Say Yes To The Hex, Part Two - Staying Organized

One thing that I learned quickly when playing with hex's is that if you aren't careful (like me) you will end up with hex's and foundation paper pieces everywhere Like me). I work on my hex's in bed, which is situated right beneath a ceiling fan. I set myself up for disaster, don't I?
I had to come up with a way to keep everything together. I got sick of crawling all over the bed and floor to pick up stray paper.
Here is what I came up with for the paper:

As you can see, I skewered my hex papers. As I cut out each page of papers, I take the time to punch a small hole in the center and then push them right onto a skewer. I use a very small hole punch that I had left over from my scrapbooking days, which makes for a tighter fit so the papers don't slide back and forth on the skewer, but I would think that a regular sized hole punch would work just fine.
The skewer fits rather nicely into the open weave of my cheap, Dollar Store basket which also holds my scissors, thread, pincushion, templates and other odds and ends. I admit to cleaning out my basket before taking this picture because it had everything but the kitchen sink in it!
For every size hex I cut out of paper, I make a corresponding template, with the 1/4" allowance added, out of chipboard. This way I can just trace the template onto my fabric and have the perfect seam allowance every time. I hate to "wing it", I'm so far from being a "wing it" person. Ask anyone.
My other organizer that I've been using is made by June Tailor. I really don't know if these are made anymore because my Mom gave me this one at least 10 years ago.

This is a cutting mat on top of a wooden box with several compartments. The mat slides into a slot at the top.
Here is a messy picture of what it looks like inside (I forgot to take a full view picture after I organized it, but it looks better now, I promise!) The second picture is of one space after it was organized with some 1 1/2" hex's ready to use.


So that's what keeps me organized so far. I would love to hear from some fellow hex-lovers about how you stay organized!
Stay tuned for more hex updates in the future. I'm currently working on a placemat using 1/2 inch hex's. This is going to take awhile!
Always,
Kelly