Getting HIGH on decluttering

I got rid of more CDs/DVDs yesterday. A few more have made it onto the desk to be looked at this morning, including a new box of 10 CDs that's not even opened. So that will be easy to cope with. Everything fits into one container now, which is good news. I'll just keep whittling those down until I get to the end. You can't imagine how exciting this is! 

I went to spin class yesterday and had a great workout, but I have to say that I got more UP feelings (those endorphins) from tossing out those CDs than I did from the workout! The sense of finally making decisions and getting rid of stuff is exhilarating. I can't explain it, but you'll know what I mean once you get started. It is ONE of the few areas in my life where I am 100% in control!

While I'm not calling this a regret, I sure wish someone had given me a good talking time when I was younger so I would not have let this mess accumulate. There are days when I spend more time "managing" my possessions than I do having fun or using them. While I don't think I'll ever become a minimalist and live in a 100-square-foot house, I love the fact of getting rid of the clutter and unnecessary things. 

Nothing is sacred in this house anymore. Watch out, Murphy and Lexi, you had better become more useful, or you might be on the curb with a FREE sign! Oh my—that would never happen. While they can be pests occasionally, the love, comfort, and joy they bring are well worth their shenanigans!

There is one problem that we have with our stuff. And if anyone has a good suggestion, I'm looking for it. Thankfully, it's not one that I have to deal with. But what if most of the clutter in your house belongs to your significant other? And they don't want to part with it. Hmmm --- can some of the stuff be secreted out of the house? Would they notice? Some of those SOs are very cagey! I knew a lady who would take things to the curb in black garbage bags, having secreted them out of the house on garbage day, only to return later and find that the SO had brought them back into the garage! That SO needed a solo vacation away from home!!!

Start small—but START!!! Start with the easy stuff. GET RID OF THE GARBAGE that is clearly visible. You know you have it—the car, the house, the garage. I bet most of us could fill a garbage bag or two with garbage. Even I, who has been decluttering and trying to keep up with this stuff for ten years, could quickly fill a garbage bag with things that I know are worthless, broken, or have no other good home! 

The second small thing (well, perhaps it's not so small) you can do is to STOP buying. Think twice before you buy the next whatever - a book, magazine, clothing article, or pantry item. Do you need more if you already have a ton of the same type of thing? Reading material is readily available through online apps or at the library. How many pairs of pants can one wear (especially if you are retired), and how many do you have that no longer fit? Etc. Etc. 

Yesterday on our Monday Sewing, we were chatting about how many organizations do things a certain way. When questioned, the answer is, "We've always done it this way." How true is that? I'm sure you've all heard that. Well, if you want to break out of the mold, now is the time!! Do something different! Purge!! Or start to declutter! Take charge!! 

A woman (who reads my blog) posted on Facebook about purging her stash of all her pet-themed fabric. She was donating it to someone who makes pet-themed items and sells them to raise money for animal rescues!!! Awesome!!! It's exciting to see stories where an item will be used for something useful instead of languishing in someone's house. 

I don't want to be on this journey alone, so the more I can encourage you all to do something, the more I'm happy to do it. I know a few people who get caught up in social media and can spend hours and hours watching videos and reels and scrolling. Set the timer for 15 minutes of purging and then set the timer for 15 minutes of screen time. We need to stop spending so much time online. It's not healthy and certainly not productive. And how can we tell our children/grandchildren to stop watching when we are just as guilty? 

I once worked with a woman who had ZERO clutter in her house. It always looked like it had been staged for sale, and that's how she lived all the time. She got rid of anything she didn't need daily! Most of us were in shock (and awe) that she could live this way. But looking back, I'm very envious of her skills!!!

Oh, and there is another area where I try to chip away occasionally—my CONTACT list in Outlook. With some of the issues I had in the past, the contact list from my phone is mixed with the computer. Anyway, I found some empty contacts on that list. There are oodles of people I no longer know or need to be in touch with. Some people have up to three or four listings, so those need to be consolidated. Why can't AI help me with that? 

So, I pulled these two bins of fabric for my Dear Jen quilt. Remember those?

My fabrics for Dear Jen

OH -- I emptied something in the office and reclaimed this plastic tub for the solids. 

The solids are now in a bin

After pulling the fabrics for the blocks I need to make for the weekend, look at what's left. It's all neat and tidy. 

The remainder of the fabric for Dear Jen

Each fabric has to be used multiple times, and I pulled the largest yardage pieces for this month's blocks. All is good. By the end of next month, I might even be able to consolidate it all into one container!!

So, the other day, I had an interesting quilt to quilt. There were TWO blocks with open edges. This one was very open, and the other had been stitched in place, but still with some edges that could flip. The blocks are beautiful but not friendly to the long-arm quilter. 

Open edges on a quilt block

I've had to deal with these in the past, and holding the edges down with your fingers is not the answer. I now use a piece of Golden Threads tissue paper to cover the block. 

A piece of tissue paper covers the edges

I hold the tissue paper in place when the stitching is happening. The paper gets perforated and is easy to remove. And VOILA—the block is quilted and has no flips. 

The block is now quilted

Here's the front of the quilt. Does anyone remember the Stonehenge blocks from several years ago? Stores sold tons of that fabric for this blockhop. 

Customer quilt - DONE

And here's the back. It's a great way to use up some blocks. Thank goodness those loose-edge ones were NOT on the back. 

The back of the quilt

The next quilt is loaded and ready to go later today. 

I almost have the binding video done. I tried to edit it on my old laptop, but it drives me crazy when all the YouTube videos say the function is right HERE. And it's not. So, I ended up getting the new laptop out to see if I could be more successful. 

My new laptop

Yes, I found the video editor. I'm too cheap to buy one, so I'm going to try the one that comes with Windows 11. I've done a bit of video editing in my day, so it shouldn't be too hard. It's the same thing everywhere—if what you start with is garbage, then the output will not be great. Thankfully, I'm getting very handy at filming myself. 

The instructions for use were slim and not easy to find, so I started exploring. I had two choices to start—I could control the edits or let AI take over. Oh god, this AI's version of the video used a CREATIVE mode. Seriously? That's crazy!!! Imagine trying to figure out how to put a binding on by watching this! 

AI's creative video editing

But when I took charge, it was much better! I couldn't figure out how to advance frame by frame to know where to crop out some parts. But I soon figured that out. All that remains is to splice two bits together and add a title page. Then I'll be happy. I hope to get it done today. It's long overdue, but it can't be helped. 

Editing video

So here's something else I've started to do, and I know many of you do this all the time. I have a cream duvet on the bed, but I need something else. I need the weight when I sleep. So now I put a quilt on the bed as a topper. I do NOT care if the quilt is a lap quilt - I prefer the smaller size as you can see the entire quilt, and no part drags on the floor! I plan to swap those quilts frequently so I get to enjoy MY quilts. The ones I want to keep. If I am going to keep them, I better be using them. This is my way of using them. This one is called Wanderer's Wife by Jen Kingwell. 

A lap quilt as a topper on a queen-sized bed

 I did some embroidery last night and went through a few bobbins of prewound thread. I taught a class on the embroidery software last night, and all is good! There are so many little details, but they are essential to success. 

Empty bobbins

So all is good. I'm using the stuff I own and trying to get rid of what I no longer need, want, or use. As my daughter would say, "Life is GOOD!" And I would have to agree with her. 

On that note, I'm out of here. It's going to be another busy day. I've been letting a few things slide each day, but I no longer have that luxury. There is stuff that has to be done by the weekend. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!