Quilting... a dangerous activity

Just a few sharp items, ahem, waiting around to stick me.
Yep, even the pencils... I reached in to grab one, and stuck myself with the point.
Oy!

Quilting ain't for sissies. Look at those weapons! I haven't even mentioned how some people manage to sew right over their fingers with the sewing machine. (my grandmother did it with her treadle, so she gave the treadle to me) (I did it once when not paying attention) A day doesn't go by I don't stick myself with a pin or needle. I've snipped my finger with those wicked little snips. We won't talk about the rotary cutter.

The other day, I bravely faced the disaster area of a studio with hopes of sorting and putting supplies away.

this is the area of my cabinet that holds the bead collection.

I sorted them into seed beads, cylinders, natural stones, etc.

There are a lot of categories.

By the way, there are a lot of cute carriers for beads.
I'm a sucker for containers.

I taught beading on Fabric many times so there are also kits in here. But still... beads are small, so you know I've got quite a collection.
Well you ain't seen nothing yet.

Purchase after purchase I just piled in this cute little pink bin...

until I reached critical mass. Then I started to sort... and look what came out of the little pink bin...

I mean, this is testimony that you can go into a bead store for "just a look around" come out with a stash out of sight in your purse, and having spent a fortune!! Listen, they are shiny, and sparkly, and really fun to play with!
Anyway....

Some of these beauties defied sorting.

One of a kind, or too large, or difficult to squeeze into the containers that hold their kin.

Know what I mean?
You can have systems, and containers and best intentions to be neat and orderly but if the item defies you, well, what do you do??

And what if you container has reached critical mass and will no longer close? The sequin box SAYS it's full.
I know how small sequins are and think there's always room for one more, right?
What's a collector to do? There's only so much room in the studio and I'm not getting rid of anything.

Back to the sharp things, I was just thinking about them because I've been beading jewelry and trying to learn to do the brick stitch and getting repeatedly stuck by beading needles.

You gotta be tough to be an artist! What defies organization in your sewing room?