Decluttering is FUN!!!!

I'm going to have to change my blog from quilt-focused to decluttering-focused. 

I'm obsessed and can't open any drawer or door without looking at the contents and thinking I need to get rid of something. And if you do little bits at a time, it takes little time. 

So, while I prepped and wrote, I spent the morning doing something else. I've already been up very early and made some exciting changes in the office, which you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see as there's too much already for today. 

But let's say that I'm super excited. 

It all started because I needed a lightbulb. Lightbulbs have a habit of burning out and must be replaced. The lightbulbs are stored in a box on a shelf in the laundry room. I opened the doors and extracted the box; this is what else is in that cupboard. What a hodgepodge of stuff, and so hard to reach over the dryer. 

The contents of a cupboard in the laundry room

There's the box of lightbulbs that I removed. How many spare lightbulbs does one house need? 

A box of lightbulbs

There were a lot of cans of spray paint on that shelf, some ant and wasp spray (which we use), wood glue (two bottles because I couldn't find it and had to buy a new one), and THREE cans of WD-40—probably the same thing happened but twice. 

All those items are now on the bottom shelf where they are easier to reach without a stool, except for the one can of bug spray, which is too tall for the bottom shelf. I think we can live with this, and now the only things on that shelf are things we use. However, if you know someone who wants a can or two of WD40, they are up for grabs, or even the wood glue. I only need one of each! I hate throwing them out and can't donate them, so if you know someone who can use them, great. If not, I may put the extras in the hazardous waste. In the "before" photo, stuff was right to the back of the cupboard. Now, the stuff just sits along the front edge. There is nothing in behind. I think I've died and gone to heaven. OH - U did move things a little bit so I could return the box of lightbulbs to this shelf. 

The after of the laundry room cupboard

I also found lightbulbs for lights we no longer own. And a scented thing to put on a lightbulb? Both are gone. 

Odd things I found

Also, in the lightbulb box and that same cupboard, I found these: a mass of extension cords. Good grief—how many does one household need? 

Extension cords

I have my heavy-duty ones in the basement, stored in a box, so I wrapped these all up and kept ONE. The rest are in the donation box. 

All tidied up

There is a light fixture in the office that takes three bulbs, but only one was still working, and it was a low-wattage bulb, so when that light was on, it was dark and depressing in this room. 

So I added a second one, and WOW—it's like daytime in here, and it makes the place feel so much better. 

What a difference a lightbulb can make

The lightbulb I originally intended to change never got changed, but new bulbs went in the lights over the garage and this lamp, so all is good! I'll try to remember to change the one in the bathroom later today! 

But there was much to be done in the office. OH -- here's the other thing about my new decluttering habits. In the past, I would have pulled those extension cords out, and they would have sat for days before I tackled them, but they have already been dealt with. There's no time to leave crap lying around - deal with it NOW! 

I was tired of seeing DH's basket of medical stuff on the kitchen table. It needs to be there, but it could be in a nicer container. I had emptied this box the other day from the office, and it was sitting here empty. Guess what? All his stuff fits like a charm, and it looks much nicer on the table! 

A pretty box can hide essentials

Also, I found two tape dispensers and rolls of tape in that cupboard. One of the dispensers doesn't work well, and I didn't take the time to find out which one. I have a drawer of tape in the basement, so it all got relegated to the basket from the meds. It is now downstairs, so I can keep all the "like" things together! This may find another home, but for the moment, it's downstairs. 

All the tape we own

I'm stunned at how much tape I have, how many lightbulbs there are, etc. You go to the store and buy because you think you don't have it, and then when you start sorting, you realize you might never have to buy tape again! Unless I'm moving. But there will be so few boxes to seal that I might be good! 

I also cleaned out several CDs, so the stack is getting smaller, and I'll be glad to remove that box from the table. I found a recovery disk with data from 2008. I don't think I will need that, so it and others went in the garbage. I found one disk with photos on it, which were transferred to the external hard disk. 

Can you imagine someone else doing this? They would just toss everything, and rightly so. This is MY mess, and ONLY I AM RESPONSIBLE for it. So it makes sense that I should be responsible for cleaning it up! That's how most of us were raised, and that's how we raised our children, right? 

Data from 2008

As I mentioned, lots more happened here, but I'll share that with you tomorrow. Again, these little memes are supposed to be funny, but they are not! We need to deal with this stuff NOW. 

I'm unsure if this boost in the office came from finally talking myself into getting it done or listening to Messie Condo's book TWICE. But she sure puts a perspective on things. As you hold something in your hand, I can hear her words, and I think—what the heck am I keeping this for? Recycling or garbage! 

Again, I can't reiterate enough the calm I'm feeling because I'm finally taking charge of this mess. I feel invincible and can do anything, and I CAN!!! 

