Do you swear to tell the whole truth?

 OK -- so I have a wee confession to make. Remember the pile of stuff in the middle of the floor in Studio B? The pile that I've been sorting through. The one that I'm almost finished with? Well, there's a wee bit more. Since I was in this frame of mind, I decided that I should be honest with myself and you and bring the remainder of the stuff that got stashed upstairs while we renovated. 

I did NOT take a picture - hey - confessions only need to go so far!! 

But I was busy as a beaver yesterday and this morning. I found a couple of EMPTY spots in the stash room, and I figured out creative ways to make most of what I had brought down disappear. No cardboard box packing was needed. 

This is what remains. I swear!!!

What's left to put away

Trust me - I'm ecstatic. This means that the floor in one of the upstairs bedrooms is now clear of my crap! There is a lot to deal with - well, UFOs to be finished at some point, but for the moment, it all has a home, and I'm not adding to the mess, and I'm working away at finishing them. I'm a happy camper. Today, my goal is to finish putting away what's left on the floor and clean up the cutting table. 

The cutting table

This shouldn't take too long, but hidden underneath that is a container filled with crap. That'll slow me down a bit. 

Stuff to deal with today

My goal is to get both Studios tidying up and everything put away to start the new year with a clear head and few distractions. I'm so close!

I thought you'd get a kick out of some of the stuff that I came across. I found this bundle of fabric - all set aside for a project. I think it was one of McKenna Ryan's wall hangings. Well, the pattern wasn't to be found. I also found some bits to another pattern that I was working on, and that got filed away in the right spot. Amazing how things get scattered. So all this fabric is now back in the appropriate fabric basket. 

Fabric that got filed back into the stash

Seriously???  More tractor fabric? This is mostly John Deere fabric, and OH MY - there's a whole pile of squares cut out. Well, I certainly do NOT need another tractor quilt. I put it all back in the bag, and this is going in the donation pile. Diane is looking for more kits to sew. Guess what? She'll be sewing the tractor quilt together. There are enough large pieces for the backing and binding. 

Tractor fabric

Then I found these three pieces. They are GORGEOUS. A solid pink and a green with that green/pink floral. I remember seeing a quilt made with it in some store. Didn't buy the pattern, because I'll remember how to make the quilt. HA - I don't even remember which store I bought the fabric from. These three pieces got shelved in the appropriate fabric baskets. Seriously??? This is a HUGE HUGE issue. Why couldn't I see this years ago??? It doesn't matter - I know now, and I've stopped making the mess worse. 

More fabric got put away

AHA -- a calendar from 2015. I guess it's not much use any longer. I did tuck in on a shelf - I know - I should have pitched it. I'll look through it later and check for anything that I want to keep as inspiration. 

A calendar from 2015

And how about this treasure? It's a tin box to put treasures in. Read what it says on the box! It's hilarious. I put it in the mixed media section of Studio B - I'm sure I'll find a good use for it there. 

Treasure box

On top of all that sorting and filing, I got two customer quilts done. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Second customer quilt - DONE

I need to trim them and get them ready for pickup. They are sitting on the cutting table, making it look worse than it is. 

I also found this memory pillow that I had made in honor of my grandparents' 70th wedding anniversary. The pink flowers are photo transferred  - I "cut" them from a table cloth that my grandma crocheted. I think the hanky belonged to my grandfather. I'll put it in a better place than the bottom of a project bag filled with odds and ends. 

Memory cushion cover

OK - so you are NOT allowed to judge me here. But I also found this cushion cover. It belonged to M and hung out in her room. She has a massive window seat in front of the massive window. Let's just say that the sun faded the fabric a wee bit. 

Faded cushion cover

And you can see that the back is also faded. So why did I hang onto it? I've no idea. But what can I do with it now? It went into the pet mat area. I'll fill it with scraps and zip it shut. A cat will be quite happy with it. 

So really, why did I keep this totally faded pillow cover? I do believe that M chose the fabrics and perhaps even sewed part of it. One of the few things she sewed. Well, it's time to let sentiments go. Take a picture and move on! 

The faded back of the cushion cover

Then I found this small doll quilt. Good grief - one of my previous dogs (certainly not the well behaved Lexi or Murphy) decided to chew the side out of this quilt. I had partially removed the binding so I could fix it. Fix it? How was I planning on doing that?  And it's a printed panel, so it's not precious, but I did hand quilt it!

A doll quilt that needs repair

Two ways to fix it - take all the binding off and cut off the part that was chewed away, trim the remainder borders to the same width and let it go. Oh - I could also just make that one border narrower than the rest, then I don't cut off my hand quilted stars. I could check to see if I have more of the same fabric and take the border off and add a new one. 

I put it in the current project pile (I know - I should NOT have done that). I'll figure it out and let you know what I decide. 

I loved the comments from yesterday. Some people went through this process years ago and are now sitting with a handful of projects they are carrying over to next year. That's going to be me in a "few" years. Trust me - I have every intention of getting this stuff done! 

Some people don't care what they leave behind. That's OK, but even having a company come in and deal with your stuff? They will be overwhelmed, and most stuff will go dirt cheap just to get rid of it. I love what I bought too much to let that happen to it. Plus, the time it would take for someone to go through and sort the stuff ready for a sale would negate any monies raised. But that's my thoughts. 

I know that many of you have been motivated and continue to be motivated as we work through the messes we've created. The thing to remember is that we are NOT in this alone. We each have our issues - why and how we created the mess. The big thing now is to deal with it - whatever process you have for that!!

On that note, I'm out of here. I'm motivated - the end of the year is fast approaching, and I want those two studios to be ready before the end of the year. I might even let a little of that motivation spill over into the office. 

Did you notice how easy it is for me to ignore the office and work on other stuff? Oh, yes - I'm very good at it. 

So set a timer and see what you can accomplish in 10-minutes? Don't worry - it's going to take a long time, but you're going to be much happier when you get it done!

Have a super day!!!  

Ciao!!!