Cleaning Up, Clearing Out...

Since I've begun cross stitching again, it became vitally apparent that I needed a better system of organization for the needed supplies. The way it stood, as of a few days ago, is that the needed items were lurking in various and assorted zip-loc bags and storage bins, stashed here, there and everywhere. My project bags were hanging on the back of a doorknob filled to the gills with dissimilar things. I needed to get with it and straighten out my mess! How could I ever be efficient working within such chaos? I couldn't! This cabinet in the sewing room revealed more clutter. Clearly, the upper shelves serve as a repository for batting scraps, but the lower shelf, which is 24" deep, had become a pit for discarded, misplaced and abandoned oddments! Getting things in order required a deep breath and coming to grips with reality. I was motivated! It took a few hours and some firm resolve, but I was able to get the designated "needle work" space organized for its new purpose. I disposed of a LOT, re-homed a few things, and FOUND more than a few treasures that I'd thought were lost forever! It was time well spent.

However, in true If You Give A Mouse A Cookie fashion, one thing such as this leads to another...

... and so it goes. I found a few things that needed filing from out of that cabinet; which led to another, even larger, clean out! Still riding the high from the first successful purge, it was time to bring in the shredder and a large, industrial strength trash bag to tackle the stuffed-to-overflowing file drawer. You wouldn't believe the amount of useless, outdated and extraneous paperwork that was lurking in there. I could BARELY (no exaggeration) lift this bag off the floor when I was done.  

The results speak for themselves, whew! Now I know what I have, where it is, and can put my finger on whatever I'm looking for in a nanosecond. Did all of this take up a huge amount of valuable time? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Now, to tackle those batting scraps and pieces; I've had, in the back of my mind for some time, the idea to stitch them up into usable quilt sizes so that they're ready to go. There's no time like the present; but, I'm going to allow myself a breather first, it's on next week's "to do" list!  One step at a time. What's weighing you down? A simple reorganization might be just the thing. 

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!

Reading Rainbow

I don't have a wide angle lens or I would show you these three bookshelves horizontally, end to end, displaying the rainbow effect of my just-arranged quilting books. I had been in a quandary for some time as to how to shelve all of these. By subject matter? By author? Quite a while ago the ever-brilliant Quiltdivajulie suggested that I shelve them by binding color, I took her up on her idea at long last and absolutely love the way my shelves now look! This makes me smile. What little thing can you do today to change your view and improve your outlook? Look around... you'd be surprised at what a big difference a little change can make.

Life is Good!

 

Cleaning Up My Act

I decided earlier this year to get my home (and my life, by extension) decluttered and better organized. Clutching my guide book I dove in, head first. I, truly, have not looked back. Has it been easy? No. Has it been worth it? Absolutely! Am I done? No! This "project" of mine is ongoing; and, I daresay, it may continue forever. That's okay with me, and it's all a good thing. So far the studio and the closet therein have been the biggest tasks, but they've all been manageable because I never deluded myself into thinking that they had to be tackled, and finished, all at once. What I did back in January, and what I continue to do, is break down areas into smaller segments. Last month I cleaned out the catch-all (vacuum cleaner/bird seed/craft supply/outdoor toys) closet and threw away bags and bags of junk. The stark difference between then and now (left) is liberating and energy-giving. It's true... the more you do the more you want to and can do! My only advice, to avoid burn out (and subsequent non-action) is to pace yourself. This morning I cleaned out the office supply drawer in my studio desk. First, I removed everything, placing it in full view. Not only is it good to clean tidy things up, but it's also good to take inventory; I didn't even know there were four brand new Sharpies buried in this drawer!

Then, I separated the items into like groups and weeded out the things that didn't belong.
"Which of these things is not like the other" echoed through my brain...

Then, I neatly loaded the drawer and placed it back into the desk. I didn't throw away very much at all, there was very little junk living in the drawer it was simply messy and disorganized. Total time: 20 minutes! Do you want to clean up your act too? What's holding you back? One room, or closet, or drawer at a time; you can do it; believe me! In the next few weeks I hope to clean out the pantry, that's a BIG job...

...hold me accountable, I can take it.
Life is Good!

TGCDP*, The Final Installment

 
With the fabric all folded and stacked, (and the walls and trim drying from their facelift) I began going through the mounds piles mountains of other "stuff" that were exposed, laid bare, outside of the closet. First, I separated out all of the UFO's. Here they are, for identification purposes: 

I have decided to keep only nine, that decision was based on two things: 1.) space (and the fact that I have nine bins) and 2.) interest. The allotted space (and number of bins) is a finite thing, the interest level is much more changeable. I approached the interest question like this: "Is this something that I really want, and truly desire, to spend time finishing?" If there was any question at all it simply didn't make the cut to the final nine. Life is too short to spend hours, days and weeks on anything that isn't compelling; there's too many other quilts that I want and need to stitch!  And so, I am officially out of the closet, my work there is  done; I reloaded the shelves today with a place for everything and innumerable trips to the car (loading the trunk with Goodwill and Guild donations) as well as to the trash can.  I am both exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.

While I was going through boxes, I unearthed a few relics, an eight pointed star (below) made in 1992 using the Magic Star-8 Ruler (another buried treasure!) by Mace Motif. The neat thing about this is that all the star edges are finished, the points are stitched and then turned making this star ready to applique onto any background. I have always loved playing with stripes, and fussy cutting, the reunion with this tool was a happy one! Stay tuned for a fun and funky (more up to date, fabric-wise) galaxy from here...oh, yeah; that is, after those other aforementioned nine are done! I almost forgot.

And one more time, to recap... just because I can: 

* The Great Closet Documentation Project

Tomorrow? Piles of paperwork, all those lists, patterns, reference guides and drawings
that have floated to the surface during the excavation; a quilter's work is never done.

Life is Good!