Someone else's UFO

Did you get a chance to watch that video on one woman's journey with her Mom and Swedish Death Cleaning? If you have been following my blog and you are NOT convinced that you need to be cleaning up your crap, then you need to watch this video. It's 22 minutes long and well worth watching. 

I cried at the end, not just because of what she said about the time wasted with her Mom but because it made me think of my situation. I would have loved conversing with my Mom about her stuff—where it came from, why she acquired it, etc. But the second we mentioned anything not in the apartment, she wanted the item to be brought in. My Mom is still alive, and we CANNOT have those conversations because she wants EVERYTHING we talk about. I've never lied to my Mom so much, and she forced me to do it! 

It became a constant battle, and we eventually just stopped mentioning things. What has happened is that she completely alienated my older brother, and I'm not fond of conversing with her either. This is a terrible thing to say, but when the conversations go downhill quickly, you don't want to continue going there. Maybe I need to go to therapy one day, or perhaps I should write out all the details to get them out of my head and then burn them. 

Enough of that --- PLEASE do yourself and your kids a favor and start clearing the crap. As the lady in the video said - you spend half of your life accumulating stuff and the other half getting rid of it! Most of us are in the second half of our life. STOP making EXCUSES why you need the GARBAGE!!!

In all fairness to many of you, I know you are working hard at making this happen. I get pictures and hear from people occasionally that they are working hard! And kudos to you for that. I know you are feeling better, lighter, and freer! If I can inspire people to start taking control, then that makes me happy. 

And so you know I'm putting my money where my mouth is, here's a snapshot of my kitchen. This is how it looks EVERY SINGLE DAY. The only thing out of place is that iron on the island as I debate what to do with it! But there's ZERO clutter, so guess what? It takes seconds to clean up! 

My uncluttered kitchen

There are a few extra things on the kitchen table at the moment. The stuff on the left will go out the door in the next couple of days. The EXIT Game is on the right-hand side, as is my iPad, which I was using. And there's DH's basket of medical stuff in the middle. I must find a prettier box to put that in! But this is how we are living in our kitchen. We have stuff, but there's no clutter. 

The kitchen table

And as a reminder, because I did this many years ago, here is a peek inside one of our cupboards. This used to be piled high with bowls that never got used. Now it's neat and tidy, mostly with bowls we never use! So when I do my next kitchen tidy-up, most of this will go. 

Mostly filled with bowls, we don't use

And here's another cupboard. Again, everything is neat, tidy, and easily accessible, but we barely use anything on the top and middle shelves, so technically, all those items could go! 

Another neat cupboard

Yes, the stuff on the counter (beside the fridge) all belongs to DH, and I wish we could find another spot for it. But you can't technically see it, so I'll live with it. It is our kitchen, after all, and we live here! And he uses all the stuff except for the fancy wine decanter (a gift that I'm guilted into keeping). 

After watching that video, I started looking at my house again; a lot is going out the door. Even the stuff that is sitting out - we don't use it or need it. It needs to go. There is NOTHING tucked away in boxes in the attic (NO), the garage (NO - that's just junk that needs to go), and not in the basement, which is all my craft stuff. We are in excellent shape, but I want to eliminate more! Will I miss any of it? Nope - I haven't missed anything I've given away over the last ten years. Not one thing. The only problem area is the boxes of crap that M left behind, and I hope we can deal with those in the near future. 

I took another load to the thrift store yesterday, and the next donation box is almost full. 

A trip to the thrift store

I wish I could explain the feeling (and freedom) I feel from getting rid of this stuff. It's hard at the beginning to let go of things, but once you do, nothing is sacred in the house—absolutely nothing! 

I even looked at some of my quilting knickknacks on the downstairs bookcase. Two of them are packed to go out the door. 

Quilt knickknacks

Getting rid of stuff in the basement will be the hardest for me, so I figured I had better start now. Eliminating anything that I no longer need or use or that is strictly decorative will help me let go when I need to tackle more challenging items like fabric. If anyone wants either of the above items, let me know—they are free to a good home. 

