The great thread sort continues

OH MY GOSH --- Murphys is a "branch" manager!! I LOVE that! Does she get a raise for the job? Thanks, Anne, for the chuckle!

And yes, Elle -- I just keep plugging away at this mess. It's kind of therapeutic in a bizarre way. One box at a time, and thankfully, the number of boxes has been significantly reduced since I took on the task. Does it get any easier? Maybe - it's still mentally challenging, and I swear, this is a SKILL we should be teaching our kids from the moment they get their first possession! 

Speaking of possessions, I had to pop over to the dollar store yesterday for something -- wait for it, and while I was in line, there was a dad and his two kids in front of me. The little boy was about 4, and the little girl was about 2. Of course, the line-up for the cash goes right through the candy section, and the little girl grabbed a roll of something and asked for it. The dad calmly said no, and the little boy confirmed it, and the little girl put the roll back on the shelf. It fell out of the box, so she proceeded to pick it up and put it carefully back in the box on the shelf. Not a whimper, not a tantrum, just did what she was told. I almost fell over! Now if we had more families like that around - imagine what the world would be like! 

Let's revisit the thread thing. Someone commented that I have too much and I should give it away. I could, but what exactly would that accomplish? Now instead of me dealing with a bunch of odd threads, I have just saddled someone else with a thread they may never use! I have vowed in all my cleaning and sorting that I will happily give stuff away (if I'm ready), but I am cautious where it goes. 

Everyone wants to get something for free, but if they have no use for it, it's clutter, and I am NOT promoting clutter to anyone. I'm trying to get people to declutter! I've seen it repeatedly- free stuff - everyone wants free stuff (I used to covet anything free), even if they will never use it! I'm not adding to that. 

So I continued to sort the threads yesterday and made HUGE headway. Instead of having too many threads, I have now gained access to my threads, which will encourage me to use them. Before, I had no idea what I had, but now that I do -- well -- anything is possible. 

And I have a place to store it all -- NONE of it is clutter; therefore, none of the thread will be given away! But thanks for the suggestion!

It's the same thing with anything --- if it's in a heap, you'll never use it, and it's clutter. But get it sorted, and find a home for it, and it becomes a VALUABLE resource! 

Let's have a look at what I did yesterday. Those blue bins worked like a charm, and now all the 12-weight thread is in one spot! It's easy enough to rifle through that one tub to find a color I need, and I'm good with this. There are two more tubs, one for the 40-weight and the other for the 30-weight threads. And they fit like a glove on the shelf. 

The 12-weight thread box

I got some small baskets (my big dollar store purchase) to contain smaller amounts of thread in the drawers of that small drawer unit. I've got topstitch, fusible, invisible, wash away, and elastic thread in these containers. 

Specialty threads sorted

That stuff was all over the place before, and I had NO idea what or how much of anything I had. This is an excellent wake-up call to know what you have. Would I give some of this away? Nope - now that I know what I have and how much, that's an incentive to use it! 

The last drawer in the second unit has specialty threads for machine embroidery. This is not the ideal place for them as they should be with the other machine embroidery threads, but for the moment, they are sorted and in one place, and it works! That large spool of black is that wool/stainless steel thread I acquired from somewhere, and I will NOT put it through the tension disks on the machine, as I think it will damage the machine, so I need to figure out something to do with it. Hmm --- there's always a looper on a serger! 

Specialty machine embroidery threads

This is what is still left to do. I have all these embroidery threads (the ones on the table) to put into the appropriate container by color. Once I get to it, adding the spools to the appropriate thread box shouldn't take long. But doesn't that thread box to the left look INVITING to use? 

Embroidery threads that need to be sorted by color

I have two baskets of thread left to deal with. The one on the right is all my sparkly thread, and it needs to be put with the other metallic threads. There might be a further sort (thicker ones that will not go through the sewing machine needle) and those that will go through the needle. The basket on the left still needs to be sorted. The bottom line is that the situation is immensely better, and now I know what I have! Let's just say there is ZERO need for me to purchase thread for a long time. And if someone were giving it away for free? Nope -- don't need more! 

