Another Before and After

A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. This "before and after" shot is no exception. What makes the greatest difference here? Shelf dividers! They're worth every penny, (I ordered them through Amazon) no more fabric stack avalanches! So, what led to this insane decision to drop everything and make some improvements in the organizational department of the stash closet?  I have been binge watching The Home Edit on Netflix; enough said, if you're a fan you already understand, if you're not, I can highly recommend it as a lifestyle that will set you up for nothing but success! Once you get your supplies identified, labeled and organized you're off and running, it's easy to maintain a system that's tidy and efficient. After I straightened up the stacks (I was already a step ahead there as I had grouped my fabrics into color families years ago, no re-doing there) I still had to dig in boxes and bins lurking elsewhere in the closet to uncover everything that was hiding, and bring it all into the light of day. I was ruthless. I only kept necessary sewing and quilting supplies and what I know that I will use and/or finish at some point. 

The next step was ordering bins to contain categorized fabric collections. We were gone on Saturday and when we returned home these boxes, piled on the front porch, looked like someone was moving out! I'm quick to admit that I have always loved The Container Store, it's long been my mother ship. 

According to the mapped out plan I had drawn up for the closet these are what I thought I needed. The clear bins help to immediately recognize the contents, the labels further point out the specific items within. No more recycled corrugated cardboard project boxes or tote bags for me, I've found that they only become a dumping receptacle where projects go to die.

Almost three days of sorting, culling, stacking and stowing were ahead of me after that.

And, as of noontime today, here is the final result. I couldn't be happier, I know where everything is, can lay my finger on it in a quick second, and will thoroughly enjoy using what's right in front of my eyes. It's liberating! As current projects are completed I can now clean out its respective bin and relabel it for the next! Speaking of completing projects, I can, and will,  finally reveal the BIG sewing secret that I have been guarding; stay tuned for that in my next post, it's all good.

Oh, one more thing, Happy Flag Day!

Life is Good!

"It's In The Laundry Room..."

A frequent response at our house, to almost any question that began with "where is...?", was: "in the laundry room". Over the years our laundry room became a repository for all manner of things. Well, as so often happens, the contents of this room reached a tipping point at the same time I reached a breaking point; enough was enough! I pulled everything out  of the room (except the washer and the dryer!) and emptied the drawers and cabinets, nothing was spared. Planters, vases, batteries, plant food, rags-- you name it; if it wasn't in some way related to laundry it wasn't staying anymore! Oh, and then there were the light bulbs. Yes, lightbulbs! Don't even get me started on the subject of light bulbs. Take a look at all of the light bulbs that were hiding in the laundry room, stashed and shoved everywhere in there. There was a time when buying and replacing a light bulb was easy, they were incandescent. You simply went to the store and bought one; whatever wattage you needed, that was the only differentiating feature. Then came the CFLs. Okay, they used less energy and they took a while to come to full illuminating strength, but other than that, (once you learned the wattage conversion) it was okay. The biggest problem I had with the CFLs was the variance in color produced, sometimes it was a white-white and sometimes a yellow-white but I learned. We have an abundance of recessed cans requiring flood lights in our ceilings, in straight lines, and if one flood was replaced it almost had to be the same color or it looked wrong. We spent a lot of time replacing entire rows of flood lights to rectify that situation.

And now, here we are again: gone are the CFLs and in come the LEDs. I don't like the light they throw off, to me it's simply too glaring and harsh. It seems too industrial and not at all home-y.  I understand, once again, the energy savings... but, please. Mr. Goodneedle replaced the flourescent tubes in his workshop with LEDs a few weeks ago. He can do microsurgery down there now. 😲 Yeah, light bulbs. I don't know when this light bulb dilemma will conclude but they won't be residing any longer in the laundry room! See, I said "don't get me started on the subject of light bulbs".

As the cabinets were emptied, bags were filled. Vases and planters to Goodwill. Outdated cleaning products, chemicals and junk went to the trash. See this? Spray starch from when we lived overseas, I had two brand-new cans of this-- the problem with it is that we moved from Europe in June of 1999! I am doubting that eighteen+ year-old spray starch would still be good. Or what it might deposit on fabric. Gone. Why had I kept it?

