Clearing up the little jobs - one at a time

Slow and steady! Therapeutic! I hope others feel that because after the Virtual Retreat, I think a "few" people have been organizing their sewing spaces. I heard people having been refolding their fabrics so they fit nicely on the shelves, scraps have been pitched, patterns are being reevaluated, and a whole lot more. 

Doesn't it feel good? I swear, the more that I slow down and actually accomplish those niggly little tasks, the more I want to do them and actually get something done instead of shoving it to the side. 

Let's take a look at what is happening. Here's my dust cover for the Momento (my large digital cutter). 

Dust cover for my Momento

All those half-square triangles! I threw it on the long arm and quilted the ends in a diagonal plaid, and the center was a different pattern. Let's just say that I need some lessons on that, as the scale of the pattern at either end is NOT the same. OK -- let's dig out some fabric and do some experimenting. But overall, I like it, and I'm OK with the quilting not being of the same scale. If I didn't tell you, you wouldn't notice. 

The ends are also quilted. I quilted up a small piece of fabric and then cut the ends from that. The seams inside were covered with binding and hand-stitched on one side, which I hadn't done in a long time. Then I machine-stitched the binding to the bottom.  And it's DONE! 

That allowed me to move on to the next project, which is the quilt backing. I didn't do anything on it yesterday as I was chatting, and I knew I needed some concentration. Perhaps later this afternoon after Monday sewing. YES—even though it's a holiday in Canada, we always sew! 

And I was able to complete more stuff off that table. I'm almost finished, and I should be able to clear it today. Then, I can put out the puzzle as a reward. 

I won this small wall hanging at a guild show twenty years ago, and one of the yo-yos burst open. It's been like that for years. It was time to fix it. 

A yo-yo burst on my wall hanging

I had to remove the yo-yo from the piece, and the outer edges were turned in, which I guess is normal. It's been so long since I made a yo-yo that I can't remember. Anyway, the wall hanging is back to normal, and no one would know that one of them popped a seam. 

The wall hanging is complete!

I had to "fix" two other samples with the glue gun—oops, I forgot to take a picture of those. One has wristwatch faces on it, one came loose, and the other had some ribbons that needed to be put back in place. OK, I'll get pictures to share with you tomorrow. But both of those had been sitting for a long time in need of repair and now they are done. 

Then, back to pressing those scraps. A pile of blue and green still needed to be processed. 

The blue scraps are pressed

I'm happy to report that the blue is done. OH -- that red dot is my yo-yo! I had to dig out a new shoe box for the blue as my current box is full. The triangles go in another place, and the stuff on the left is polyester, which does not go in my scrap boxes. 

That leaves the pile of green and there's a story behind the green, which I'll share tomorrow. I'm going to work on the green as I really need to get it done and I will. I am NOT leaving this out to become clutter. I value my peace of mind too much to do that. 

I didn't take a picture of the cutting table or the other table, as there are a few things that need to be put away, and I was getting tired last night. That's the first thing to do this morning—and it'll only take a few minutes! 

Yesterday was our "out of the box" class and the topic was TEA, T, or TEE. This group might be small, but the creativity is HUGE! It inspired me to dig out my tea sets. This is one of them. Can you guess how big they are? 

My mini tea set

Here's a ruler to give you some scale. I found them on the farm and have ZERO history of them. I can't even ask because my Mom will want them. How sad is that?  But I don't think they belonged to us. 

Those are tiny tea cups

As I was sharing and chatting, I decided to display these instead of keeping them in a plastic bag. While walking, I remembered a small wood cabinet I had—I think I bought it at Michael's in the doll section. The big question was, did I still have it? There was a good chance it ended up in a giveaway box. 

Imagine my delight when I came home, went into the office, looked at the bookcase, and saw the little shelf. What's hilarious is that this cabinet has been on the shelf for years! I don't notice it daily, but subconsciously, I must have because I knew exactly where to look! 

My little cabinet is still there

The scale might be a bit off, but it's close enough. So I now need to paint that cabinet and fix up some hooks and ledges, and I'll be set to add it to my tea-themed display area. I need paint! I had donated all my paints, and I'm not sure I kept any, so I must check that out. 

Here's something I noticed when I walked Lexi past the church. All of the cars are reversed into their parking spots. Was that something they learned because it's chaos to reverse out, or were they told? I always reverse park into my driveway and have for years. It's WAY safer than driving in. 

Every car is reverse-parked

I looked at the angry skies as I walked, but there was no rain! 

Angry-looking skies but no rain

And after MANY KMs (well over 1000), meaning these are way past their due date, it's time to say goodbye to these shoes. I love them - they are a Nike Trail shoe and held up very well. Do you see the toes? No breaking at all in the front toe area. I think I might get another pair of these as they are slim but still provide great comfort and room for my wide feet. The only thing I do NOT like about them is they are slippery on ceramic when wet. They are very dangerous, but I can handle that fault since they are outdoor shoes. 

Bye-bye shoes!

Today, I get to start breaking in a new pair of shoes that will be used when I return to Spain. Yep—I'm going back, and I need shoes! I'll break those out later this morning. I'm on my way to the gym for a spin class. Yes, even with the holiday, they kept the morning classes. 

And that's a wrap for today. Just so much exciting stuff happening by finishing off those small jobs that have been there for years. I am really starting to feel on top of things, which hasn't been the case for a long time, and it feels so good. But I needed to slow down before that could happen. 

Keep plugging away at that fabric stash, those drawers, the closet, or whatever area you have picked. You will NOT regret it, and soon, you'll be moving on to the next area. It is TIME-CONSUMING, but can you NOT afford to do this? Don't just think of it as gaining more physical space or having things look neat, but the boost to my MENTAL HEALTH is stunning!! I'm so glad this has become a way of life! 

On that happy note, have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!