What doesn't have a home is CLUTTER

Oh my - what a HUGE can of worms I opened when I decided to clean up some space in the scrapbook area.

I'm not sure that I'm going to get much more done as I now have other things that need to get done and will become urgent if I don't attend to them soon! BUT what I did learn is that over the years, I've created a HUGE mess. I'm kind of shocked. I knew it was bad, but I didn't think it was this bad.

Those bags of stuff are filled with UFOs, new projects, and CLUTTER. The clutter is the stuff that I bought but never put away. The bags are also filled with things that I didn't know what to do with, so it got shoved into a container. That creates CLUTTER anywhere in your house. If something does NOT have a home, it's clutter.

I did make progress, although neither the UFO tub nor the tub with new projects is filled yet. And I confess that I have a few extra bags of stuff that had to go upstairs during the renovations. So I'm slowly bringing them down, so everything is in one place.

My goal is to make sure that the tub with the garment making stuff is full, as well as the UFO tub and the new projects tub. Then I'll be happy to leave the rest of the bags - for the moment. Like I said, I have some stuff that will become urgent if I don't attend to it NOW. I'll just have to find a place to "hide" whatever bags are left. Oh - don't worry - I'll find a spot for the stuff.

Here's what I found yesterday that's - well, let's just say that it should have been dealt with years ago.

This was a pile of random bits that I found in a tub. What the heck is all that stuff? I found some fabric that I had no idea what it was supposed to be for. It got filed in the appropriate fabric basket.

What is all this stuff?

I found a cute little autumn project that I still want to make it, so I did set that aside. Actually, it's machine applique, but you can also make it with machine embroidery so I'll find that design and buy it. I found a couple of small projects that we had done at a retreat - bits of a project that went into the current basket of projects.

Do you see what I see? Yep - a stash of orange zippers. Why?? No idea. They went into the bag with the orange project, and now I have options for orange zippers. But you see where I'm going with this? No notes, just stuff. Imagine if someone other than myself saw this mess? Where would they start? I'm so dead serious about this - it's a HUGE issue. It's crucial that the things for a project are contained within a project container, whether that be a box, a bag, or whatever. And the pattern - put the pattern with the project or notes.

This was a piece of fabric that I used to make a quilt for a customer. I must have screwed up on this because the quilt is long ago finished. What to do with it??? The names are of no use to me.

Embroidered names

I cut it up. I put the blue in the blue scrap bin, and I threw out the names. I know Katheleen would be gasping at this! But I don't want someone else's names in my journaling stuff. They are gone, and I'm good with that. And it feels good to finally deal with this stuff.

The embroidery sample is now in pieces

I found two more embroidered things. They can't be used in a quilt since there isn't a seam allowance on them. To be honest, I put them back in the pile of stuff to be sorted. I also found small samples of batting. When I was teaching batting, I had examples of all kinds of battings - washed and not washed. I haven't done that demo in years. The samples went into the batting scrap bag.

Batting samples and embroidered names

I did keep one sample of batting. That's the batting with scrim. I have a piece where the scrim (basically a piece of interfacing) didn't get adequately attached to the batting. It's an excellent way to show people what that scrim is.

Batting with scrim

I found a pattern for a cute little wallet. It needs an embroidery file. I'll see if I can find the embroidery file; otherwise, I might toss that pattern. What's the point, if I don't have the file that goes with it. I could always embroider something else, but it might be a project in the hoop. In which case, if I don't find the file, the pattern instructions are totally useless to me.

Pattern instructions

I found a small sample of machine stitching, and on the stabilizer on the back was my name and phone number. Why? No idea!!!  But you see where this is going - tons of stuff that doesn't have a home, and it's all CLUTTER.

A sample with my name and number?

There's the gaggle of zippers that I found. How many?? Looks like five or six. That's totally obscene. There was nothing in the container where all this was found that was orange and certainly no pattern or notes. 

A gaggle of orange zippers

About this point, I started to have a significant problem. There is DUST - a lot of dust. I don't usually have issues with allergies, but they kicked in big time, and my nose was running like a sieve and sneezing like crazy. I took an allergy pill, which seemed to calm it done somewhat, but it was an issue all day.

Well, we're on a roll - let's tackle this big orange container. Notice there are more embroidery samples. That was for my Row by Row Experience quilt with the license plates. That was done years ago.

Another tub of CLUTTER

Most of that tub was filled with BRAND NEW FABRIC that had never been added to the stash baskets. That's sad. I did go through all this, and I kept some out - I'll show you why in a few minutes, most of it got filed into the stash baskets, and there was a project or two that I found, and they got put in the tub of new projects. In a bag with the pattern!

New fabric to be filed away

I found a kit for this quilt, which I think was the first one I designed when I went to work at Northcott. It's in the Quilts of Valour pile so someone can make it up.

A kit for Quilts of Valour

I found three apron panels. Any takers on these??? Please don't ask for them so you can make them up and sell them. Ask for them because you're going to make them and gift them or donate them or use them yourself. There are three of them! E-mail me if you want one.

