Outside of the quilting studio I am working on major decluttering - I'm not quite to minimalism, but that is my eventual goal. Bringing nothing new into the house except for those things really needed. Decluttering room by room and donating and selling as much as I can. I envision a space that is open, clear, comfortable. Neat and tidy and easy to care for. I see me spending time with family and friends, sewing and having fun; not spending time organizing and cleaning stuff. You can't really organize your stuff, you just have to get rid of it.
The Living Room is there. Family Room and Kitchen are at about 75%. Bedroom about 95%. Office needs some work - about 40%.
Then I go down to my quilting studio.
Most days it is in a state of minor chaos even though I have the intention of tidying up after every project change. I am lucky that I have lots of space to spread out and can still work with a little chaos.
I have fabric that I bought because it was pretty, but don't know what to do with it. I have over 100 started and asking to be started projects. I have patterns and books. I have thread. I have notions. I have buttons and ribbons. Yarn. Loom. Spinning Wheel. Stuff. And I love my studio stuff. But I don't come close to using it all.
How do I balance my desire to have a well-stocked studio and a neat and stuff-less home? I can easily clear out my books and closet, but I'm just not there yet with my fabric, patterns, and crafting stuff.
I don't want to waste time organizing stuff I don't need or really want. I may not always have the luxury of such a large and comfortable studio space. I need to get it under control. Just because I have the room for it now, doesn't mean I should keep it all, right?
I've got lots of routines, storage bins, and lists. I also have too much stuff. So I guess I have to bite the bullet and get rid of stuff I don't use, patterns I'll never make, fabric that I don't like anymore.
OK, so I pledge to use the "Organize" spot on my rotation to actually identify things to get rid of. Ideally I would like to reduce my stash by about one third. It's not going to be easy, since I downsized when I moved here 4 years ago - of course I have upsized some fabric and patterns since then.
Here's my plan of battle:
1. Books
2. Patterns
3. Fabric
4. Knitting Stuff
5. Cross Stitch Stuff
6. Miscellaneous Stuff
Maybe a crafter's garage sale is in my future.
I can do this! Who wants to do it with me?
So, I have let my obsessive nature get out of control - resulting in a week of worrying about what I am going to make for my second color and design class at Stitching Traditions.
I had started a quilt years ago called Bloomin' Nine Patch from Tradition with a Twist. I have it in a tub - a mix of calicoes (!!!), Asian fabrics, batiks, and florals in a red violet morphing into cream with some green thrown in. I liked it when I started it years ago, but now it just does not represent my taste. But could I use some of that fabric for my monochromatic quilt?
That question sent me to the fabric store (in this case Sarah's - I'm an equal opportunity shopper!) to see what I could find to augment my older fabric. I came out with an assortment that was . . . OK . . . but not great - in my opinion at least. I lined them up, snapped a pic, which helped me realize that I needed another fabric to ease the transition between the light and medium fabrics. I thought I wanted to do something that used a seamless flow from light to dark - I was thinking Bargello, Trip Around the World, or something like it. I was afraid that such an ambitious quilt would not be done by next year, let alone next month. I was having all these doubts. What was going on?
The whole reason I am taking this class is to stretch myself in terms of my color usage. Maybe my whole discomfort was because I was doing something new. I wanted to use the red-violet palette and sort of wanted to include all the facets - pure hue, tone, shade, and tint. But the fabrics I had just didn't look right to me. I couldn't make a decision. I even messaged my teacher Kathy to ask for a chat about my concerns. Then late last night it all came together.
I went to bed dreaming about a monochromatic blue quilt I had seen on-line by Cassie using Kaffe Fassett's Jewel Sqaures pattern. I woke up sure that this is the quilt I should make. I can use all different aspects of red-violet and not worry about seamless color transitions. I received my copy of Kaffe's book yesterday and so today I am off to the copy store to have the paper foundation patterns in the book enlarged. I don't have to have the whole quilt done by next month, perhaps just a quarter of it. Woo Hoo! I love when a plan finally comes together - at least in my mind.
