Prioritize - Focus - Win

Oh gosh—I'm not even sure where to begin or how to say it. The NEW Studio B is a dream come true! If only I had known years ago what I know now! Would I still have tons of UFOs? I might, but I sure would have looked at my buying and making habits a whole lot differently. 

I guess it's like trying to tell a teenager to do something differently based on your experience. They don't want to do it and must learn their way. 

Please do NOT be jealous of me and where I am. I've worked my butt off for many years to get to this mindset and to have my space more or less where I want it. It's been challenging, frustrating, and time-consuming. But now that I have the room where I want it, I'm excited beyond belief and feel so much better. 

OK - enough of that, let's see what transpired yesterday. FYI, I made it to Studio B after 3 PM as I had other things to do, including sending out some e-mails concerning my fall schedule. So, I hope to put my entire schedule for fall classes up sooner rather than later. I'm waiting for confirmation from the shops. I also had my walks to get in, and there was a "little" bit of decluttering. Don't worry; for your sake and mine, I'm trying to keep my schedule limited and focus on things that help us, not give us another project! 

I am PROUD to say that the decluttering/tidying thing is getting under my skin in a good way, and, dare I say, it's becoming a habit? I can clean up some areas in a matter of minutes, so it takes zero effort to get the area clean. The office is getting there, but it's still a struggle. 

I texted M about her stuff that I am storing that hasn't been touched in years—TEN YEARS! I hope to keep at her because I'm working hard to make life easy for her in the future, and I feel she should return the favor!

I returned to Studio U to clean up the stuff I left on the counter. Within minutes, all that was left were the HSTs that needed to be sorted. And YES, everything went to its home; nothing was set aside to be processed later. 

HSTs to be put away

I sort my pressed and trimmed, scrappy HSTs by size. I used to cut the maximum size from the scraps, like 2¼" and 2¾", but that's weird, so I keep it to inches and half inches now. A few need to be trimmed down, but I can do that when I start making something from them. 

HSTs sorted by size

The bottom of that container holds the 1½" HSTs, which is just one place where they are stored. 

1½" HSTs

I put all the 1½" into the container and then all the bags of other sizes on top. Phew—it just fits back on the shelf. I'm going to have to find another place to store them when I work on the next batch, but that's a task for another day. 

A bucket of trimmed HSTs

This shelf in Studio U holds most of my scrappy HSTs. The blue bin and down are HSTs that are pressed and trimmed. The buckets above are bits that need to be sewn together. There's a lot of sewing there that'll take years—something I can do when I downsize! Or, I can just start going through it slowly and do some every day/week. It's off my radar at the moment as I have some downstairs that I'm working on. 

A shelf of HSTs

The bottom line I've learned is that if you are going to keep something—like scraps—you MUST keep on top of it, or it becomes a huge job. I'm keeping on top of the HSTs now, but a lot needs to be dealt with. What I mean here is that if you're going to keep scraps, sort them so it's easy to find them again. If you keep off cuts of batting, label them with the size so they are easy to find the right size. DO NOT stack up stuff and say you'll get to it one day because that day will be so overwhelming that you won't know where to start. 

And so you know I was once an idiot, I found this bag. More on this tomorrow. 

What's this little treasure?

Since I had some space to spread out, I took all my non-wall-hanging samples and sorted them—journal covers, cushion covers, etc. 

Samples are sorted

Then I went even further, as there were some oddball samples in the spare room and two tubs of stuff in another bedroom. 

More samples

Two tubs of finished projects

Don't panic. There isn't a whole lot in those tubs; it's mostly some tote bags that I made. I don't really want them, so I must find a home for them. I would prefer to sell them rather than give them away. 

But the next goal is to empty the tubs and put everything in the appropriate pile. Then I need to sort out what I want to keep personally, what I need for traveling samples, and what I don't want. Then I can make some decisions. 

I wouldn't have been able to do that without having some space and the mindset. OH --- this is so wonderful! I know you must be absolutely tired of me saying it, but I don't care! I've worked hard for these bragging rights. I've still got a long way to go in some areas, but every little bit helps. And trust me, the more you do, the more you want to do. The more you get rid of, the more you want to get rid of other things. I'm eying some books on my shelves in Studio B that have to go. 

I am back at Studio B, where I did some work. I finished the top of the dust cover! 

The top of the dust cover is done

Then I got the fabric for the backing out and pressed it. 

The backing fabric

I made the binding, and the "top" is loaded on the long arm. I'll quilt it later today. Phew—guess what that means? YES—I can take another project off Mount Projects!! I did take one off last night before bed, and I'll share those adventures with you tomorrow. 

