The Hard Work of Purging

It is so easy to close the closet door, turn one's back on the mess within, and focus on the pretty project waiting at the sewing machine. Instead of pulling boxes out of the closet and dealing with decades of accumulations - which I have done for the last 32+ years - I have had an uncanny ability to put it out of my mind - totally. 

Reality has come slamming into me recently - maybe this happens with age - and I'm slowly accepting the fact that I need to downsize this considerable collection of fabric, scraps, notions, keepsakes, memories and ephemera. 

Remodeled master; still needs decor, ceiling fan, but mostly done.

The master bedroom remodel we did earlier this summer eventually morphed into combining two previously separate rooms - the long arm room and the sewing room. In order for that to happen, a goodly amount of "excess" needed to go. Like vamoose. Out and away from here. The dreaded "P" word - PURGE.

Would you use a quilt as a throw over that chair??

How much can one keep for "just-in-case-I-might-need-it" purposes? No doubt I way surpassed my limit. As I've dealt with so much of this stuff lately, I've realized that it's my attachment to it all that I've had to reckon with. I attach too much significance to items, yet I have them boxed up and stored away. If I truly cherish these things, shouldn't I be displaying them or using them?

Lest you think I am a hoarder, I don't think so. It seems that over the last 10 years or so, as friends and relatives have cleared out their sewing rooms, I have been on the receiving end of so much. I couldn't say no! The reality of the situation became clear this summer. My need to consolidate two sewing rooms into one, forced me to face facts.

Former long arm room; now a guest room; still need bedside lamps, wall decor.

So I give you all this explanation to illustrate what seems to me an enormous undertaking. I just don't do well with purging my stuff. I seem to be doing things in "rounds." 

First round - the easy stuff. Old clothes; really outdated fabric; items that I simply know I will never need or use.  

Second round - sharing Grandma's stuff with cousins and nieces. That was fun, seeing them take an interest in these things I've stored for so long. I still have a lot of her things left, but a good amount was dispersed into the loving hands of relatives.

Third round - big stuff going to Goodwill and offered in a yard sale. It was a good feeling to get rid of my giant desk, and gobs of random pieces.

This went to Goodwill; it served me well, but was too big to stay.

Maybe I am now in my fourth round. It seems it's a round of endless sorting. I am not a good, systematic organizer. *waaah*

My efforts, however, are paying off. The sewing room is mostly in usable condition, with some further purging, organizing and sorting still needing to be done. The hallway linen closet has been completely emptied and the contents have been divided into Keep/Donate piles. The donate pile is bigger than the keep pile - a big WIN! The linen closet will be repurposed; I will share more on that later. 

One final room awaits my attention - the remaining guest room. It became the dumping ground through all this business, and the randomness of things jumbled up in this room is overwhelming. I will say, though, that a very large stack of EMPTY plastic storage tubs fills one corner. Empty bins are a definite indicator of progress.

Purging is hard for me, but I do feel a sense of accomplishment for tackling this task. A weight feels lifted as if the burden of all the excess was too much to bear. I get a good feeling as I drive away from Goodwill after leaving a donation. I liked seeing someone buy an item in my garage sale, knowing I no longer had to own it, and that someone had a genuine need for it. I must remind myself of this as I tackle the remaining room. 

Lotsa' words today, Peeps, and no quilt pictures. Maybe you can zoom in on those bedroom shots - plenty of quilts in both rooms!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Preferred Method of Organizing Projects

I'll continue the saga of cleaning the sewing room today with a quick look at how I organize my projects. These can be future, as yet-to-be-started quilts as well as UFOs. I also confess to having tubs which contain remnants of finished quilts. 

For example, if I made a quilt using American Jane fabric, then all the AJ fabric that was left is still in that tub. My reasoning for this is that maybe I will at some point want to make another AJ quilt, and by keeping the remnants together, I am saving myself the trouble of pulling it all out of storage. (This is what I tell myself; perhaps I'm delusional.)

Under the far end of the cutting table.

You can clearly see that I have a tub devoted to Roman Holiday fabrics. Same sort of deal as the  American Jane. All the labels help me find what I want without having to pull the tubs out and open each one. Especially helpful for the tubs on the bottom.

Under the near end of the cutting table.

Note that I am not showing the top of the table. There's a reason for that, and I probably don't need to spell it out for you.

I have some major scrap-cutting in my future, plus all the pine tree green is spread out up there. 

So, my work continues....

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Daunting Task

It all began with a search in my sewing room for one particular fabric. If you recall, in my attempt to make progress on Lake Effect, I needed to make more hexies. I found the necessary fabrics and went to work making a few hundred more. 

However, one fabric in particular was missing from the collection and believing it was necessary to include it, I began a basic search of my sewing room.

Arrow points to fabric I am trying to find.