Before too long the laundry room became not only neat, but well-organized and welcoming; stepping inside was a joy and doing laundry was no longer met with dread. All of that accumulated junk had been weighing on me. I had wanted, for some time, to have a pull-down, wall-mounted, drying rack for items that don't go into the dryer. I had saved a few photos on Pinterest and mentioned this idea to Mr. Goodneedle, presenting him with my visual aids.

He set to work and went one better. This rack is spacious, easy to lower and raise and leaves plenty of clearance below when entering or exiting through the laundry room door when it's in use.

I couldn't be happier with the solutions encountered from simply cleaning out laundry room central. Now, as for those stashed and amassed light bulbs; we might have to go hunting for those next time!

💡

Life is Good!

Forced Expulsion and Other Happenings

Bear with me through this post, it has lots of photos and a weekend update too. This was my the state of my sewing room on Friday. Being banished from the studio has resulted in a change of pace and tidier, better organized spaces in other parts of the house; not necessarily a bad thing! I have to admit, just looking at the plastic drapes, floor cloths and chaos in my favorite room gives me a case of the jitters. But, the face lift will be worth it. Freshly painted wall surfaces, ceiling and trim will revitalize the appearance of the room and recharge my creative energy when I return.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

So, late last week I tackled dresser drawers and my closet. The closet was a MAJOR undertaking. It was in dire need of cleaning out and organizing! I did not take a before photo. Trust me, it was bad. I organized from the top down. Shelves first, and then hanging items. At long last all of the wire coat hangers (how do the multiply exponentially?) are gone, replaced by cleaner and quieter plastic hangers.

I used the one year rule for identifying items to be donated. Some items had taken up valuable closet space for ten to fifteen times that! Of course, keepsake items have been retained. But, even with those were carefully scrutinized first. I was ruthless.

This was the final result. I thought I was done. Neat, tidy, organized. I felt like my clothes could breathe again, I know I was breathing easier having this task behind me, it had weighed me down for a very long time. Speaking of weight though, if only those closet rods could talk!

The donation bags ready to go. You can't tell relative scale here, these are 42 gallon bags. I "borrowed" the bags from my husband's workshop. They are "contractor grade" plastic, 3 mil thick, they're very strong and sturdy. It's a good thing because I filled them and they were HEAVY.  I am thankful now that those closet rods never buckled, in all truthfulness they've had the largest load lifted from them. Wow.

About the time I was finishing up the closet I received a desperate phone call from our daughter. She needed some help with Lucy Ann, our son-in-law was traveling and she and Mason were on their way to the hospital, he was in need of an emergency appendectomy! As luck would have it, our son was in the car at the time, near the Capital City. Uncle Kyle to the rescue. He picked her up and brought her to us.

Here's Mason after his successful surgery. It was a textbook procedure and he was on his way home (yes, HOME!) two hours later. His Daddy arrived back in town just before Mason went into surgery. The surgery, performed laparoscopically, plus an otherwise healthy young boy combined to make this procedure, in essence, one of out-patient status. This seems almost unbelievable to me. Twenty six years ago his own mother was in the hospital for three days when she had the same surgery; and she didn't get souvenir photos of her procedure to bring home! Mason not only has photos but stories to share too!

Meanwhile, back at Chez Goodneedle, little Miss Lucy Ann had a fun sleepover with Nana and Paw Paw and staged a perfectly wonderful fashion show on Saturday, modeling her mother's old prom dresses! These sparkly sequined dresses, a pair of rhinestone-studded sandals and her imagination were all she needed for a great morning of dress-up fun. We returned her to her family later in the day, she was eager to get home and check on her big brother. 

Yesterday after church I showed off my now clean closet to my son and daughter-in-law. (Yes, I lead a very exciting life!) My daughter-in-law, after complimenting me on getting rid of  all those horrible wire coat hangers,  graciously informed me that I was using the wrong style hangers for my slacks. She pointed out how this style (above) has the vertical posts to stabilize them for the weight of slacks on the bottom bar. I had no idea! A few substitutions were easily made and I was in complete plastic coat hanger compliance! Am I the only one who didn't know this?

All is well.

And back in the Capital City: Legos and a lap tray. Let the healing begin.

Life is Good!

