Clear the Clutter

This is the time of year people resolve to diet, exercise, save money, clear the clutter--all the usual things.

My quilting stuff seems to multiple when I'm not looking and my husband saw lots of stuff in the guest room closet when putting Christmas decorations away. In theory, all my "quilt stuff" is supposed to be in my studio BUT... The only quilt stuff in the studio is the stuff I really want right now.

Fortunately, I gave a bunch of stuff away last month to quilters who came to visit--not enough to matter but at least 30 things I no longer had to store.

My guild has a "Free to a Good Home" table and I am bringing stuff to "share":

Hopefully, someone will want these various treasures: books, threads, fabric, Celtic Press bars, etc...

It fills two tote bags and I'm getting rid of three large stacks of magazines too--there is just too much stuff here.

Remember, your kids don't want your stuff. You will be doing them a favor to get rid of some of the stuff you really don't want or need any more.

Now, about those two other closets...

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Closets 3 and 4: Done!

Well, almost. In preparation for my "Pretend I'm Moving Sale",  I've been sorting, culling, folding, petting, planning new quilts, and remembering old quilts I've made.  I first wrote about this here, closets 1 and 2.  Now, the middle closets, 3 and 4,  are almost done.  I just have to get two large shoe boxes to hold the Batik Fat Quarters I'm keeping.  I've got a place for them right in front.

BEFORE:

This is the batik stash and the backgrounds and wide goods for backs stash.  And the red/orange/yellow/gold/brown fabrics  I was surprised at how much of all of those I have and I was brutal in the culling for those.  Here is the AFTER:

  And here is what has gone into the "For Sale" pile from these closets:

Batiks:

I've had a few friends warn me "Don't get rid of too much!" or "Are you sure you want to get rid of THAT?"    My response is:  Look at what I'm KEEPING:  I figure I've got enough fabric for the next 100 years so unless you can promise me I'll live longer than that, I'm OK with letting my friends share in all this bounty now.

Just getting the closets in order is such a relief.  I found treasures I didn't know I had.  Next up are closets 5 and 6, where all the repros, fat quarters by color and project bags are stashed.  That promises to take several days.

After the closets?  I'm making several sewing kits from all the scissors and little sewing bags I've found.  And I hope to be ruthless in clearly away the clutter around my working spaces--I'm tired of the clutter.

Wish I had time to sew but that will come later.  Sorting/clearing out is job #1 right now.

Go quilt something!

Barbara

Closet Before and After

My studio is the largest room in my home, 22' x 24', with 22' of closet space, 9' tall.  Unfortunately, the closet is packed to the gills and stuff is now hidden in other rooms in the house, don't tell...

The end of this month I'm having a "Pretend I'm Moving Sale" for my guild and their crafty friends. This is a LOT of work to prepare for, sorting, culling, stacking, pricing.  But I'm committed now and have worked very hard so far.  The books and thread and notions are done, the fabric is underway.

Here is the first closet BEFORE:

In the past two days I touched every piece of fabric in that closet and culled all I could stand to part with.  Now it looks like this, the AFTER:

I now know I  have too much batting, more green fabric than any other color and so much more black and white and gray than I imagined.  And if you are looking for a fabric that was popular 10-15 years ago, I probably have it...

Here is what I've culled from just this closet--remember, there are two more closets this same size to the left--they run the entire length of the room:

This is only the yardage--fat quarters and pieces smaller than that have not even been touched yet.  My plan is to stuff gallon size zip bags full with those and price them to move.

Tomorrow I march on to the tan/cream/white stash, the gold/orange/yellow stacks, and the red, there is lots of red!  And then there's the batiks AND the Civil War repros--don't know how strong I'll be when it comes to culling those.

Prepping for the sale is hard but I've uncovered several wonderful fabrics I'd forgotten about and even found several small finished quilts to sell, a few tops to sell, and a few tops to quilt and finish.  And it's nice to see a little open space in the closet--maybe I can sneak some of that hidden stuff back into this room...

Let's Quilt!

Barbara