I trimmed the last of the three piles of HSTs that I had pressed the other day. I still have a few scraps to press and put in the scrap boxes and I hope to do that tonight during Virtual Retreat. 

More HSTs pressed and trimmed

I got this customer quilt done and it's trimmed. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Even though my dust cover is small, I'm not sure I will get another customer quilt on the long arm today, so I'll aim to load another one, but not get it quilted. I plan to experiment with my dust cover. 

And YES - my helper was right in the way! I swear, she does it intentionally so I will pay attention to her! Of course, I'm always talking to her, but that doesn't seem to be enough! She says I only speak to her when she's in the way! 

MOM -- TALK to me!!!

At one point in the clearing process, I glanced at my watch, and YEEZ - what happened? 

I've been wounded!

Somewhere along the line, I scratched my arm, and it bled like crazy. I was so focused that I didn't feel a thing! 

Speaking of focus, I've shown you this before, but it's becoming so true. Who knew when I got it MANY years ago how important that phrase would become?  It's the one at the top—PRIORITIZE—FOCUS—WIN. That was when I worked in sales for a computer company. How come it took so long for me to realize that? The other two quotes are also pretty cool, and all this hangs over my cutting table. 

Important words of wisdom

As I was winding down for the night, my life took a silly turn. I have a Rowenta in Studio B, but it's not an iron! It's a cordless vacuum and I LOVE it. When I was using it earlier in the day, it had stopped. Hmm - it didn't even slow down as it usually does, it just stopped. So I looked at the basket, and yes, it was overdue for being emptied. But it still didn't work, so I plugged it in to recharge it. I decided to turn the header over. YIKES -- there's a lot of crap in the roller and the wheels. Most of it was gone when I took this picture. 

The underside of the vacuum

I had out my tools of the cleaning trade - hemostats, and my stiletto. This is all the dust and crap I took out of those tiny wheels on the front. 

Dust in the front wheels!

Call me crazy, but I found sitting and doing a mindless task very therapeutic. Plus, knowing the vacuum was clean and ready to go made me feel like a million bucks. At this rate, you're going to find me on my hands and knees washing and painting baseboards! 

Murphy was in my office telling me something was under the buffet beside me. Murphy, there is NOTHING there. I bent down to look, just in case. Nothing. But she insisted, so I moved the set of drawers on wheels, and voila -- there was a ball! Oh Murphy -- you are so smart!!!

So we played fetch with the ball for a bit. She made me feel guilty because we hadn't played ball in a while, which is one of her favorite things. I should have taken a video of her trying to find it in those bushes. She's such a goof and tried to stand on the branches, not the rocks. Thankfully, she did NOT go for a swim!!

MOM -- I will find it!

That's an important reminder to play with your pets, children, or loved ones NOW because if you wait until tomorrow, they may not be here! Thank you, Murphy, for that lesson!

I see it's raining this morning, but hopefully, it'll stop by when we need to walk. 


And YES -- it's Virtual Retreat today!!!

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




And I'm off to find more stuff to tidy up - what will I do when I'm done? LOL - I'll never be done, I'll just keep giving away things until nothing is left. I told M that she had better hope that I would live at least until I was 80 because that's my plan! By 80, most of the stuff will be gone! You never know!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

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!!!

Mount Projects!!

Mount Projects! Elle -- I love it -- that's the new name for that ridiculously piled table of stuff! Yes -- there is ONE cluttered table, but it's better to have all that stuff on one table than to have little bits all over the place. I may have to resolve the fact that I will always have Mount Projects, but I'm OK - at least for now. 

But it's shocking how much you think you can get done in a day, and when you survey the place at the end, you didn't even touch a thing that was on Mount Projects! 

The last (for the moment) of those community project quilts has the binding on them, so it's now with the other pile on the quilt rack. It feels good to get those done. I have one more wall hanging (mine) that needs the binding put on, and it's on that table, so I'll get to it. However, I'm focusing on something else at the moment. 

One more binding is done!

I spent the morning doing paperwork and accomplished two things, so it was a super bonus that both were done. That's the urgent stuff, and I can leisurely chip away at the rest, although I forgot one receipt for my expense report. I don't have time to deal with it right now, and we have no electricity later this morning, so I'll have to look at it this afternoon. 

Despite having all those projects to choose from, I decided to work on something new. I brought it back from Quilt Canada, and rather than shelve it, I decided to tackle it. Margaret used the Momento (large digital cutter) to cut squares during Quilt Canada. She gave me some of the squares, and I decided it was a good start to make a dust cover for the cutter. I realize now that the squares were not the right size for that project, but no worries - I figured it out before I went too far. She just cut squares, but not for this specific project. 