 

You know, searching comes in a couple of different forms. One is the basic glance through this or that tub, or in this or that little pile which usually results in finding the desired item. I did this type of searching for about three days. I'd look for awhile, then stop, moving on to other tasks. But my mind continued pondering possible places I could have put the piece of fabric. 

Because you know about me, my fabric stash and my penchant for keeping all scraps, I wouldn't have thrown it out, and I am sure I didn't use it for any other project.

So I returned, tackling previously unsearched places.

By the third or fourth day, I was driving myself crazy trying to find this fabric, and that is when the simple search ended up becoming so much more. I was becoming really agitated with the fruitlessness of my searching. 

Note the sprinkling of the dark print.

And so the next-level searching began. We are talking deep, dig-in-the-back-of-the cupboard  and pull-out-all-the-tubs stuff here, folks. I am finding things that have been buried for decades.

And no, I have not found the fabric I was looking for. 

 

However, all is not lost. I have accomplished something significant - my sewing room is getting some long-avoided attention. It both thrills me to be tackling this, but also overwhelms me to accept the reality and impossibility of beginning new projects alongside those that need finishing (UFOs). 

For proof that progress is being made, I will share this tub full of empty tubs. Formerly, all these contained miscellaneous items - fabric, projects, remnants from projects, etc. I consolidated huge amounts of items; in other words, I actually dealt with them. Instead of a temporary plastic tub for a home, I moved things to the real home - what a novel idea! Years of stop-gap measures have been corrected for the long-term solutions. 

I intend to explain with more depth a few of these in future posts.

And yes, I know, the truly long-term solutions involve FINISHING what I start!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Clean Table

While Sharon quilted on the Tin Lizzie  (see last post), I was determined to clean off my cutting table. And I did. I don't mind showing you the before and after photos of this long-overdue task.

This table is at least 6' long, and I have covered the far two-thirds of it with stacks and piles of stuff that need to be put away. The 20-30 inches of available cutting space is not nearly enough  room to be efficient with cutting and trimming. The far end of this table had reached critical mass. Here's another view of the same heaping mess.

The piles contain all manner of quilting detritus. Most of the disarray consists of the remnants of old projects. My tendency to be so gung-ho on starting the next new thing means that I don't properly deal with the scraps and leftovers of the last one. After a few months of this slovenly behavior, a cutting table becomes a chaotic scrap mountain.

Here are additional views of the lovely mess. There on top is the embroidery project I intended to work on while in Florida. I didn't make very much progress on that at all.

Add to all those leftovers, the random trial block, fun "experiment," blocks, recent purchases, rejected auditions, numerous WIPs, and random whatnot - the piles just continue to grow, becoming ever more daunting to me when I think about tackling the clean up task.

With Sharon in the next room quilting, I set aside this time to face the music. The table must be cleared.

My first move was to bring up two empty storage tubs from the basement. I'd like to think that these will just be temporary holding places, but the jury is still out on that determination. It's hasn't been a full week since the cleaning; we will have to wait and see how temporary this is.

The day's efforts were very satisfying. I did make good progress, and feel like I have gained control of this particular situation, at least. (I have plenty of other situations needing attention, but I'm currently ignoring those.)

The two tubs are full. My next step here ought to be to move these fabrics into the color-sorted tubs which already exist in my closet. That requires a bit of space and lifting, so I can see it happening, but perhaps not immediately. 

The cross-stitch project is there on top, and hidden under it is another one I uncovered. I have so many UFOs and WIPs. My focus is all over the place.

And feast your eyes on all this cleared space! Whoa! Down there at the far end is the very next scrap-busting work I plan to do. 

A closer view will show you small stacks of strips and squares. I also have some leftover pieced blocks - orphan blocks - and a small bin of scraps that need to be cut down and added to the stacks I've got started. The fabric-covered tin can is my waste basket, and seeing it full is a good sign that I'm throwing things out. 

I have worked on whittling down that tub of scraps this week, and slowly but surely I am making my way to the bottom of the tub.

This final picture shows a bit of progress. I like to cut 5" squares (charm squares), 2.5" squares and strips, 2" squares and strips, and 1.5" squares and strips. There are some odd additional squares, and I have storage for all of these tucked into a corner and under my table. All will be put in the proper box or bin eventually. The tub still looks pretty full, but honest, I have cut a lot. 

So, the once annual cleaning of the table has taken place. I would like to think I will work harder at keeping it tidy, but I am not making any promises.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Cleaning, Storage, and Scrap Management

 I have spent a good portion of the last three days attempting to clean off my cutting table. The sad fact of the matter is that I have an 8-foot table, and only about 18 inches of available space for cutting. 

Bad. Very bad.

I took this picture after doing quite a bit of tidying and it still looks pretty much untouched.

The available area clean enough for me to cut is just outside the photo on the lower left side. That entire long end has been stacked and packed with fabric, past projects, and miscellaneous accumulations for absolutely ages. I can't even fathom a guess as to how long it's been since I last saw the actual table surface buried under all this stuff. And the picture above is after I've already cleared quite a bit.

