What I wish I had learned when I started quilting (scroll down)

OH MY GOSH --- there are some great ideas for whittling down the stash and the books/magazines. That darn Elle wants me to do some hard work! A magazine before I get the fun of working on a puzzle. She would make an excellent professional declutterer. But she is right! I will take that upon myself when I get home. 

I know part of that task will be tough, so I'll be careful about which magazines I start culling. 

As many of you know who have been around the quilting world for a while, there have been loads of magazines. When I started, the three main ones were Traditional Quilting, Quilting Today and Miniature Quilts. OH -- let's not forget Quilter's Newsletter. All of those titles were shuttered many years ago, and I faithfully bought each one, or at least the ones I could get my hands on, and I may have subscribed to some of them at one time. 

Then, whenever I was at a local guild show and spotted magazines in the sale bin, I bought those as well. 

Now, to my credit, when I decided to get everything off the floor and had someone build the second bank of bookshelves, I sorted the magazines by title, and that is how they are stored on the shelves. In piles (or boxes) by the title. 

I have a soft spot for those titles mentioned above since they are "vintage," so I'll start with McCall's and American Patchwork and Quilting and work through those. I glanced at some of them when I bought them, and I doubt there is any pattern I want to keep. For now, I am keeping the ones I was published in; they are set aside, and I just need to pull my pattern or scan it. I'll decide, but first I'll grab a pile of the "fluff" ones and stack them on the puzzle table. 

Even better, I'll stack the pile on the puzzle table and put ONE magazine on the box that prevents me from accidentally working on the puzzle when I should be working. That way, I can whittle down the pile, and I'll actually see some progress. 

Some of the older magazines had some cool articles. Today, I find that most articles, if any, are just fluff. They talk around the main subject, but there is no meat in it. Do you find that as well?

I can access the current titles (McCall's, Love of Quilting, and AP&Q) through my library digitally, and you know what? I never open them up. I'm often on my phone and find the screen too small, but if I used my iPad, I might browse them. I don't even look at the titles when I'm at the bookstore! 

OK, so I have a plan for the magazines, and that will take some time. I don't need a plan for the books right now. I need to cull those magazines. If I find something of interest, I'll share/document the concept here, and then the magazine can go in the recycling. I am NOT saddling someone else with the magazine - it gets recycled. 

When I get to some titles, tossing the magazine might be harder. So I'm going to start with the easy ones first, then "teach" myself to toss, and when I get to the harder ones, it'll be a piece of cake!! 

Thanks for the suggestion, Elle. Let's see if I can make it work. I HAVE to make it work. Those magazines need to go!!! There are NO ifs, ands, or buts! They need to go, and I need to start the process now! 

I should not tell you this, but I will. It's nothing new, but I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants person when it comes to travel. I am often reluctant to reserve a hotel in advance, just in case I don't make it to that hotel and don't want to pay the cost. I'm also afraid of messing up and picking the wrong hotel in the wrong city. Too much planning!! So for this trip, I reserved the hotel the day before, and it all worked out. I had no issues finding a hotel. If I'm lucky, I choose the Holiday Inn, which is my preferred choice - they are pretty widespread in this country. 

I had forgotten to book a hotel for last night the day before. So as I was getting ready to leave Cochrane, I stopped to gas up the car, get something to eat, and then booked the hotel. Lots of rooms!!!! So if you like to fly by the seat of your pants, you can travel with me. If you can't, then find another travel companion!!!!

The events went off very well, and then it was time to load everything back into the car. It took me three trips, and not everything went back as neatly packed as it was the morning before. But that is OK; I don't have to catch a flight; I just loaded it in the car. It's all settled in, and I'm good. I can't wait to unpack it all when I get home! 

I am taking a different route home, which is a bit shorter than the trip up. That will be great!!! After leaving Cochrane, I drove for just over two hours, listened to Judith and her gang (The Marlowe Mystery Club), and was in hysterics as I imagined these "older" ladies getting into trouble. OMG, the vicar's wife who doesn't want to break the law, the dog walker crawling in through windows and stealing shredded paper. 

I can only imagine what this is like on a TV show. It certainly kept me entertained all the way here, and the book will take me almost all the way home. 

However, I think the floodgates opened on the audiobooks because I've gotten a fair number in the last couple of days. I must start suspending again! I have six now, but I should be able to finish two today and one I had partially read before. So that is doable, but I can't take any more at the moment! 

I shared this picture with you the other day of the train in Cochrane. For some reason, I only took this head-on shot, which is nice, but it has loads of shadow, and I totally forgot to get a side view. 

Locomotive Number 137 in Cochrane

Yesterday, I shared my blog post with Neil (my Tour du Canada cycling buddy) to show him the bakery in Espanola, or what is left of it. He spotted my train photo and sent me this. 

Neil's photo of Locomotive Number 137

OH MY GOSH!!!!! That is the type of shot I wanted to get - at least the angle, but look at that sky!!! It's absolutely stunning. I asked if he changed the sky; advanced photographers can do that. And the answer was a resounding NO. His rationale: if you start changing the sky for various shots, then it's no longer a photograph!!! Neil is an amazing photographer (runs in his family), and you can check out his website here. 

When he and his wife traveled the route we rode our bikes, they also visited other places on the way home, and Cochrane was one of them. By the way, he took that photo at sunrise, and he hustled to the train when he saw the sky!! 

