The bottom is nigh!

Soon, you won't see the orange basket with the green scraps. While I didn't finish it last night, it's close. I saw quite a bit of the bottom at points of my excavation. 

A large part of the bottom is exposed

Of course, I can't leave things alone, and I have to "fluff" those scraps. This is how it looks this morning. You have to look way down to see what's left. I should have no problem finishing that tonight. I have now officially finished watching the 700 series (2010) of The Quilt Show, so progress is being made all around. 

What's left of the scraps

I think this is an excellent example of how slow and steady works. I made some time in the day and worked in small time slots. I didn't do so much that I got bored and didn't go fast. Just a little bit every day, and it will be done within one week!! And that horribly uninviting bag of scraps has been around for YEARS. Am I thrilled? You bet! 

It's a challenge to sort fabric. There are many shades of green, as there are many shades of all colors. What about teal and aqua? Do they go in their own bin? Or do they go with the blue? A few aqua/teal bits were transferred to another bin, but I found only one imposter in the group. How did this black-and-white bit get in here? 

An imposter in the green bin

All is good in the scrap world, but I did a very naughty thing! I looked at the bins and buckets of scraps and picked something else to work on: the batiks. I found two shoeboxes crammed with batik scraps and a bag. 

However, I can only touch that once I finish cutting the remaining things on Mount Projects. Some fleece, the remainder of the brown scraps, and other odds and ends must be cut. Once the pressing is done, I can start on that and do a little bit each night while I watch more episodes of The Quilt Show. All is good. 

But this is an excellent example of why I always have something out! It's not enough to think about it; I must get it out. And then I think of too many things, and then I have a cluttered space. Do I make a list? Or work faster? Let's see how it goes. 

OK - I know some of you are working on decluttering the drawers in your house. Gosh - it seems we've been stuck on this one for a long time, but how many drawers do you have? Are they all clean? Probably not, as there are oodles of them. 

So here's the story: One blog reader sent me an email to say she discovered SEVEN drawers in the living room. How does that happen? Where do they come from? They sprout in the furniture without telling us, drawing us to them with their inviting space. "PST! Over here! You know you have company coming, and you can hide that extra stuff in this drawer!" And you keep doing that until the drawer is crammed with stuff. 

Here's what was found in some of those seven drawers: 

• A 1984 LIFE magazine of the Summer Olympics was purchased when her son was 6 months old. The magazine is going to that son's son, who is 9 and will love it. 
• Remote controls, cables, and instruction manuals for outdated electronics. (Hmmm—I hope the electronics are gone as well!)
• Dominoes. Lots and lots of dominoes. But they were kept because someone plays with them. 
• Decks of cards! Lots and lots of decks of cards, including one from Braniff Airlines. I don't even know when that airline existed. They were kept. 
• A penny - that was kept
• A small receipt for the subscription to their local newspaper from 1986. 
• Marbles - lots and lots of marbles from Chinese Checkers! 

She has one small drawer that is like a time capsule, and memories go in that drawer. I LOVE that idea. It's fun to go back and look at things that bring back memories, but you don't want to have an entire house filled with memories. 

Sometimes, the decluttering process isn't about throwing everything away. It can refresh your memory about where things are! Yep - we tend to forget where certain things are hidden. 

However, it sounds like we all have one issue that is hard to deal with. And that's the husband (or could be someone else in the house) who feels that we shouldn't throw things away because they are useful. 

I had a friend who was trying to declutter her house. She would put things in garbage bags and put them in the garage. Her husband would retrieve them from the garage or even the curb if she managed to get them that far so he could look at them. Good grief!!!! But I get it—it's hard to let go of things, but we have to do it! 

Speaking of letting go, I have a massive collection of books, which I must start to cull, but I'm not ready yet. Our local symphony has an annual book sale. They are currently accepting donations, so I decided to dig out some books. I've been eying the top of my bookcase where some design books I bought years ago have been sitting. I no longer use them, but they are excellent coffee table books. 

