What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Ah, Shelly is such a task-master.

Task Two: Clean up the floor in your studio.

Calling it a “studio” is optimistic. I share the space with the laundry room and, used to be, the spare bedroom. But, if “I can leave my machine set up and ready to go” makes it a studio, then I have one.

The floors got a bit of a cleaning while I worked on task one, so I decided to go farther afield: curtains! I don’t know that I have ever washed them. I pulled everything out from under the cutting table and cleaned ...

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Each year (for 16 years) Shelly of Prairie Moon Quilts has helped us all get off to a good start with the Final Countdown, a series of tasks designed to help organize and inspire.

Task ONE is: Clean up the area around your sewing machine.

I am a mostly tidy person, but there are always things…like LINT! A good wipe down dusting is a great place to start.

I cleaned and oiled my machine. Changed the needle. These new tools (Nook and Cranny Cleaning Tools by Gypsy Quilter) I got for Christmas were a great help.

An area I ...

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I have a pretty exciting post today! I was given the chance to review the Riccar R65 Cordless Stick Vacuum! I feel like an early birthday and Christmas gift came to me. I know some of you might say, "why a vacuum cleaner as a gift??". I used to think that way too, but trust me, having a great and reliable household equipment makes our day to day lives so much easier. After I opened the box and set everything up, I had to wait for the vacuum to fully charge. Normally I have such a hard time waiting for ...

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OH -- I got a chuckle from an email someone sent me about dressing in layers. We all know that dressing in layers outdoors is a huge factor in staying warm. The extra air pockets between layers, as well as the extra layer, hold the warm. If you need ventilation, open a zipper and get some air. Then zip up when you need to. 

But what about in your house? This is hilarious, and yet it's not. There are people, and I will NOT name names here, that feel it's OK to just crank up the heat in your ...

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While cleaning other parts of the room, the ironing board became a staging area for more sorting and organizing, until, it was a disaster again.

With a little perseverance and determination, and a few naps, I have my ironing board to use again. I made progress on the room, but, it is not finished. It will be there for another goal.

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I am still working on the room next to my sewing room.  I have unearthed more mess, and, I can see some progress. I do the cleaning dance - go through messes on the floor and sort them onto a bed or ironing board, then, go through those messes, and put them back on the floor, and repeat. Eventually, the messes finally shrink and the spot is empty.

bed

ironing board

These were built in 2019 and, now, I can reach them again.

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This is supposed to be a guest room. But, since, I don't have guests, I have stuffed everything, I don't know where to put, in there. I have an ironing board set up for ironing bigger pieces and quilts. To the right, is a thigh high pile of fabric and projects going back about 3 feet. I have 3 billy bookcases( ikea) of fabric that I can't open the doors. which means I can't put fabric away,  either, which has contributed to the pile.

from the door

When I trim a quilt on the ironing board ...

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My April goal was to clean the sewing room floor which took until middle May to finish. A by product of that cleaning, was to clean the cutting table, too. This is a Friday finish with great benefit. 

It went from this....

embarrassing

to this...

tada

By cleaning this, my scrap management just improved. And, I am working diligently on my ironing room in May ( and probably June) When I run into a stack of mess, I have this lovely table to sort and cut. yipee. I have been very careful to clean it every night, to keep it that ...

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I can't believe it, but my sewing room floor is clean and as tidy as it is going to get.  It went from this

embarrassing

to this. 

I spent 6 weeks sorting through procrastinated messes and organizing better. I tried to remove as much as possible by donating or gifting. There is still too much packed into the room. I also tried to locate often used items closer to me.

These were all over the room wherever I could lean them

scrap bins

I can walk straight to my machine

 still more to go

cutting table

I decided my ...

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My strip bins overfloweth. The big problem is the floor around them is collecting strips as well. I don't like the mess of sorting into colors, so, I wait until the situation is urgent. I am trying to clean the floor in my sewing room. It has to be done.

1 1/2 inch strip bin

This is the 1 1/2 inch strip drawer unleashed. Hard to believe all this was in one drawer. 

The big pile of neutrals was a mess on the floor which prompted my attention. I sat on the floor making piles of color ...

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This was my view from the door into my sewing room. I had to step over things to get to my sewing table. It was embarrassing and dangerous. I was focused on getting parts done, so, I would just set aside the maintenance, until, my projects were done. which is never.  I just couldn't take it anymore. Enough is enough. I decided, for April, I was going to take back my sewing room floor.

My first decision was to tackle the table next to my accuquilt. I cut and throw  the scraps into a pile for later. This is ...

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The writing is done! Am I getting better? Or am I better prepared? It seems to take less time than it did in the past - I think my hands are getting faster at getting the thoughts on "paper," and I'm better at editing as my grammar improves. I used to fight with Grammarly to understand what they were telling me. It does NOT like Passive Voice, and I used to struggle with writing in the Active Voice. It's all good -- the writing is done!

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So, I've got a new perspective moving forward. Less is more, simpler is better. We'll see how it goes. Christmas is taken down and stowed away for another eleven months. It took me two full days this year, one for take down and the second for cleaning and organizing what's being put away. I suppose that's a direct reflection of getting older. That second part (cleaning and organizing) triggered

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So, I've got a new perspective moving forward. Less is more, simpler is better. We'll see how it goes. Christmas is taken down and stowed away for another eleven months. It took me two full days this year, one for take down and the second for cleaning and organizing what's being put away. I suppose that's a direct reflection of getting older. That second part (cleaning and organizing) triggered

read more

Since I've begun cross stitching again, it became vitally apparent that I needed a better system of organization for the needed supplies. The way it stood, as of a few days ago, is that the needed items were lurking in various and assorted zip-loc bags and storage bins, stashed here, there and everywhere. My project bags were hanging on the back of a doorknob filled to the gills with dissimilar

read more

Since I've begun cross stitching again, it became vitally apparent that I needed a better system of organization for the needed supplies. The way it stood, as of a few days ago, is that the needed items were lurking in various and assorted zip-loc bags and storage bins, stashed here, there and everywhere. My project bags were hanging on the back of a doorknob filled to the gills with dissimilar

read more

Will we look back on these days and remember them fondly? If you follow this blog you might remember that our small mission congregation purchased a church back in March, we moved in during Holy Week and celebrated triumphantly on Easter Sunday worshipping, at long last, in our own space! With property ownership, naturally, comes new and added responsibilities. Who will maintain the space? Over

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Will we look back on these days and remember them fondly? If you follow this blog you might remember that our small mission congregation purchased a church back in March, we moved in during Holy Week and celebrated triumphantly on Easter Sunday worshipping, at long last, in our own space! With property ownership, naturally, comes new and added responsibilities. Who will maintain the space? Over

read more

Last week was A WEEK! Moving into the new church space in time for Holy Week and Easter was a blessing beyond measure. But, there was A LOT  of work to do behind the scenes, going forward, to organize and personalize the spaces within the new church to ensure functionality. I took on the task of cleaning out what had been used as a former storage closet off of the chancel and transforming it into

read more

Last week was A WEEK! Moving into the new church space in time for Holy Week and Easter was a blessing beyond measure. But, there was A LOT  of work to do behind the scenes, going forward, to organize and personalize the spaces within the new church to ensure functionality. I took on the task of cleaning out what had been used as a former storage closet off of the chancel and transforming it into

read more