUCH easier to find what I need that way.

Carrie P. said...

great idea!