I finished organizing and packing away my needlework in the bottom of my TV cabinet. You can see the before picture here. I did not purchase any boxes or storage containers for this project. I recommend that if you do something similar you look around your house to find storage containers that aren't being fully utilized and use those instead of buying expensive new containers. Some possibilities include shoe boxes, plastic containers (tupperware), individual project storage containers (we all buy way too many), cardboard roll from paper towels, etc. For items like a shoebox or the cardboard inside a paper towel roll you can cover the item in fabric, wrapping paper, contact paper (shelf paper), etc. to make it more attractive. For this project I repurposed two seagrass lidded storage bins that I bought from pottery barn about 4 years ago. The blue plastic bin from the original photograph is now being used to hold my bed linens. The clear plastic containers you see on the side are a bunch of thread organizers. I am using them for their original purpose (organizing embroidery thread) and using them to store silk, beads, buttons, and spools. At the very back you can just barely see an old plastic project box I'm using to store all my paper cross stitch patterns.
The small seagrass basket holds all of my quilting materials including fabric, rulers, patterns (I do minature quilts with paper piecing) thread, paper and needles.
The large seagrass basket holds all hand embroidery and needlework projects currently in progress. As these items are typically kitted up and held in hoops or PVC frames the large bin worked better for my needs.
I don't yet have all of my projects organized and in their proper places, but as I continue to go through my house and spring clean, I now have a place to put things when I find them. The only project in progress that will not fit into this space is the Cluny Tapestry I call "godzilla", but more on that later.
My next needlework spring cleaning is to go through all of my projects in process and figure out what is needed to complete each one. My goal is to complete at least half of my project in progress before I buy anything new.
