It seems that it happens every January. It's a new year. Everyone's into making resolutions, choosing their word(s)
for the year, cleaning out the old and making room for the new. Blogs and YouTube are full of organizational videos.
Last year, I vowed to complete a stack of quilts. All UFOs. Some needed to be quilted and some just needed binding attached. I can say that I did wrap some of those up succesfully. Finding time to sew for yourself can be difficult when you run a business of sewing / quilting for others. Some projects still remain, but I count it as a resolution met...if only partially.
I started a Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quiltalong at the end of
last year. #RhododendronTrail I do this every year, it
seems, and then after a couple clues, I give up.
I keep the pattern clues thinking that I may get “around to it” but
always find an excuse to fall out completely.
I don’t have the right colors.
There are too many pieces. It’s
tax time and I really want to get the books done. Or there’s a new class I am trying to
develop. The latter two excuses always
win out.
This year, I am making a valiant effort to clean out and clean up my sewing studio. It seems there are scraps of fabric and projects left unfinished every where. Bonnie's quilt is helping empty some bins. At the same time, my sorting and getting things put away is refilling my scraps. I may have to revisit her older challenges!
I've been following a challenge by Just Get It Done Quilts. Karen
Brown has some good tips and reminders that I “just need to get it done!” View her Declutter Challenge here:
https://youtu.be/7U8537FQMpI
Day seven was all about threads. Boy, could I relate! Karen
talks about threads that have been around in our cupboards forever. Threads
that we've inherited and threads that we have no idea where they came from.
I have this tub of threads that I've been meaning to go
through and toss out all the strays. And this seems to be the opportunity to do
just that. I figured if I turn this into a blog post it might inspire me /
shame me by making it public to finally go through and sort out the things that
just don't belong and I'm never going to use.
I'll bet you have a tub or a drawer just like this one!
First, that zipper doesn't belong. I have another tub for those. And 70 cents? How long have I had that??!
THE HIT LIST
Most of these I am sure came from my Grandmother's collection or I have had since I first began sewing. Either way...it's too long!
- I spy a Ben Franklin price sticker...gone! Yes, the store AND the thread!
- Empty spools. wooden spools...well maybe for a decorative jar of antiquities!
- Girl Scout patches that never got sewn on my daughters GS vest. How did those get there? Good intentions, I guess.
- Unmarked foam spools that probably came with a long ago used up or discarded sewing kit.
Yes, unfortunately, many of these soldiers ended up in the bin. The box will be re-purposed and re-labeled.
Did I inspire you to do the same?
