It's tidy up time!

In an ideal world, I'd do paperwork in the morning and then I'd get to sew all afternoon. Preferably on my own stuff. Alas - that's a pipe dream! Yesterday, I spent the ENTIRE day in front of the computer. Now, how the heck did that happen? And me who is trying to improve my posture and fix the locked neck!

I needed to use EQ8, but for some reason, it wasn't working. That's the first time that's ever happened. So I had to uninstall and then reinstall. Not a big deal, but it took time. A couple of patterns that had to be rejigged for some upcoming stuff. That's all done and printed out.

Blog posts were being written, photos were being edited, videos were being handled which was an issue in itself. But all that is done. Well mostly. Phone calls for upcoming events were dealt with. All in a day's work of a freelance textile person.

I hope today is going to be a bit calmer and I hope to spend the morning in front of the sewing machine and the afternoon at the computer.

I'm also trying to do "mindful" packing for the retreat. Instead of just tossing stuff in and hoping for the best, I'm trying to be somewhat organized in order to minimize what I take. I'm sort of OK, but let's just say that I've got more than a laundry basket full of stuff to load.

Off to the library for a walk. Dropped off one magazine and picked up a book for DH and after browsing the magazines, I found the one I wanted and another one as well. I'll share with you why I picked that up, but another day.

My schedule for today says that it's another HOUSE CLEANING day. I don't have time for that - BUT that doesn't mean that I haven't been working. I stopped by the local elementary school on my way to the library. (Thanks Diane for the suggestion - they were raving about what you brought!) I'll be stopping by the school today with the following items:



I don't even remember buying this stand or even why I needed so many paints. What the heck did I paint? Anyway, the stand and the paints - GONE.

Paints and a stand - donated

Then there are the three large rolls of newsprint. Going, going, gone!

Rolls of newsprint - donated

The other thing is that huge box/bag of pencils and pens. That's going today as well. Yahoo!!!!!!

I'm so excited about this. I was so tempted to take it all yesterday, but I didn't have time.


I also scheduled an appointment for the Diabetes pickup. That's next week so I have one week to add to the pile. Got to find some boxes for some of the stuff - hey - I did my homework. Bags for clothes, boxes for other stuff. What to put those pictures in???

I have a bag filled with books. Some are mine, some are DH. Those are going to be sold to the used book store this weekend. They are very picky about what they buy, but I think they'll like these ones.

Just a quick aside about books - when I was at the book sale in Guelph last year, I think the general consensus was that the most popular author was James Patterson! Or at least, there were more of his books than any other author. And did you know that he published his first book in 1976???  But it wasn't until 1993 when he wrote "Along Came a Spider" that he became famous??  I'm about to start reading his book from 1976.


OK - back to the basement clean-up. The next items on the list were TWO big tubs and a three drawer unit of fashion fabric. Actually might be some home dec fabric in there as well. Before it gets put into bags, I'm taking a quick peek through it. I don't think I'm going to keep anything - I just want to see what's there. I've already found a home for it all and it'll be donated next week. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fashion fabrics - DONATED

I''m keeping the tubs and the drawer unit. I can use them upstairs to help keep things tidy. And less stuff that needs to be moved when the floors get redone.

See that green bag???  That's a rolling sewing machine bag. I do NOT want it. It's the kind that you could get at Fabricland and will hold a small sewing machine. It's up for grabs for FREE. Let me know and it's yours.

By the way, I got rid of the ironing board cover and the scrapbook rolling case from before. Yeah!!!!!  Do you know how good this feels to finally get rid of some of this stuff?? 

Oh - there's a lot more to come before I even hit the quilting stuff. And my goal is to have things laid out in the basement so that I can easily access everything.  That's my ultimate goal and I'm going to make it happen even if it kills me!

I still haven't located those packages of blank cards. No idea where to look - I've looked everywhere that I think they could be, but obviously I haven't. Don't want to buy more - darn - I could sure use those blank cards!


This next item in the basement clean-up is crazy. I have IKEA bags full of other bags. I've tried to put them all together in one spot. I think I did, but this is just an idea of what down there.

Pile of bags

More bags

There's an orange bag

And here's one more bag - I love this one. Why am I not using it? Because it was tucked away - that's why. Oh yes - I have a story to tell you about new things and not using them. Shelly is going to kill me soon. I'm going to try to change that this weekend. I'm a very ungrateful person! Right, Shelly???  Actually, it's the fear of using something in the event that it wears out or gets damaged. God - did I just say that???  Shoot me now. I'm just like my mother!!!!


A quick aside - I AM JUST LIKE MY MOTHER. She wants to get rid of stuff, but only if someone can use it. Well, here's the thing. If you wait too long, the item is either dried up or so out of date that no one can use it. Donate stuff now - forget about selling most of it. Find a home where someone will use it and move on! That's my new mantra!!!!

A very nice orange tote bag

This orange tote bag is coming along to the retreat with me along with the other item. I'll share that later.


I need to go through those bags and keep what I want and the rest can probably go. There are brown paper shopping bags. Perfectly good, but what do I need them for???  Any suggestions? There are MANY of the reusable types. Need to deal with that next.

And there's another stack of paper that has to be dealt with. Those items are next and if I get a chance, I'll try and get rid of it today. Otherwise, that's a job for next week.

Oh - here's a better picture of the green tote. I didn't measure, but I can if anyone wants it. Otherwise, it's gone in next Friday's Diabetes pick-up.

Green rolling sewing machine tote

Oh my gosh - I'm so excited about this tidy up thing. As you can see - I'm dead serious about it this time around. I'd like to spend more time, but the month of April (and the prep work for the month of April) is a bit much so I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment. Doesn't matter - each thing that I get rid of will help to pry open the flood gates to getting rid of more stuff.

I have boxes of wrapping paper/gift bags - that's all going. Christmas tree and village, Halloween decorations - going! I just need to bring it up from the basement. Hopefully, when the guys come back, they'll say - Oh my - there's hardly anything here to move! I doubt that, but I can dream!

On that note, I'd better get myself organized. I have ONE thing that HAS to be done today. It's going to be a long day, but I think I can make it happen.

Don't forget to check out QUILTsocial this morning. You WILL learn something. I never knew this, but after my experiments, I'm very surprised. Check it out!!!!

Have a super day!!!!!


Ciao!!!