A HUGE Change

 In the ongoing tidying of the quilting room, I have made a small change that has provided maximum impact. The action detailed here has yielded a couple of positives, actually.

For about 10 years now, I have had my grandmother's sewing kit sitting next to my sewing table. I rarely need to get into the kit for anything, but lately when I've needed more specific thread color, I've checked the vast thread supply in her kit. 

Click here to see the kit opened up; click here to see more detailed pics of the contents.

Lately, whenever I touch Grandma's kit, a piece of veneer peels off. It's been loose, but now whatever glue was under there is completely gone, and the veneer is coming off in large strips. Not wanting to cause any further damage, I selected what I considered to be the most treasured items from Grandma's kit to store elsewhere. Then I and put her kit away until I figure out how to go about repairs. And yes, those pieces of veneer were saved for the eventual repair.

This brings me to benefit #1: with her kit out of the way, I have opened up some space in my quilting room. I will try really hard not to fill that space with new piles of "stuff." 

Let me show you how I am dealing with the treasures I removed from Grandma's sewing kit.This is benefit #2 - displays as opposed to dusty piles. Another benefit of cleaning the sewing room is that I now have tidy, clean spaces for display purposes! Who'd have ever thought that was a possibility?!!?

For years, I've had a refurbished dresser behind Sharon's sewing table. And for years, the dresser top has been nothing more than a catch-all. I kid you not - there has been the unfinished parts of a tote bag on that dresser top gathering dust for about 4 years. The depth of the dust on this project was staggering; I'm still sneezing. 

This is a before/after composite of the dresser. Stored here are myriad craft items for anything NOT related to quilting.

No more dusty mess atop this dresser! Now, this dresser top is all spiffed up with these apothecary jars full of Grandma's goodies.

I intend to write at least one more post about the benefits of cleaning my quilting room. I am not yet ready to show anyone the top of my cutting table, but scrap management is ongoing. I won't ever get it 100% done, but I am making progress.

Happy Monday, Dear Friends, and Happy Quilting!