Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Let August Begin!!

Since I wrapped up a couple big projects (and I need to find something . . . . ), I decided to commit most of August to organizing the studio (again) and getting caught up with some machine quilting.  Hopefully that will put me in good order for the fall upswing in stitching!!
 
I've just finished reading this little book.  My tendency to scoff at such idealism will likely get in the way of the (as I view it) dramatic approach the author advocates but I have gleaned some useful ideas which I hope will help me de-clutter effectively.  
I did the sewing table first and put away quite a few UFO's that have been traveling with me on various teaching gigs this summer. (Happily, the number of UFO's seems to be dwindling!!)
But the cutting table which sits in the middle of the room would be handy to use for the sorting -- what it is about flat surfaces that attract such disorder? -- so it is my current target.
I thought you might enjoy these "time-lapse" photos of my progress yesterday afternoon.
Most of it just needs put away -- blocks from my Stash Bee hive mates, new bits of fabric, tools, leftovers from this and that -- it all belongs somewhere!!
15 minutes later . . . this isn't so hard.  Look at all that space that's been revealed so far?!
Another 15 minutes shows some real progress -- the rulers are all back in the holder, lost things are beginning to emerge, the paper recycling bag is filling up.
But at the one hour mark, the focus has shifted.  I'm cutting up scraps -- 3" or 2 1/2" strips and squares -- and sorting them into the boxes -- needs to be done sooner or later anyway, right?
 
Once I start cutting up fabric, that is a sure sign that my decision-maker is finished for the day.  I've learned to stop and come back tomorrow. 
 
How will I keep on track all month? 
I don't know. 
The author of the "magic of tidying up" urges her readers to only keep what gives you joy and discard all the rest.  Mmmmmm, I wonder if she's had any "quilter" clients. 
There is so much to love in that studio. 
And she advises that you clear-out first and do it in one big swoop -- swoop? 
Obviously, she's never been distracted by the lure of a fat quarter stack.  I have given in so often to the lure of a little stitching to escape the boredom of making decisions, I'm not convinced I can maintain the momentum to do that? 
But didn't I just banter about that -- building momentum -- thus the entire month is needed.
 
I have determined that no new projects may be started during August and that all my stitching time will be focused on machine quilting -- there's quite a stack!! And I hope that will give me the break I need to go back at the swooping.
 
It will be so terrific to thin out the studio and make it tidier and to finish three or four small quilts so I need to soldier on!!
 
Only keep what brings me joy?
 
I wonder how much that is?
 
Back to the studio!!
 
Mary Huey
 
 

23 comments:

  1. Only keep what gives you joy? That's exactly why my sewing room looks like a bomb went off! But I have been thinking I should tidy up the sewing room at least a little bit. Maybe that will be my goal for this week or next week!

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    1. Or maybe the week after that!?! I'm also toying with the idea of giving up 100 yards of my stash????

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  3. Flat surfaces are the bane of my existence! At the beginning of the year a blogger I follow set a goal to reduce her stash by 200 yards this year. I looked around and said I can double that. It's not that I don't buy any fabric, ha! but the net number is looking good. As of this past Sunday, I have donated, shared or used fabric to leave me with a net stash number of minus 330.24. It helps to have a neighbor who is new to quilting and desperate for stash :-)

    Carry On and Carry Out.

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    1. Awesome goal, Sue!! And you are doing well. I started my blog in 2012 to journal my own big "use it up" goal of 212 yards.

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  4. Imagine how much we'd all love it if there was such a thing as a "quilt studio tidying" minion!!!!! I make it part of finishing each quilt to do a major cleanup of my studio - I have a limited amount of space, and find it more enjoyable and calming when things are tidy. It's funny, because I don't mind the chaos while I'm making a quilt, but as soon as it's done, the clutter makes me crazy! LOL...

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    1. But it would have to be a very quiet minion -- not too much squeaking!?! I should aspire to your habit of clearing up at the end of a project -- though working on several project simultaneously may hinder that!!

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  5. OMG giving up some of your stash, how hard that would be!! I get a kick out of my friends that sometimes gives me some scraps(I do a lot of charity quilts) and I think how can you give up anything!!

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    1. If it makes you feel any better, the giveaways sit in a pile for a bit and some times I take them back?!?

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  6. That is how my sewing area looks most of the time

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    1. Whew, Sandra -- so grateful to know I'm not the only one!!!

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  7. The problem is that it ALL brings joy, right? I'm moving at the end of September so I feel your pain. I need to go through and clean out as I pack. Good luck!

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    1. Bingo, Cathy!! Do you think it's too much joy or are we just too easy to please?!? I think cleaning out as you pack will be easier than doing it as you unpack!!

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  8. I moved in March and I used that book. I found it very helpful for reducing the number of items in my wardrobe, my kitchen, my bathroom, and my linen closet, but NOT my sewing room. Nope! Not gonna happen. I did donate a fair amount of fabric acquired when I began quilting that I no longer love, but that was a different situation.

    What I REALLY need is a cutting table that goes vertical if anything other than cutting takes place. Now that would be a big help. Those horizontal surfaces are just murder.

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    1. Now that makes me laugh but really a great idea!

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    2. My long time mentor, Mary Ellen Hopkins, said she used a draftsman's table for cutting for just that reason -- kept it tilted up unless she was cutting!!

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    3. You've confirmed my suspicion, Pat -- but I'm still trying to apply the principle of "easiest category first" in the studio -- we'll see if it works!!

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  9. I am so happy to see this post! This is exactly the way I clean - it takes me a long time just to get one area of a table cleared up, while others talk about clearing their whole sewing room in the same amount of time. I too am trying to reduce things around the house and have read this book to help me figure out how to do that. That one swoop is going to take a long long time!

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    1. Thanks for the reinforcement, Shasta -- I'm also impeded by trying to find a "new home" somewhere else for everything -- can't just push usable stuff into a garbage bag. Don't even own garbage bags!! May we both make progress!!

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    2. I am always looking for the right destination too. Joann Hoffarth was trying to help a new quilting group get on their feet by donating some things from the Wildwood Guild garage sale. She might be interested if you are getting rid of fabric.

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  10. I just moved in...6 months ago. My sewing room was the exact reason I bought this particular house. Big swing room. Guess which room has been the last to get any attention? Yup. The sewing room. And it's my fault. I had to get goats to go with my new farm, and then I had to get baby chickens and geese and more horses. Okay, well, now the animals have gotten their fences and housing taken care of. I do not know where to start on this room. I've gotten little bits put here and there and that is the problem, little bits here and there and NO organization what so ever. I started a mystery quilt along for a "shake down cruise" with the sewing room. Let me just say...there needs to be some improvement going on!

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  11. I have not read this book but I did a big purge of my fabric and yarn stash and a reorgainzation of my craft room this summer. I was pretty ruthless and tried hard to keep what I love. The result has been a renewed interest in sewing and knitting! Enjoyed finding your blog this morning

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  12. Look at all that table space!
    I am a natural tidy-upper-er (not a real word, I know, but we tidy-upper-ers do like to 'swoop'). I get distracted from sewing by the need to put things away. Each to their own, I say.

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