What's left to sort from the great thread sort!

And this is what the two small drawer units look like. I'm so excited about how neat this looks; I CAN'T wait for the next time I need to find a particular color! And based on what I'm finding on the cutting table, there will be a LOT more thread that needs to be put away. But that will be so easy!!! This makes me very excited! 

My newly sorted thread drawers

All my stuff for bobbins is in this drawer, which is in another drawer unit. Ideally, this would be in with the other threads, but there isn't room. So this is a good alternative. The remaining four drawers of this drawer unit are EMPTY!! I know -- how did that happen? Could I possibly be organizing myself into having empty spaces? What a feeling! I'm sure I'll stumble across something that could go here eventually, but those drawers stay empty for now! 

All my bobbin supplies

Here's the big thread cabinet. It's full, just like before I started, but it holds much more thread than before. Those blue bins work perfectly; I'm glad I remembered them. There is room on the bottom shelf for the last basket of thread that I need to sort. The only thing that remains is to LABEL those boxes, which I may have time for today. 

The large storage shelf for thread

So do I have too much? Perhaps, but I now have access to ALL my threads, and by sorting and tidying, I now know what I have, which can affect my projects and how I choose threads. That little bit of time sorting and organizing gained me an extremely valuable resource!!!

I also have the cabinet with all the machine embroidery threads. It's incredible how one small thing leads to another and poof -- I've organized another area of my house. 

Machine embroidery threads

If I keep plugging away, I WILL get it all done. At one point, I'd like to start back at the top of the house and work my way down again, but I feel like I've yet to go over everything the first time, so I'll keep doing what I'm doing. It's working! 

I dealt with another mess yesterday. Remember that drawer of squares and strips I found in Studio U? After taking pictures and sharing them with my groups yesterday, it was time to do something about it. I kept a few things (the precuts), and they are with my other precuts. 

Another mess to sort

But the scrappy squares and strips are now in packages that will go to Diane to make quilts for our various charities! They are neatly stored in bags, and in the storage room for the next time she asks for something. Wow -- I am starting to feel like a million bucks (OK -- I already did, but you know what I mean!). Getting all this stuff taken care of it is exhilarating! Exhausting (mentally and physically), but I love it and want to do more. 

Sorted into kits

This is why my sewing machine is NOT running much these days. I'm too busy managing my crap! I hate "wasting" my time as I'd rather be sewing, but this sorting and organizing must be done. 

Here's the customer quilt of the day. Another large one, but it quilted up beautifully, so all is good. 

Customer quilt - DONE

That's it for the quilts I needed to get done before I went away this coming week. I have one left to trim, and all are packed in the car, which is in the garage! Let's say I'll come home from the retreat with much less than what I'm taking. At least, I hope so! 

A while back, I was scouring the shelves of any store to find a spray bottle. If you want some, now seems to be the time to get them, as there were many on the shelves of the dollar store. And I believe I found several at my house, so I now have four! I do NOT need more!

Spray bottles galore!

With all the rain we are having, and I thought about this yesterday as I started walking the dogs -- it's still April! Of course, we're supposed to have rain! But everything is coming up green, and it looks amazing!!!!

The forest floor is coming alive!

We had loads of fun at the Virtual Retreat yesterday! So many friends that I haven't met in person, but I will - someday! I do NOT have presentations this morning -- can you believe that? It's the fifth Sunday of the month, and nothing is scheduled, but I have a long list of paperwork that must be done today. Then we start the Virtual Retreat at Noon. 

I have one more quilt loaded on the long arm that I'd love to get done today because when I'm back from the quilt retreat, I have another list of quilts that need to be quilted. And I'll be back to making samples and writing, and I won't have time to sort and organize then! 

Stop by the Virtual Retreat to say HI or stay and sew. It's going to be loads of fun!!! And I'll try to talk less! 

Sunday, April 30 - starting at Noon. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86119598156?pwd=ZDFxcElxS0NmeTRjczdSR2FXd3N2Zz09

Meeting ID: 861 1959 8156
Passcode: 053861

Have a great day!

Ciao!!!