Slow and steady!!

I will post the information on the textile recycler when I have the specifics. I have two potential contacts, and once I firm up, I'll share. That might be an incentive to go through the remaining three blue bags of scraps. 

Something profound is happening to me, and I'm so excited. But it's not really exciting, it doesn't involve anything exciting, and most people would say that I've become a very boring person. 

I have found the BEAUTY of downtime! I have a few classes to finish off the summer, but I booked myself off for August and a significantly reduced schedule in July and September. June was relatively quiet. I'm NOT running around trying to fill that time. Instead, I booked that time for ME!!! 

Do you know what? I'm learning so much about myself because I have time for ME!!! The intent was to finish up some decluttering and just enjoy life. Now, I'm not out of the woods because my enjoyment of life is (self) restricted to being in Studio B and listening to audiobooks, but that defines enjoying life for me at this point in time. And I'll confess that I've become a bit obsessed!!

Despite passing that Swiffer multiple times a week, look what I discovered this morning!

Where does all the dust and lint come from?

I cannot imagine a sewing room with carpet. Not only would I be inhaling all the fabric fumes, but the dust bunnies? I'd be coughing and choking! Not everyone has the luxury of a hard surface, but I wouldn't be without it! We have ZERO carpets in our house. It's the first thing we do when we move - if there's carpet, it's gone! 

Then I serged up those pet mats, and I've set them aside. Finishing off the threads is a great thing to do on a Zoom call, which will be tomorrow since we have a Virtual Retreat. 

The pet mats are almost complete

Once I was finished in that area, I unplugged the serger, brought up the foot pedal, and put it in the basket for the accessories. I know—I'm totally obsessed—but this gets the foot pedal off the floor, and it takes two seconds to plug it in. Everything is right there!

The secondary work tables - clear!

I need to make a dust cover for that machine! The other machine in the background is my personal sewing machine, and it has a nice dust cover that I made. Three half-square triangles on the ironing board need to be pressed. 

I can't tell you how exciting it is to have all those table surfaces clear. Yes, Mount Projects is in the room, and plenty more projects waiting in the various closets and storage tubs. But I've become so disciplined at working on what is out that I've shocked myself. I am ENJOYING this entire process. 

I used to "love" working in total chaos. I told myself I thrive in a messy space, but I've learned. I am a Virgo so that probably helps me love what I've done. 

So here's what I love about the new space and how I'm working: 

• The mess is controlled to ONE area—Mount Projects—with the intent that it won't get that way again once it's clear. I need to work on that. 
• All my machines that I want or need to work on, have a work space so they are easy to access. 
• Everything has a home, so putting things away is a snap. If it doesn't have a home, then it needs to go! Fortunately, I have a lot of space, but I am at capacity and have some openings on shelves that will NEVER be filled! 
• Working on one project (more or less) at a time allows me to see progress. Yes, I'm still decluttering, sorting, and trimming HSTs, but I'm only working on one main project. 
• The floor is clear, so it's easy to pass the Swiffer. 
• I have no deadlines at the moment, and that makes me very happy. 
• I have a good set of noise-canceling headphones, so I can buzz around the house and not miss a part of my audiobook. 
• Slow and steady is key! There is no need to rush—quilting is my hobby while I'm in downtime!
• I don't care about perfection. I'm enjoying making stuff to the best of my abilities and resources. 
• Lastly, I'm not looking to fill that downtime. I'm happy to putter alone all day with some breaks here and there. But I don't need to work on the latest sew-along. Trust me, I get emails daily, as I'm sure you do, with invitations to join the newest sew-along. Why would I do that when I have perfectly good and AMAZING projects to work on right now? I also will NOT be influenced by what others are sewing!  
• I will NOT let M deal with my disaster. It's coming along nicely, and because I'm dealing with the emotions of letting go right now, it's going to be so much easier when I really need to let go. 

WOW -- who knew that was coming today. But honestly, I've never felt better about my situation!

We all know there is a Studio B, but there's also a Studio U, and it hasn't been used in a while. It became a bit of a dumping ground for some of my samples, so yesterday, I was up there dealing with it. 

