My name is Elaine and I'm a hoarder

My name is Elaine, and I'm a hoarder! So we've known that for a long time, and I'm trying very hard to break the habit. For myself - it's a bit of a learned habit, as my mom is a hoarder. It's also wanting to collect all the shiny things. And then there is this situation. 

When I arrived home from the retreat - all of this came back into the house with me. Poor Murphy was beside herself because she couldn't get to the door! 

MOM - I can't get to you!

I had taken a few extra things because I had work to do, and I had stuff of Diane's to potentially give away. But I went a little overboard. That's OK. I will try for the next retreat not to do that. 

All the crap from the retreat

The good news is that I found my dollar store gloves. They were on the table by the front door, exactly where I left them! 

My lost gloves

I had piled a bunch of stuff by the top of the stairs and took a bag each time I went down to Studio B. My goal was to try and sort one bag at a time. I started with one of the leftover bags from Diane's and found it filled with plastic bags. There are still three bags at the top of the stairs! 

A bag that came from Diane's

These clear bags have a zipper. They are excellent for going to retreats and packing your projects. They pack nicely and compact in a larger bag. I already have some, so if anyone would like a few of these, they can be yours! 

Clear, zippered bags for retreat packing

Then there were some smaller bags (Ziploc style), which are handy for all kinds of things. Mine are stored under the cutting table, organized by size: large, regular, and snack. When I went to put those bags with mine, chaos broke out. 

Here is some of what I pulled out of the TWO shelves that I have set aside for plastic bags. Most of those are new packages of plastic bags that have never been opened. We are NOT going to go there. 

Plastic bag explosion

First, I took anything still in a box upstairs and put it in the giveaway box. I do not need these since I already have a bag of used ones. Do I need these in the kitchen? Nope—we don't use plastic bags in the kitchen. Donation box it is! 

Boxes of plastic bags

I was going to leave it at that, but then I looked deeper into the cupboard and found all this. 

MORE plastic bags

Vast quantities of plastic bags (6" by 9") are perfect for quilting patterns. So, if you are a designer or know a designer, I have a surprise for them! These are free but will only be given to pattern designers. If Quilts of Valour or some organization makes block kits, these and the next size would be perfect. Let me know. 

Quilt pattern bags

I also have 9" by 12" and a few 10" by 12"—great for larger patterns. The deal is the same with those: If any pattern designers would like these or you know a pattern designer, let me know. 

Larger plastic bags

And the last grouping is odd sizes - 5" by 7", 2" by 2", 3" by 4", and so on. Let me know if you know someone who makes and sells small items that they put in plastic bags. Again -- I want it out of the house, and it's free. If there are no takers, it's all going in the giveaway box. 

More plastic bags to donate

And then I put the few things I need back on the shelves. I'll explain what's left another day, but I'm sure I can get rid of more stuff on those two shelves. 

The bottom line is why I bought so much. I have no idea, and it's a waste. I paid for those bags, and I've been storing them for years. It's such a stupid thing to do, but it seemed like a great idea at the time! 

So when I'm talking about cleaning your sewing spaces and houses, you must look for stuff like this. What crazy thing did you buy, think you would use, and never did? 

Yes, it was all neat, organized, and in one spot, but what about the quantity? That's obscene. I'm sure other things in my house fall into that same category. Can you imagine someone cleaning out my space and coming across those bags? What would they think? 

So -- let's all continue this decluttering journey. It's not so much about the fabric - it's all the CRAP that we've accumulated. It's the junky stuff that we need to get a handle on. And we need to do that right now. We must do this while still physically and mentally capable because leaving this mess for someone else to tidy up is irresponsible. I don't care how much you want to pay back your kids; no one deserves to be saddled with this mess. 

I have so many leads on getting rid of stuff that I almost need to stop and get rid of everything I've found a home for. That will make room to tackle the next area. There are still nine boxes of books in the upstairs hallway, and I've found a home for the fashion books. I just need to sort the books and then drop them off. That's the other thing- getting rid of the stuff is time-consuming and requires physicality to move and drop it off. I'm so glad to be doing this while I'm able!

Hopefully, over the next couple of weeks (I hope no longer than two), I can clear the hallways of all the stuff we no longer need and have found a home for. Then, what else will I tackle? Did I mention that I found a home for my stretcher frame and the Babylock Embellisher? Before I head back to Sheridan, I need to think of anything else I have. Oh yes, I said the roving, but I must look first. 

AHA—DH will be away a lot this month, so I can make all the mess I want. So, I might aim to get it all cleaned up by the time he returns! 

This happened in Studio B yesterday. I pulled out all the cables and cameras and set up my streaming station! 

The bucket of cables

My streaming station will constantly change as I prepare for each lecture. With ten topics and two different brands, it will be a revolving door of samples, tools, supplies, and machines—and it will be like this for two months! 

The streaming station

I had forgotten a few things about connecting the cameras - including the fact that I had to download some software as I now have a new computer! DUH!!! But everything is good, and everything is working! Thank goodness for Google to provide a quick refresher on some of the stuff. The video camera cannot be connected directly to the computer - it first has to go to a switch box, which needs to be connected to the computer. Other things can connected directly to the computer. We're not going to go there. 

Let's not forget that you have HDMI, USB-C, and many other connectors. Because the laptop only has two USB ports, I had to plug two USB extenders into the computer. I will also have to rejig things slightly for tomorrow when I do Facebook Live, as that streaming service does not use a computer camera. Sigh—it's all complicated, but I made it work! 

When I finally got the cameras to work, they were mirrored. ACK!!!!! OK, that was a setting in Zoom. 

Let's just say it was much faster this time than the first time! I had to clear off a table to bind that customer's quilt. I got the one side sewn this morning, and I'll do the topstitching later this morning. I ended up cutting it in Studio U rather than clearing off a space on my cutting table in Studio B. That's one way to get steps! 

The final join on the customer quilt binding

Studio B is a disaster. It's probably the biggest mess I've seen in a long time. And I don't really have time to do anything about it. But that's OK. This first week is a bit of a bear with getting organized for the live events, and next week, things will be marginally calmer, so I can putter a bit. I can work around the mess, but I do NOT want to become complacent about it! It must be cleaned up! 

Clean up in Studio B!

On that note - I'm out of here! The girls were quite happy to go on their walks yesterday, and today will be even more exciting - just because! 

Just a reminder: Look at the stuff in your house. Really look at the stuff in your house. What things will you NEVER touch? Get some boxes and start packing. As we get older, this is a serious situation that we have worked ourselves into, and we do not want to leave it for anyone else to clear up! I know some of you have been working hard - keep up the good work. We will get there! And every bit we do now will make it much easier when we have to move! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!