Of course, as is typical when attacking a big job leads, it naturally leads to attacking others. All the fabric piled up there had to be put somewhere. So first I dealt with fat quarters. I have for a long time kept most of my fat quarters stored in a dresser, originally in color order. In recent years, the order had become a bit chaotic, and I had all the colors mixed up and scraps mixed in, as well. So that needed to be addressed.

So, over the next day or two, I will delve a little deeper into how I've been managing this cleaning effort. It involves organizing the contents of the dresser below, as well as a lot of managing of excessive scraps. 

I will illustrate the work that awaits me: here's the picture above with some added mark-ups.

The blue arrow shows you the very next thing I will do - cut these scraps into usable squares or strips. The yellow circle indicates a tub of scraps waiting for the same - cutting into squares or strips. The green arrow indicates a stack of patterns that need to be filed. The orange arrow indicates a stack of fabric - larger cuts - that need to be put away.

A side note: in that yellow circle you will see two fabrics on top - orange and lavender. To illustrate how long it takes for me to deal with scraps, those are from 2011 when our youngest was a high school senior; those fabrics are from the costumes she wore in the school musical. Yeah, that is a fair example of my inability to deal with scraps. I will further explain, these have NOT been ON the table; I cleared out an area under the table (how one thing leads to another, you know), and those scraps were in a tub with some random fat quarters. Makes no sense, but that is a pretty fair representation of my lack of organizational skills.

Wanna' come help?? 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

The Answer to All My Organizing Issues

Dear daughter Emma got me a Christmas gift that I swear is going to be a game-changer for organizing my sewing space.

I put this together yesterday and moved it upstairs. I will begin the process of finding all that "sparks joy," use this cart to organize it, and VOILA! a sleek and streamlined space will result.

Or not.

I do think this will be a nice little addition to the chaos, though.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Organizing Mountains of Papers

I am a slob, in case anyone wonders. Some seamstresses need totally neat and tidy spaces. Not me. I can function just fine with piles and stacks all around me. Additionally, I have very little skill with organizing. I try, but I cannot for the life of me stay ahead of the clutter.

Here's proof:

The picture above was taken about 2 weeks ago. I was auditioning fabrics for blockheads, and the cutting table was an absolute fright of a mess. I have placed 4 arrows on the picture to indicate places where I had loose papers cluttering an area that was already cluttered. I am a hopeless collector of freebies from the internet and clippings from magazines. I was inundated with all these papers, and no system of keeping them organized.

I am happy to say things have changed, to a great extent, though. I bought a large box of page protectors and found a stack of empty 3-ring binders (we were both teachers and, consequently, have these in bulk quantities).  I moved to a side table and in a rare bout of systematic organizing, I tamed my massive quatities of papers.

Over the course of a few days, look at what I accomplished! Amazing! This is so unlike me!

All the items that I filed are held in plastic page protectors. I separated all into what I considered logical categories. I think I will find that this newly organized material will be easy to navigate - to find what I want when I want it. No wasting of time digging all over the place. (I have that tendency.) I am very pleased with this system! It is so out of character for me, and I am feeling quite smug at having done it!

And my table did get cleaned off, too. Cutting space on both ends has been reclaimed, and (almost) all that clutter has been put away. Whew. Now back to stitching.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Bit of Straightening Up

My Kaffe fabrics (including Phillip Jacobs, Martha Negly, et.al. of the Westminster Fabrics family) were quite a difficult mess from all my rooting around of late. The situation warranted some attention, so I broke down and forced myself to staighten it all up. I wondered if I couldn't get it all into bins and tubs that I could actually put lids on and close.

This was the spilling-over tub that I believe I showed you last week sometime. It was the better of the 2 tubs to photograph. The other tub was in much worse condition, as there were smaller cuts as well as "remains" - you know, I'd cut some off and threw the remains back in the tub and then rooted and then, well, if you quilt, you know the rest, don't you?? It's not pretty.

So here are my much more organized bins.

I decided that I liked the fabrics placed this way in the tubs because then I can see all the fabrics. I won't be rooting through these bins, digging for something on the bottom! This is the way you see fabrics displayed at quilt shows. Makes sense, then, to do it this way at home.

The big tub on the bottom contains all my larger cuts of KF fabrics. Most from 2 yards up to 5 yards. They are stacked, but since the tub is no long filled-to-brimming, I have space to move it around without creating a mess.

The cuts that measured a yard or less filled the smaller tubs, and they are the ones I stacked like the vendors do. And look! All the lids snap on! No more spilling over!

 

I think I will like this newly organized stash. It will help me make decisions for the new year's plans and goals. I am sure one or two Kaffe quilts will be on my list.

 

Have you made new year's plans for quilting?

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!