Quilt Retreat

Someone mentioned that they are also in the process of doing a file sort/reorg. Yep—it can be tedious, and we'd all rather be sewing. For myself, it's the satisfaction of knowing that I've gotten a little closer to the ultimate goal of getting that stuff all cleaned up. That feeling now supersedes sewing at my house! 

I don't spend a lot of time sorting, especially if I'm not in the mood. Aim for 15 minutes a day. Surely, we can give up 15 minutes of sewing time to push ahead with the decluttering. Then, the sewing is a reward, and you can sew guilt-free knowing you put in those 15 minutes. That's how I look at it, and it works. 

Trying to keep Murphy out of the car while I packed it was challenging. Murphy hardly ever goes for a ride in the car, but she would LIVE in the car if I gave her the chance. She's a crazy dog, and I struggle to get stuff out of the house when she's around. She doesn't want to run away; she wants to be in the car. Of course, Lexi couldn't care less about what was happening, although she also likes being in the car. 

They are so badly behaved in the car—no, that's not true. They are good dogs in the car—it's just when they know we are close to the dog park that they go crazy, so I stopped taking them to the park by car years ago. If we go, we walk! 

I had to bring a few extra things to the retreat as I'm writing for QUILTsocial this week. It took me ten trips to bring all my stuff into the house! But as I finish with the various items, I'll walk them out to the car, so packing up on the final day will be manageable. I've already finished with one item! 

I know—you might ask yourself, is it critical to take some of the larger tools, like a Steam Press? And the answer is YES—bringing something like that is so worth it! You'll see what I made when the posts go live!

I've almost completed one post this morning, so that's good. Later this morning, I'll work on the next step so I can write about it tomorrow. So far, everything is looking awesome! 

It is so much fun to be back at the quilt retreat. I completely missed the one in March, but that's OK—it was for a good reason. It is good to see friends in person and not just on Zoom. 

It rained most of the afternoon, so it was a perfect day to be inside sewing. 

I had brought several projects besides the QUILTsocial project, so I grabbed one of them last night and started to sew. I had to finish sewing a few blocks and then start sewing the rows together. Shoot—I'm missing SEVEN pieces of the background fabric, and there was no excess in the box. I hate doing that, but I'm certain I have more of this fabric at home. I'll assemble what I can of the quilt and finish the rest when I get home. 

While walking the girls in the morning, I spotted these lilac bushes on the fringe of the sidewalk. 

Lilac bushes

It would be easy to slip one or two of the smaller ones out of the ground, take them home, and transplant them! I used to have a second lilac bush at home. Actually, it was on the forest side, and when I got happy with the trimmers, I cut the thing down so much that it died. I miss that lilac bush! I might just have to make this happen! 

We can spread out in this large house (Spring House Retreat), and I've commandeered three tables, not one! Yikes! I'm happy to consolidate if need be, but I think we are all good, and everyone has enough room to work. 

I chuckled when I went to bed. Look what I found on the nightstand. That is a jar of earplugs, although I don't know why the retreat house must supply that. You should bring your own if you know you'll be sleeping with others. 

Ear plugs

I'm unsure if I snore - no one has "reported" me, but it's entirely possible. However, I wasn't happy when I woke up because I've got vertigo! CRAP! Where did that come from? It's not bad, but the kind when you move your head in bed, and the world spins even though you have your eyes closed! Once I'm up and as long as I don't drop my head, I'm good. This isn't the first time; let's hope it lasts only a short time. 

At least I can think and function normally, so I'm good! 

Well, it's time to get back to work. I need to finish editing this post and start working on the next step so I can write about it later!

How did you make out with selecting and cleaning out one drawer? Did you at least pick the drawer? Hopefully, you made good inroads into clearing it out. Now, since I know that everyone has more than one drawer in their life -- why not pick a second one today. To mix it up - if you picked a bathroom drawer yesterday, why not grab a drawer in the kitchen instead. It all has to be done. Remember to be ruthless. Did you touch it in the last 6 months? Does it have sentimental value - take a picture and get rid of it. You come up with whatever criteria you need to keep things, but be RUTHLESS!!! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!