Whew, another obsession catastrophe averted! Just in the nick of time too! Ill post pics of the quilt in progress.
Sometimes obsessively curious,
Denise
Our small quilting group met this morning as we usually do twice a month in between larger guild meetings. There are 8 of us in the group and recently about 5 of us show up at any one time - especially during the summer when people are traveling.
We bring cutting or handwork to do and everyone brings their new books, magazines or patterns to show. We are all trying to pare down on magazines so we bring a stack of those to share and trade - each of us ripping out the pages that appeal to us. Spontaneous comments like "Oh look at this one!" can be heard as we thumb through the magazines. Today I brought scraps to cut into usable squares (1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2, and 5 - see Joan Ford's Scrap Therapy system) to work on.
We learn from each other, share patterns and fabric, support each other, laugh and commiserate together. We are already tossing around ideas for the boutique for next year's quilt show. I think it would be great to go together on a quilting retreat. Hmmmm . . . I may just have to start planning this.
I belong to the guild. But I really FEEL like I belong because of the wonderful women in my small group. Thank you Ladies!
To quilting friends!
D
Home again! Usually when I get home from a trip I want to jump right into my studio - usually to start something new. This time I am being disciplined! We are having a yard sale next weekend to get ready to put the house on the market and move to a smaller place. So I am going through closets and cupboards to identify stuff I no longer need, love or that won't fit into an as yet unknown smaller house. This includes my yarn as well as my fabric stash that lives in a back closet. I'll be lucky to have this much room in the new place.
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| Project and Fabric Stash |
I'm about half way though the yarn and hope to finish that today. My kids are helping me by pushing me a bit. It is exhausting for me to make all these decisions.
Tonight - finish putting the binding on Amy's chocolate quilt so I can photograph it and show you tomorrow.
Til then,
D
The call came - the book I ordered is in. WOoHOo . . . I jump in the car and drive 30 minutes to Stitching Traditions in Topeka.. The book I've been waiting for is the 3-D Block book for the class I've signed up for later in August - more about that class in another post.
Since I've driven all the way there, I guess I should do a little shopping. I get some fabric for the class - surprise -- they have a sale going - buy the book and fabric for a project and get the book at 50% off!
But what I really wanted to shop for was some 30's reproduction fabric for the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt I am working on. To fit on my double guest room bed I will need 54 flowers and I want each one of them to use unique fabric. I've got 29 done so far and have fabric for about 5 more. So, I need some more 30's reproduction fabrics! After choosing a few FQ of the 30's stuff I hear that if I buy 12 FQ I can get one free. So I pick out some black and white for the someday B&W quilt. For my free FQ I choose a Stonehenge Skins by Linda Ludovico for Northcott fabrics to add to my collection of that line (another someday quilt).
It's always a great day when I buy fabric!
D
Stash - the secret joy or pain for all quilters. How to store it, when and how to use it, how to keep it from morphing from a "cherished loved one, have to buy it" into a "time to dump it, no longer in style, space thief".
I don't keep a lot of yardage stash. I usually buy fabric meant for a specific project, keep it together with that project and then when the project is done I turn leftovers into scraps for scrap quilts. But I have occasionally not played by my own rules and bought yards of fabric that I loved and just had to bring home. It now resides in a large tub that doesn't see daylight except for 2 or 3 times a year.
So I decided to copy the fabric and print it out on an 8x11 sheet of paper. I'll keep these in a notebook to remember what yardage I have. Maybe one of my next year's challenges will be use use at least one piece from this yardage stash. Some of these would be great backings, others great for a stack'n'whack. I honestly don't remember now why I bought them.
Til next time.
Stay Curious, Keep Quilting!
D
Then I go down to my quilting studio. 
How do I balance my desire to have a well-stocked studio and a neat and stuff-less home? I can easily clear out my books and closet, but I'm just not there yet with my fabric, patterns, and crafting stuff.
I've got lots of routines, storage bins, and lists. I also have too much stuff. So I guess I have to bite the bullet and get rid of stuff I don't use, patterns I'll never make, fabric that I don't like anymore. 