Some part of photography is luck, being in the right place at the right time, but there's a lot of skill involved: angles, patience, and knowing how to use the camera settings, etc. 

I won't be giving up my day job to take photos!!!! Thanks for letting me post the picture, Neil!!

I was out early in the morning too, but the sun was still a long way from coming up! I walked back around the lake so I could sign the darn geocache log!!! Look at my photo -- blurry and not by choice! It felt quite warm out - warmer than the night before, but once I took my hands out of my pockets, they were freezing. I could barely write!!! But all is good in the geocaching world. 

The geocache log is signed! 

Then, as I walked back to the hotel, I managed a couple of decent shots with my camera phone. A pathway runs right through the middle of the lake. On the other side of this bridge stands a cenotaph for the fallen soldiers in World War I. I might be mistaken about that. 

The bridge in the lake in Cochrane

For a small community, the list of fallen soldiers was incredibly long. It was dark, and I didn't turn my flashlight on to see the top of the list. AHA, a quick search tells me the list was recently updated to include veterans and others lost in multiple conflicts. It's a beautiful spot. 

Then I discovered another way back to the hotel, right along the side of the lake. As you can tell, it was still quite dark outside! 

A neat walk along the edge of the lake

I'm laughing this morning as I type because for some reason, the Q on my keyboard is sticking, and if you are a quilter, that is a problem!!! 

I spotted this in the hotel lobby. OH MY -- we have one at home, and I need to get it on the wall. I was looking for something to do this afternoon when I get home, and I should dig that out and put it up. 

A world map for adventurers!!

If you haven't noticed, I'm on a decluttering kick in the blog, and it's easy right now because I can shirk all responsibilities since I'm not home to deal with them. BUT I am conditioning my brain that when I get home, I need to tackle things. Keep in mind, this isn't urgent at my house because I've been doing it for 15 years! But I need to keep at it, and I have a few tough areas to tackle. Or retackle those areas because I didn't do a deep dive the first time. 

I found this list, which I have had the pleasure of experiencing these things. But so many things or actions we think are hard are only hard because we haven't started! Once you start, it becomes quite easy. 

But here's a list (of course) that I would like to send to quilters (crafters) that I wish someone had given me at the beginning of my quilting journey. 

1. Just because something is on sale is NOT the reason to buy it. 
2. Just because you walk into a quilt shop doesn't mean you have to buy something. Do you buy something at the hardware store just because you couldn't find what you wanted? 
3. If you are buying just for the sake of buying and have no intention of using it, then why are you buying it? Owning an item isn't healthy if you don't intend to use it.
4.  What about those impulse items at the cash register? Yes -- some of them are fun, but will you actually use them? 
5. What about those magazines and books? If you are not reading the ones you have, why buy more?  
6. Don't go on a tangent and keep buying the same type/style of pattern without ever making it. When you actually make one, you may find you don't like that style or design. One will work; you don't need twenty. 
7. Just because your friend says you need to buy that kit or pattern doesn't mean you do! Don't let someone else coerce you into buying something. 
8. If your friend is buying something, you don't need to keep up with the Joneses. Buy what YOU like. 
9. Don't buy the latest trend, and that goes for patterns, designers, and their fabric. If you will use it, then buy it. If you won't and just want to be part of the group, don't buy it.
10. Don't buy something because it's so pretty and, as the store says, when it's gone, it's gone. It's not gone; another collection will come along that is just as nice, often from the same designer. 
11. It's good to have a stash, but your styles/likes will change with time, and then you are stuck with a lot of fabric that you will never use. Be cautious!
12. Don't buy fabric, bring it home, shove it in a box, and store it under the bed or somewhere else. You will NEVER use this. 
13. Don't store fabric in closed bins because you think you will get around to using it someday. If you can't see it, you won't use it. Don't have a big space? Don't buy a lot of fabric. 
14. Just because you have space, you are NOT obligated to fill it. As mentioned above, empty shelves are great as they are!!!

I'm sure the list could go on and on. But here's the thing. There is NO SHORTAGE of fabric out there. And yes, it's getting quite expensive, and the quality isn't what it used to be. If you only buy what you need, plus a wee bit extra, you can keep a small but workable stash and avoid a massive problem. 

I wish someone had told me those things when I started. Not only told me, but gave me a good lecture on how to downsize a stash when the time comes. I remember being horrified when a friend with a beautiful batik collection just gave it away or cut it up. I've forgotten what she did with all her fabrics. But it becomes an obsession, and we can't control it. Then we're left with a horrible mess. So many are overwhelmed that they decide to leave it for a friend or family member to clean up. Seriously?????? 

I'm not going to give up quilting anytime soon, but I would be much happier if I didn't have this huge mess to get rid of. I'm almost at the point my friend was with her fabric. I have so much to do with my kits and UFOs that that stash feels like a huge weight on my shoulders, and it's not making me as happy as it once did!!!!

I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer; I'm trying to be realistic!! And to warn you about getting in head over heels. It seems fun at the time, but the consequences are huge. 

But first - we tackle those magazines!!!!

I may have to shift my blog's focus from quilting to decluttering. Well, I've sort of done that. The two go hand in hand! 

The weather has been amazing. It was 15 yesterday with a bit of rain. But when I started driving, it wasn't raining; the roads were dry. It's warm again this morning, and there might be some rain, but fingers crossed, I'll be out of this area, and it won't follow me!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!