Buried and Busy

It had gotten to the point that I couldn't pull open the file drawer in the studio anymore, no matter if I'd had my Wheaties for breakfast or not! It was time, long past time, for cleaning out the files. Do you ever have looming jobs that seem to be so much greater in scope, in your imagination, than they actually turn out to be? I do; this was one of those tasks which seemed too big to tackle... almost! I started yesterday morning, one file at a time. The waste basket became my best friend. Pounds upon pounds of paper were carried to the trash can outside. Quilt sketches from the 1980's, quilt judging critique forms and quilt show programs that were also decades old; did I need to keep any of these? NO! This afternoon I can open and close the file drawer with ease, it's one fluid movement again, with room for more files if the need arises. A job successfully completed, such as this one, always makes we wonder why I waited all this time to begin. A huge sense of accomplishment is my reward.

Digging out from all that paper was cause for a celebration. For me, getting organized is like throwing a party; so, how better to commemorate the occasion than by getting busy making pencil cases for the grands. This was fun, I trimmed each with their individual favorite colors and filled them with a few treats to celebrate the end of school; who knows what treasures and treats they may come to hold over time. Another pattern byannie.com.; this one is a free download. And to think, I was once afraid of zippers! 😉 What needs organizing at your house? Attack it head on, you'll be happy that you did!

Life is Good!

Lots of Things are Simmering...

There's lots going on these days at Chez Goodneedle, you might have wondered since I have been so quiet. This movie clip stars a piece of vintage (1940's) Pyrex Flameware doing what it's designed to do. The clean out of my dear MIL's home continues. I used to watch her use these small stove-top dishes (this is one of a set of three) all the time and I always loved them. I have brought them home with me and will keep them in frequent use. Years ago there was a handle that clipped on for moving these off the burner, I have no idea what ever happened to that, but it is long gone now.

This is us doing the happy dance. After only three and a half weeks her home is now under contract. The afore-mentioned clean out has now ratcheted up into a faster, more accelerated pace, it's all good.

If you remember an earlier post about the Big Hex Flimsy I am determined to make a play mat/quilt with a pom pom edge as I found pictured. I ordered this trim, but it only came in natural. Since this quilt is to offer visual stimulation for a little one there simply has to be color added. I looked up many websites for 'how to's' on dyeing pom pom trim.  To be honest, they weren't encouraging. And still, undaunted, this idea of mine was still simmering on the back burner of my brain. Suspecting that my trim was all cotton, I cut off one of the pom poms and dropped it into my cup of tea. It grabbed the color! YES!! (A word of caution: as long as the trim is cotton (or natural fibers) the dyeing will work just fine; acrylics, polyesters and blends won't pick up the dye or yield satisfactory results.)

A quick stop at Joann's with this purchase and I was on my way home. 

I followed the directions on the dye packet to. the. letter. Simmer, simmer... stir, stir. Wash. Rinse.

And dry! Perfection!!

The quilting was fast and easy, few starts and stops, one arc led to the next and then the next; continuous line quilting makes for a happy quilter. No simmering here... this was done at the speed of a rapid boil!

Life is Good!

Up next: "On The Edge"

Cleaning Up, Cleaning Out

So, the dust has stopped flying long enough on the home front for me to actually clean and mop before round number two begins. Ceiling work in our master bedroom resumes tomorrow. This is the state of our bedroom today, it is echo-ey in there! I took this picture so that I can remember what it looks like clean. The floor refinishing will be round number three. That won't happen for awhile, the moisture level of the wood needs to be dry enough. You can see in the right foreground of this photo how the boards are lifting up where they were flooded. Until that happens, all the furniture has been relocated and, albeit temporarily, peace reigns at home-- at least for today.

Meanwhile, we are in the process of cleaning up and cleaning out my in-law's home, this is a monumental undertaking; on many levels. Their home is large, it is filled with things: personal belongings, household items and a multitude of memories. Yesterday I spent the day in their bedroom, cleaning the cherry paneling with orange oil, it shines like it did 42+ years ago when my father-in-law lovingly cut each section and placed each board. I remember working on this house alongside my brand-new husband at that time, we would go out to "the house" whenever we had free time back then and help where we could. Yesterday I cleaned baseboards and bathrooms and windowsills, all the time thinking about how this home needs another family to fill it, it needs happy voices and love and laughter to echo within these walls once again. That time will come eventually. And so, the work continues for now; my husband's siblings are arriving to help. Cleaning up, cleaning out; my current "to do" list, one room at a time, both here and at home!

Life is Good!