Design books that need to go

Each book weighs a lot, and I mean a lot. They are very heavy. But five design/inspiration books are now on the stairs to be brought up. I have more books in the family room that can go, and I should dig those out and take them this week. 

Books in the donation pile

Part of me hates seeing these books go, but I'm not in the design business anymore (I never really was), and I seem to have more than enough inspiration at my fingertips. So these must go. 

Here is one of my hostas from the backyard that is in bloom. 

Hosta in bloom

These lilies are just starting to bloom, and the Rose of Sharon has two blooms today. So, all is good in the backyard. 

Lilies just about to bloom

I managed to get some more weeding done in the morning before it got hot. More on that in a minute. Look what I found! An intact egg. Perhaps the sun is hot enough to incubate it! We checked online, and it belongs to a blackbird. 

An egg was found in the backyard

Speaking of the weather, we are currently under a heat warning. I think they do that whenever the humidex goes over 30. Here's the thing—the more time you spend in the heat, the more you acclimatize to it. We are lucky that our house stays relatively cool all summer without AC despite facing south and having a gigantic window in the front that does not have curtains or blinds. 

I keep the windows open, and we get a nice breeze, and it's quite pleasant. I have to laugh because, depending on the temperature, you choose the time of day to walk and which side of the street to walk on. In the winter, you want to walk on the sunny side because of the sun's heat, and in the summer, you want to walk on the shady side! It's incredible how a little shade can make a huge difference. 

I wasn't looking forward to yesterday's afternoon walk because I envisioned a blast furnace. However, there was a giant cloud in the sky for almost the entire walk, and it was very pleasant. 

Shade provided by a giant cloud

People cope with hotter temperatures than we experience, and some without AC. How do they manage? They acclimatize, which is what has happened at our house. The girls know how to cope as well, so all is good. 

On the quilting front at my house, I got two quilts trimmed - one for a customer and one for me. So now I have TWO quilts that need the binding put on. I got a small quilt from a customer that had 3-D flying geese on it, which are a nightmare at the best of times. She gave me permission to sew them shut, which I did with invisible thread and a small zigzag. That quilt is on the long arm, and I hope to get to it today. 

Stitching the 3-D flying geese shut

I worked on my projects for the blog posts, and I even completed the rough draft of one. Most of the photos for the next two posts are also done, so if all goes well, I can get all three out the door by tomorrow night. That would put me right on track, so that's my focus!!

I have a lot of paperwork to get done. It's incredible how quickly it can pile up! I haven't had a chance to get to it in the last couple of days, and I won't this morning as I have a Zoom class. Then I must complete my two car errands I didn't do last week. 

To the credit of the support staff about my headphones, they were quick. I got a response yesterday morning. However, it was not good news. They are past the 2-year warranty; that model is obsolete and no longer on their repair list. I was given two things to try, and if that doesn't work, I might want to consider buying new ones! Good grief! These are supposed to be good-quality headphones that only lasted four years? That's not good quality in my books. 

Imagine if they did that in the sewing machine world. At least the technicians attempted to repair some of the older machines, but we'd all be in trouble if they didn't repair what wasn't currently on the market. It seems that everything is disposable these days. 

Considering their attitude (Sennehauser), I might choose a cheaper brand? I think I'll go to the store and see if I can try out a cheaper pair. I like the noise-canceling feature, and if a much cheaper pair suffices, then that's what I'll get. 

In the words of Steve Jobs (apparently, there is a lot of controversy over when and if he actually said this), but here is part of it. "It doesn't matter if your wristwatch costs $3,000 or $30 - they both tell time." 

And that's what I'm thinking about for the headphones. If they are not going to last, why would I spend a lot of money on them if they both do a similar job? I'm listening to audiobooks; I'm not a music connoisseur! 

On that happy note, I'm out of here!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!