A focused mind is a wonderful thing

One final word on doing things alone. It's not that I don't have friends - I have friends and acquaintances I could call on to do some things. It's not that I couldn't drag DH along, but here's the thing. We need to learn to live with ourselves and FOR ourselves. When we are alone - how do we handle a crisis? How do we handle the good times when we have no one to share our victories with? How do we handle the mundane things that happen every day? If we don't know how to live with ourselves, what will we do as we age and friends and loved ones disappear? We will be lost. I have no intention of getting lost. 

We've all had some problem areas in our house that we want to tackle. I mean, in the decluttering or organizing world. It's an overwhelming space—like my office. Well, I'm chipping away at that space. But here's the upside to all this sorting. Studio U became a dumping ground for a lot of stuff, but after I got that large rolling cart, I was able to find a home for many things. 

Once you find a home for some things, you want to find a home for everything. The beauty is that the more times you hit the same room, the easier and faster it becomes. 

I sorted the small wall hangings into two piles. One is for quilts that I will likely never need—I wonder who would like a small quilt, or what I can do with these small items? The other is for quilts that I want to keep. I found a spot in the guest room at the bottom of the closet to store those two containers. 

The mini quilts

Then, I was able to clear the pile of Trendtex quilts, and I took pictures so I could share them with you one day soon. There was a pile of medium wall hangings, and I also found a space on the rolling cart for those. 

The larger wall hangings need a home. The next time I need samples, I'm going to have to rejig the rolling cart to make that easier, and I hope to find a home for these larger wall hangings then. In the meantime, they will reside in Studio U. It'll also help when I donate a quilt or two from the rolling cart to make room for these. 

The larger wall hangings still need a home

Do you know how good it feels to have a home for those quilts? I can roll that cart from room to room if I need to move them, but no more rolls of quilts, no more piles of quilts to move! It's so darn exciting!!! And NO quilts are under any bed. Those areas are free of anything, except maybe dust bunnies. 

The desk in Studio U is completely clear. I've eliminated all the small drawer units in this room except one under this desk. It has some knitting stuff in it, so it can stay. I need to review the cabinets under this desk, but everything is pretty good. There are knitting UFOs in there, but we're not going there today! 

The desk is clear

There was a small basket of stuff where the sewing machine sits, and I sorted through all that, and it's dealt with. It takes so little time to buzz through and clear up those odds and ends, but it takes a long time to get there. Is it worth it? You bet!!!! 

All that remains of the "junk" in this room are a few boxes sitting on the cutting table. That stool is likely going to be donated, as well, as I won't use it. I also have a bicycle stand that is used for indoor training. Unless someone wants it, it's going to hit Facebook Marketplace. Don't worry about the price - it's going cheap - just to get it out of the house. 

The cutting table needs a bit of work

Now that this has been dealt with, more or less, it's going to be a breeze to keep neat and tidy. I love being able to buzz around a room and tidy it within ten minutes. I think I'm down to three minutes in the kitchen. Everything has a home, and only a few small things sit on the counter, so if you're diligent about putting stuff away - it's super easy. I also put things away as I use them. DH does not, so when he cooks, the kitchen is a disaster - it drives me crazy, but I say nothing since he eventually puts it away. 

In my cleaning process, I found dried-up glue sticks and dried-up Krazy Glue. All of them are now in the garbage. It's so nice to be able to take a few minutes to do this. 

Dried-up glue sticks

So here's a bit of advice for you. I understand you may be so busy that you need more time to clean and tidy. I tell myself that I'm going to have so much MORE time because I'm cleaning and tidying. And I deal with the little things right now, like the garbage. Getting to this point has not been easy, and I swear it's something that most of us have to train ourselves to do. I wish I had started earlier, but I have no regrets because I'm doing it now. But I wish I had taught my daughter about this. 

I need to go through that batting closet in Studio U the next time I need batting bits. There are lots of other batting supplies besides the bits, and I'm going through it all and will use it up for my community project quilts. I'll probably use the other stuff on the shelf BEFORE the batting bits. It all has to be sorted, and it all has to go!!! I want that closet clear, and I have a plan! 

Yes -- I should dive into the office and get it cleaned once and for all, but I'm chipping away at it, and it's going to happen. It will --- I'm just "savoring" the process!!! 

I completed a customer quilt. It wasn't too large, but because she likes dense quilting, it took some time to complete. 

Customer quilt - DONE

And then, I tackled the applique for the day. Yesterday was the worst day in terms of the quantity and shapes of the pieces. 

A lot of work to get these leaves done

However, the good news is that those leaves are done! No -- I'm not done, but like anything else, I'm chipping away at it, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Little bit by little bit - it WILL GET DONE!! I am not going to let myself down now. I'm still determining where this focus comes from, but I'm taking advantage of it as much as possible. 

I thought this quote was rather interesting in the light of what I'm trying to do these days. 

Interesting quote

I swear this works!!! I'm gaining energy from the clean spaces in my house and checking things off the lists. I'm almost always happy, but I feel happier and more content, knowing I'm finally taking charge of this stuff. I don't know why I waited so long or what my tipping point was, but I'm well over the other side, and this will hopefully be the new me for the rest of my life! I want to prove everyone wrong and say that I sewed up my entire stash!!!! Good luck with that one, and you can stop laughing now!!!!

You know the saying, "She who dies with the most fabric wins?" I want to be the one who dies with the least amount of fabric. 

Since the book I bought on sale at the thrift shop the other day is sewing-related, I thought I'd share it with you. It's called Fabric Science and looks like a textbook. This is the 9th edition and was published in 2010. I paid about $7 for it. The latest edition is the 11th edition, published in 2015, and costs much more! Yes --- there is new stuff in the 11th, but for my purpose of educating myself, this edition will suffice. I don't need the absolute latest. It's a fascinating book on how ALL kinds of fabrics are made. 

Fabric Science book

Do I need another book? Probably not, but I hope to read these books soon. 

Here's something else I'm trying to do, and it's easy at the moment because of my schedule. But that is being mindful of many things. I used to come in from walking the girls and make a cup of tea. I'd tidy the kitchen while the kettle boiled, then go downstairs or to the computer and drink the tea while I worked. The tea was always cold at the end and took hours to drink. 

I'm trying to be mindful about enjoying that cup of tea. I take it outside and sit on the front patio with a novel, reading and enjoying my tea. Then I start to work! We need to do the same with food! We eat so much without realizing that we are eating—it's very unhealthy!!!

As we were having dinner last night, DH piped up with, "Where's those games we were playing?" OH GOSH—that totally escaped (pun intended) my mind. So I ran downstairs and grabbed the first one I saw in the stash. We start tonight!!!!

Our NEXT EXIT adventure game

This is a small game with ten puzzles, so hopefully, we can complete it before the craziness of September travel hits both of us. 

I promised to talk about classes today, but I'm running out of time. 

I will post the links to the classes so you can sign up for them. I'll start with the Hobby Horse. This link will direct you to THREE classes—two of them are INPERSON machine quilting. The third one is a Zoom class (9 - one-hour lectures) that will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about binding and finishing off a quilt. The sign-up and payment are online. The class on finishing will be loads of fun and very informative, and you won't want to miss it. 

The best part of all three classes is that they are TECHNIQUE classes, so they will help you make better quilts, learn something new, and hopefully finish up some UFOS without starting a new project! That's a win-win!

OK—I'll deal with the next set of classes tomorrow, but be sure to check those out. 

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

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!