Here are the squares I cut the other day, including those that Margaret gave me. 

My project status from the previous day

I needed 2½" half-square triangles (one of my favorites!), and my squares were cut to 2½". Yikes—I needed 3" squares! So, I had to stitch down the center of each pair to get the size of HST needed. I could have made the HSTs smaller, but the scale would have been off. I could have cut larger squares, but I decided to use what I had already started. 

From each pair of squares, I got one 2½" half-square triangle and one 1½" HST. However, I needed more squares since I needed 121 HSTs of the larger size. Even when I cut more, I still messed up and had to cut an additional 60 squares. I guess math isn't my strong point at the moment. 

The status of my project last night

However, I'm happy to report that all 121 HSTs are made and pressed. I'll check them for size this morning when we have no electricity. This method of making them doesn't allow for extra for trimming, but they will work for my project. I've pulled the extra fabrics required for the project, and I'll see how far I can get today. I now have a pile of enders and leaders to sew. They are bagged and in the pile, waiting for their turn. 

I love having a laser on the sewing machine, so ZERO marking is required to make those HSTs. 

Then, it was time to work on the pet mats. I got a box of decorator fabric swatches a while back, and I'm using those. I sorted them into piles by size - I found that nine swatches sewn together and then cut will make eight pet mats. I used the serger and did one group, so I now have eight additional bags to put the scraps in. It would be nice to forge ahead and make all the pet mats, but I'm OK with prepping them when needed. There are still about six groups of nine to deal with. I may have a moment or two to work on that, but it's not a priority. 

BUT -- it was so exciting to lay the GIANT square out on the cutting mat, so I could then sub-cut it. 

Sub-cutting the giant square

And I didn't have to move a thing to do this. Oh yes—I love having this clean space, and it's worth it to have Mount Projects in the room to deal with the overflow. I hope once I get it down to Hill Projects size, it'll never get to Mount size again! 

And before I knew it, I had eight additional pet mats - well, at least the bag to put the scraps in. 

Eight new bags for pet mats

I just need to turn them inside out. But here's something else - the serger was on its own table - with all the accessories in a basket beside it. I plugged it in, and away I went. There is no need to dig out the serger and find the bits, so the way I have things set up now is how I want to keep them as long as I have the space! And since I love the space so much, I will be more inclined to keep it neat and tidy. YES -- there will be times in a mad rush when things look bad, but for the most part, it will stay this way. I'm HIGHLY motivated to keep it like this. 

It doesn't matter which part of the room I choose to work in; Murphy has to be right there! Case in point: I was walking between the serger (where my orange water bottle is in the photo) and the cutting table behind me. Guess who is in the way? Oh, Murphy!!!

MOM -- can you see me? 

Oh --- I should say that I got a chuckle as I chatted with people when I was in Edmonton! And THANKS to those who stopped by to say hi. It was great to put some faces to names and also to meet new people. I appreciate that you read my blog; however, I got a lot of comments about the girls! YES -- I know—they are way more entertaining than I am!!!

And here's another example of Miss Murphy and her antics. It doesn't matter how many times I pass the vacuum or the Swiffer in a day; when she goes out and lays in the backyard, she proceeds to bring it into the house. And YES—I found dead leaves downstairs. We know 100% where those leaves came from—don't we, Murphy?!!

MOM - I LOVE watching you use the Swiffer!

I had my little can of ant spray in my hand and decided to put it in one of the kitchen cupboards that had been cleaned eons ago. Hmm—it appears that it was a LONG time ago—look at the dust!!! This is not a cupboard that we use often, as you can see, and there isn't much in it. But I do need to give it a quick look, but that's not happening today. 

Hmm - a bit of dust in an unused cupboard

So, I've got stuff organized for this morning. Although I could easily have grabbed some paperwork from the office to sort, NO, I have to trim HSTs and sort scraps. I'll see how it goes when I get back from spin class, but at least I'm prepared.

On that note, I'm out of here! Have a super day, and remember those drawers. Someone e-mailed me that they found SEVEN drawers in their living room. How do those drawers magically appear? The big question she didn't answer was, what was in them? She mentioned she found a LIFE magazine in one drawer from the summer of 1984 - Summer Olympics! Oh yes -- we are all culprits of clutter. But it's the summer Olympics again this year, so a quick browse, and then it's going to a new home!

I feel so blessed to know I'm not alone in my quilting and decluttering quest, and we have Murphy and Lexi to entertain us while we enjoy our adventures!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!