Apron panels

I found this collection of fabric. I remember buying it, and I was going to make a quilt - I can see the pattern in the far reaches of my brain. It was one that I taught at Hobby Horse, and I was going to make a second quilt. Why? No idea. BUT - this got set aside. It's going to be the colorway for one of my Quilt-Along quilts for next year. 

A collection of fabric

 I also found this collection of fabric. It was purchased - just because I liked it. I've decided that it's going to become a colorway for another Quilt-Along quilt for next year. Look at that - I don't even need to look for fabrics. I just need to settle on a pattern. I will add a WHITE to this.

Another collection of fabric

Then I found a jelly roll and some extra yardage. Why?? No idea. I did find a pattern book in the bag, but it didn't seem to go with this. It's probably something I saw in a store and said - "Oh, I don't need the pattern for that." For the moment, it's set out as I don't know where to put it. It could go with the precuts - that's two tubs of precuts that have no patterns assigned to them. Yes - I think that's the place for it.

A jelly roll and yardage

I found two packages of remnants that I purchased because they were pretty. What to do with these??? Well, if I added white - it would look awesome.  HEY - as I'm sitting here, I think that I still need to pull fabric for the Love Notes (Kimberbell) quilt. I'm going to use these two bundles. I'll find some other bits to add with it if I run short. I'll make it work. Yahoo!!!! I found a home for these two packages.

Two packages of remnants

Then I found this. There's fabric in there and thread, and an empty pattern bag. I'm pretty sure it was for a bag made with the fabric tubes. You know - the ones you make with batting. There's one place that I can check for the pattern. I don't think anything is cut. It was likely one of those situations where I started one bag, so why not make two. If that's the case, this fabric will go back into the stash.

A project box with no pattern

Isn't all that just mind-blowing???  Hey - I bet that most of you have some variation of the same situation at your house, so don't judge me! I'm not judging myself, I'm just dealing with it!!!

I was able to repurpose some of those pretty containers, so now the laundry baskets can go away, and I can use these instead. That's why I bought them. The orange bucket is now filled with current projects. Should anyone want a laundry basket, I've got a few I could give you.

The orange bucket filled with current projects

Actually, I emptied the retreat laundry basket. I have a new basket. I'll show you another day. I put all the stuff that was leftover from the retreat into the orange bucket (and added a few things) and into this one as well.

Another container of current projects

At least now, the stuff is not spilling onto the floor. It's all neatly contained. I'm happy.


And this is what the mess looks like at the moment.

The mess at the moment

I'm going to focus on filling the tub with new projects, and the UFO tub. I've got one more container for UFOs, and there's one with garment stuff. Then we'll have another look at this space and see how it looks. I'm a pretty good packer, and I bet I can get a lot squirreled away in those remaining tubs.

By getting rid of all that excess fabric, it makes a huge difference. So what I thought were bags and bags of UFOs and new projects, isn't really all that bad. It's doable, and should anything happen to me - well, it's going to be a lot easier for someone to sift through and find homes for the stuff. It's not nearly as organized as I would like yet, but I'm working on it. Thankfully, I realized this before it got even worse.

I did spend some time working on the disappearing nine-patch quilt. Oh boy - there are a ton of blocks to sew together. Don't forget that I have to twirl that seam on the back of each of them! Row by row - just take it row by row. But not before I had to fix this. It's now taking almost one hour to make each row, and I have a few LONG rows to deal with.

Oh - this needs to be fixed

Here's the status of the quilt. There are 14 rows sewn and 18 more to sew. Unfortunately, it's going to have to stay like this for this week as I have other stuff to work on. Well, I might get a couple of rows done today at the Virtual Retreat, but I have homework that needs to be worked on for next week. More paperwork for upcoming classes, and I NEED to put up the schedule for my online classes. And there's my presentation this coming week that I need to prep for. Oh, and the magazine quilt. And blog posts. You see - it's going to be a hectic week!!

The disappearing nine-patch

I delivered the Project Linus quilts and the Quilts of Valour quilts yesterday. Nineteen for Project Linus and five for Quilts of Valour. That was good to get those out of the house! Some of the quilts or quilt tops had been donated. I'd say that half of the fabric at least came from my stash, and there's a lot more where that came from.

Gosh - I even had time for a nap and some reading time! It's all good! I'm on the third book out of thirteen that I got from the library last week. I need to move through them as quick as I can, so I don't end up renewing them and renewing them. Well, I won't get 13 books read in three weeks, but I'm making an effort to get a few of them read as there are more that will be coming in two weeks.

Well - it's time to get ready for the Virtual Retreat today and tomorrow. If you get a chance, stop on by and say hello or get yourself organized and stay for a bit. Do some handwork or fire up your sewing machine. I hope to do a bit of both.



Here's the link for the Zoom call. Remember it starts at 9 AM and runs until 8 PM. EST.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86077887280?pwd=V2FoTkJvT3NpTDYrZHVqaWhFR1FEdz09 Meeting ID: 860 7788 7280 Passcode: 721457



The link for Sunday will be posted on the blog tomorrow morning.


Have a great day!!!!


Ciao!!!!