Sorting someone's' stash

Several stores in Canada are selling the Cherrywood Challenge. None of the stores are close enough for me to drop in, so I must have it shipped. I contacted Stitch by Stitch yesterday, and it's on its way to the shop. That's OK if I have to wait, as I have other things to keep me occupied. I see that Cotton Harvest in Seaforth already has it in stock. 

I got a notice that my Trendtex Challenge was shipped yesterday. 

The striped binding fabric was popular many years ago. I bought lots because I wanted to make binding for all those flannel quilts. I hope you find some!

I was back at the meeting for the morning, and all the kits were cut. I helped out the customers in attendance. Chatting with them, seeing what's happening in their shops, and discussing how we can help them is always fun. I left early as I had to get DH to his first physio appointment. 

All went well with that, although they told him he was going to be in a lot of pain later in the evening, so thankfully, he still has a couple of the strong painkillers left. 

While I was away, a delivery took place at my house. 

Someone I've known for a long time and who was active in many of my classes and sewing groups is no longer quilting. So, she was looking for a home for the remainder of her stuff. I volunteered to take it. I know—should I have done that? It's not like I need more stuff! So, this pile of tubs, bags, and boxes awaited me when I got home. 

The remainder of someone's stash

I decided to tackle it right after we got back to the house. She had loads of Christmas fabric, and I knew someone who could use it to make pillowcases for Comfy Cases. I sent her a text, and YES, she wanted it. So that got sorted out. Murphy helped, of course. Can you spot her? I think she was mostly there, hoping I'd give her part of my snack! 

The sorting process

And all of this is filled with Christmas fabric. 

THREE tubs of Christmas fabric

It'll sit in the living room until the new owner can pick it up. 

I sorted through the patterns and recycled whatever looked like a photocopy—yes, some of that happened back in the day. There aren't many patterns, but  I'm unsure what to do with them, as I don't want them. I might take them to my upcoming (December) quilt retreat, and if no one wants them, I'll take them to the thrift store. 

But oh my -- I got a chuckle when I opened up this bag! It was an exchange that I ran MANY years ago. We exchanged 5" strips of BRIGHT fabrics. And all the strips are still intact in their bags! I think this is the SECOND one from that group that came back to me, plus I have my own. I have done one project with these strips, but I can easily cut them into 2½" strips and make something with them or find a pattern for 5" squares. For the moment, I put it in the tubs that I'm keeping. When I say I'm keeping, this stuff will be used in Project Linus quilts, so it's going in that area, NOT my stash. 

Strips from the 5" strip exchange

I am sure missing Diane to keep me on track for sewing stuff up! She could have had loads of fun with this little bundle. 

There was a huge pile of batting—some smaller pieces, some larger, and a small roll. It was all measured and tagged and went into the closet, where it'll be used for community project quilts. 

Batting for community project quilts

And here's another project that came back—not to haunt me, but that I got a good laugh from. I'm sure there are a few of you who will remember this quilt. I know I made it, but I don't think it's quilted. And YES—we exchanged black-and-white strips as well. I recognize MANY of the fabrics in these blocks. 

The black/white quilt

There are thirty-six of each of the two blocks in a box. 

There are also LOTS of bits to make more blocks. The blocks are 6" finished, so 120 blocks are required to make a nice-sized lap quilt. I'm sure there are enough bits in the box to make the extra blocks, so I'll work on this one. I put it in my retreat box. It would work very well as an ender and leader project—ONLY if I could get to actually piecing a quilt!

The bits to sew more blocks

Some of the red centers are cut, but I'm not sure how many. I found the fabric for the centers (it was marked), and I'll keep it with the box of bits. It can be used for the backing or binding. 

The fabric for the centers

Several quilt tops with backings went into the community projects pile—or they will when they get downstairs. Several other large pieces will work for backing. And there was a lot of neutral fabric. Do you remember that basket that got emptied when I gave the corduroy away? The neutrals have a new purpose. That will help enormously with the community project quilts, and I'll probably use some for myself. 

I'll bring those tubs downstairs later today, one at a time, and empty them. It'll have to go if I can't find a home for something!

There were four containers of thread. There are only three pictured here. 

Three containers of thread

I dumped them on the cutting table and sorted out all the white and black thread. I have a container for each of those two colors, and they got put there. 

Sorting out the neutrals

Then I sorted the threads by color and added some to my little drawer unit, but it soon got full, so the remainder of the thread went in this container. It's all nice and neat. I wonder how long it'll stay like that? I may rejig my little drawer unit so I can put all the colors together, and this container can hold some of the weirder stuff that is in my second drawer unit. 

The tub of thread is now sorted

These are the other bits of thread that weren't shown, and I had forgotten about them, so I'll deal with those this morning. 

More threads to sort

It's amazing how much thread one ends up with! Some of these spools are brand new, and there are MULTIPLES of the same color. This is why I like to keep my thread sorted by type and color, so when I go "shopping" at my house, I know exactly what I have. So yes, I will have to resort to those small drawers so everything is together. But first, I'll remove the embroidery and quilting thread and then go back and see what's left. Most of these are 50-weight cotton or polyester. 

When I finished the initial sorting, I had three tubs of Christmas fabric that will be donated and three tubs of stuff I will keep. When I take those downstairs, I'll sort through them in more detail. If I spot more exciting things, I'll share them with you! 

There is ONE tub of things that I don't want, but I think I might be able to find a home for it. If there is anything that I can't find a home for, I'll post it here. 

Thankfully, there wasn't a huge amount of stuff to go through, and it only took an hour or so to sort. Trust me, I'm getting good at this! I should hire myself out by the hour! My stuff is already sorted, but it would take days to deal with. This is an excellent example of being responsible and taking charge of what we own. If we are NOT using it, instead of leaving it for our kids to deal with, we should deal with it NOW!!! 

NO—I will not do this on a regular basis, but I knew this person well, and I wanted to do her a favor. I also knew that I would be able to use or donate most of what was in the tubs. Please do not wait to let your children deal with that. As I've said before, they have enough issues on their plates with these new norms in our society; they do not need to be saddled with our junk!

On that happy note, I'm out of here. I'm going to the gym this morning, not for a spin class, as there isn't one on Friday. But I keep telling myself that I need to get there to work out—I need more strength training and stretching. Since I won't do it at home, I'm going to the gym! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!