So, when I inherited the remains of that person's stash a couple of weeks ago, I found a couple of UFOs that would be great to finish and donate. There were two Christmas projects, which I have cleared with Project Linus. They just need to be completed. 

The first project I'm working on is cut out entirely and partially sewn. But when I looked at the pile of little bits, I didn't think there were enough to make 64 four patches. 

I will say that all the bits were very well labeled, and the pattern was included. I found this strip in the bag with the four-patch bits. 

A strip to make the four patches

Sure enough, as I was sewing four patches, I had enough bits for 60, but I needed 64. Hence, this became a UFO. I checked the bag of extra fabric. Yes, all the extra fabric was in a separate bag. This person was highly organized. Look what I found. 

A narrow strip of the missing fabric

OK -- so that's the missing fabric, but not the correct width. That's either a cutting mistake, or there wasn't enough fabric in the kit. I searched the extra fabric bag again and spotted this strip. 

AHA - another strip

So I made two more four-patches with the two bottom pieces. I took two pieces from the top strip and sewed them together. It was the correct width, although I had to trim it slightly. Then, making the bits for the remaining two four patches was easy. 

Piecing the scraps to make the four patches

And now I have 64 four-patches! That means I can move on to the next step. The quilt is not big or complicated, so let's hope I can complete it by December 1. 

64 four patches

And these two pieced four patches look perfectly fine! Who will even notice that when the quilt is complete? NO ONE!!!!! 

The pieced four patches

How often have you heard people say - you must sew your project on the same sewing machine or nothing will fit? That's a MYTH. If you understand the ¼" seam allowance and many people do NOT, you could sew on 100 different machines, and everything will fit. These seams were sewn on two different sewing machines, yet the square is precisely 2½". 

Exactly 2½" square

Why did it work for me? Many people buy a ¼" foot, expecting the foot to solve all their problems. And it will, but NOT UNTIL YOU TEST the foot. Do you need to move the needle to use the guide on the side? Should you keep your fabric a thread width inside the edge of the foot? What is the weight of the fabric (flannel versus thin cotton versus quilting cotton), and what about your thread weight? All of those things can affect the seam allowance. So be sure to test your seam allowances and MEASURE all the components as you go. Trust me, I did both, and everything worked fine! 

These days, people expect the manufacturer to solve all their problems. The manufacturers provide the tools; you need to figure out how to use them to suit your needs. Do not take anything for granted! Boy -- I sound pretty jaded this morning! But after hearing this for years, it gets old pretty quickly when it's NOT true. I've even sent my ¼" test to people, and they still come back and ask questions. When I asked if they did the test, they did NOT! Seriously? I gave it to them for a reason! 

At last, I got my new flip-flops. I went to the store THREE times before they were in. That was my mistake for not reading the email correctly, but that's OK—I didn't mind getting the steps. I can't wait to go to the gym to use them in the shower! 

New flip flops

Speaking of steps, I finished the Great Wall of China walk. It was 3,513.1 km and took me 287 days. It wasn't as interesting as some of The Conqueror walks as it was not mapped by Google (is that surprising?). So it was just another walk looking at the progression across the country but not seeing any details. 

The Great Wall of China is conquered!

Now, I get to pick another challenge, and I'm unsure which one I'll choose. I don't really want the medals, and I probably will not buy any more. I'll just get the annual medal and map my own walk. The medals are beautiful, but then I'll have to find a home for them, and I'd rather not collect them to begin with! I wonder if I should ask if they can not send the medals. I bet they can do that. 

Well, it was another busy day yesterday. More writing and picture-taking happened, and all is good. I'm a wee bit behind schedule, but I'm making progress, and that's all that counts. I did a little bit of tidying up, but nothing very exciting. I won't have a lot of time for the next two weeks as I have other things on my plate. But that's OK. The decluttering is on my mind, and it won't go away. If I continue to chip away until I have another concentrated time slot, that works for me. 

On that note - I'm out of here! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!