Stuff that I need to put away today

While this may look bad, it's actually not. Many HSTs need to be put into the appropriate bag according to size. Some of that stuff needs to go in the closet, and I'm sure I can have that all tidied up within an hour. Remember—if things have a home, putting them away is easy!!! I got a bit lax!

Then I did something I've wanted to do for a long time - sorted my samples. This pile is everything that is NOT a quilt - cushion covers, journal covers, etc. I'll sort through them further and pull out what I always use as a sample and then what could be let go. The question will be --- how do I get rid of the stuff I no longer need? 

Non-quilt samples

Then I sorted the small quilts—one pile is all my Trend-Tex challenges. I think I counted 15, but I might have to count again. The other pile is all my wall hangings, and I need to sort through them, pick out those that I use as samples, and then decide what to do with the rest. There's a pile behind with table runners. 

My small wall hangings

I now have a home for them, so that's exciting and I'll share that with you another day. That'll free up several tables in that space, so I could go up there and work. The shades are drawn now, but it's a glorious space to work. The only issue is I can't Zoom from there and if I'm quilting a quilt, I don't want to be way up there. But on the days when I'm just puttering for myself? I could get a lot done in an excellent space. It's a complete studio with an ironing board, cutting table, and workspace! All that's missing is a project to work on and ME!

Speaking of quilting, I finished a customer quilt, and the next one is loaded on the long arm. It's all trimmed! 

Customer quilt - DONE

Then it was back to trimming HSTs. I finished the second pile that I had pressed the other day, leaving one more stack. That's great progress!!!

More HSTs trimmed! 

I've trimmed some of the ones leftover from the dust cover I'm making, and I've been contemplating what to do with them. I think I've come up with an idea, and I might just make that my next project—it's something that I could use right now! 

The leftovers from the dust cover

I'm so obsessed that when I passed the Swiffer in the serger area, I put the chair on the table and cleaned off the dust. I noticed that one leg was missing a felt pad, so I dug the felt pads out (readily available in the storage closet), and that is now done. The old rushed me might have left it for another day. 

The chair got a new felt pad

Throughout the day, the cutting table had stuff on it, and then it didn't, and this is how it looks this morning. 

The cutting table is super inviting!

The few things on it are what I need to cut for the dust cover and the remaining groups of HSTs. Do you know how exciting it is to go downstairs and see all this wide open space? It boggles my mind and I think I'm having trouble sleeping because I want to be in that space sewing! 

The center panel of the dust cover is together. It's a trade-off between random and planned!! Now I can add the sides, get it quilted, and finish it off. I'm practically giddy about getting to choose something else from Mount Projects, but I'll wait until this is complete before I even touch a thing on that table. Patience! 

The center panel of the dust cover

And look at that Sweet Lexi -- what the heck is she doing? It looks like she is in the corner and being punished for something, but nope -- she just likes to sit against that wall. She's a leaner! 

Mom - just hanging out!

I had a massage yesterday, and for the first time, I wanted to cry out in pain—serious pain. I've been making an effort, but not enough. My shoulders, my legs, my upper back—everything is tight, and it hurts! So, more stretching is needed. 

I'm trying to get my slow, methodical way out to the garden to weed, and I attacked a small area last night. I'll be back out tonight to finish that area, and then I need to get some mulch, so once the weeds are gone, the mulch can go in. Slow and steady!

On that note, I'm out of here to enjoy my S L O W day. Honestly, I can't believe how amazing it is. I know it won't last beyond the summer, but that's OK—having almost three months of quiet downtime will allow me to get my space organized, and hopefully, when it does get busy, I'll have learned new habits, and it won't be so bad!!

 Remember to keep plugging away at those drawers! HEY --- DH commented last night on how much nicer it was to use the spices with the organized spice drawer, and I'm so in awe of the organized utensil drawer. Both of those took little time, but the result is AMAZING. And the rest of the house can be the same!!!!

Here's the information for the Virtual Retreat: 

Saturday, June 29 - starts at 6 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89816483795?pwd=Mjc3M3pvVmZPdjdsQzlHS3Zhck52dz09

Meeting ID: 898 1648 3795
Passcode: 248667

Sunday, June 30 - starts at Noon

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82983517671?pwd=ODdsa1FJenQwdFNaQWFTNGd4bEhPZz09

Meeting ID: 829 8351 7671
Passcode: 117636

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!