I love this quote - it goes with my philosophy about learning. You can never learn too much. 

So, Miss Lexi is terribly traumatized by Murphy. Although they play together in the morning when I put my shoes on, something terrible happened in the kitchen that day. Last night, when we were eating pizza and OK—so we give them some of the crusts to munch on—Lexi wouldn't even come near the kitchen. Murphy sat patiently, but Lexi, who usually sits under the table, was hiding in her kennel. No coaxing would bring her out. 

It seems obvious that their fight was about food, but there was nothing specific that we could see unless DH was lying. He was heating up his dinner when the fight broke out. Poor Lexi—she is getting lots of extra love these days, and hopefully, she'll come out of her shell. But her behavior is bizarre. 

She likes to be outside when Murphy is not, and I felt sorry for her as she curled up on the deck. It was NOT cold, and she's a Husky - the weather is just fine for her. 

Happy to be outside ALONE!

We usually have a mat outside the backdoor, but it had to be thrown out when the glass tabletop shattered, leaving shards on the mat. So I went to the mall and bought her a new one. 

Lexi's new mat

She immediately lay down on it, so I think she missed it! 

You have heard of porch pirates—they steal delivered packages from people's front steps. Knock on wood, but we've never had that issue. Our front door is somewhat sheltered, and the step is high, so anything small isn't noticeable. But look at this!!!

A porch pirate dream

I'm standing on the sidewalk, and just a few feet away is the delivered package. The delivery person couldn't even be bothered to wing it up to the front door. It's in a bubble wrapper, so it would have been fine. That's an invitation to take it! I did not, but I'm just saying! 

As we get older, I find it easy to bruise my fingers. You grasp something weird or too tight, and you get a twinge and a bit of a bruise. Yesterday, I was just leaving the house with Murphy and holding her leash. She was not tugging hard, but I felt this twinge in my hand, and before I knew it, I had swelling, and a large bruise had developed by the end of the day. 

Ouch

Good grief - it even spread to the insides of my two fingers. 

While it didn't really hurt, it was uncomfortable for a bit, and today, it's just fine, although the bruise is still there. It's one of those aging things, I suppose. I just have to be careful, as I need my hands! 

When I was at the mall, it was about 3:15, and Santa was coming at 4! People were getting ready—I did not wait! 

Getting ready for Santa

I got a little behind in my writing because of what happened in the morning, but that's OK. I've got time. I just need to set that timer for 20 minutes and attack, then stop. It used to take me a while to get started, now when I start, I can't stop! But that's OK - I'll eventually run out of things to sort, and I'll be twiddling my thumbs! I doubt that very much! 

On that happy note, I'm out of here. I have two Zooms tomorrow and nothing today, so I should be able to accomplish lots! 

Have fun with the decluttering process. I have convinced myself that it's fun. Here is another sobering fact about clutter—the amount of dirt and dust I uncover is UNBELIEVABLE. Think of all that dust going into your lungs. It just feels dirty, so I've been dusting away, and things are looking much better. 

Well, I"m off. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!

Black and blue!

 Two more Zooms are done! Sometimes, the weekends can get crazy, and I don't feel like doing much when the classes are over. So, instead of working as I should have, I lazed around yesterday afternoon and went to the mall to run some errands!

Something bizarre happened in our house last night. Murphy and Lexi got into a fight, and blood was drawn. I knew something was up when Lexi was skulking in the kitchen, and Murphy was hanging around for some reason. Before I knew it, an attack! I know Murphy is very jealous and is highly food-motivated. Lexi is also highly food-motivated if it involves food from the kitchen, never dog food. And DH insists on feeding them scraps, which I could kill him for. 

Something happened between them, and this was NOT play fighting. Luckily, DH and I were both there. In the midst of two fighting dogs, we managed to pull them apart, but not before Lexi whacked Murphy on the nose, and there was blood all over! Lexi went outside, as her quiet space is under the shed. Murphy stayed in the house. It took a long time for Lexi to come back in, and even then, she hid beside DH on the floor as he sat on the sofa. 

What was the fight about? I have no idea, but we'll have to watch them in case this is a sign of something. DH had started to cook something, and I think that motivated the whole thing. Perhaps this will be a lesson to DH to keep them out of the kitchen. 

In the past, when our cleaning lady arrived, the first thing she did was give them a cookie. I'm not sure how that started, but the dogs would go insane when she arrived—barking and acting like wild dogs. I told her to stop giving them cookies. Guess what? No barking dogs! They are happy to see her, but they don't go crazy. 

I don't understand why DH doesn't get that their bad behavior at the kitchen table (Lexi in particular) is learned from HIM!!! He has to STOP giving them any piece of human food. Until he does that, they will always hang around the kitchen. They get NOTHING from me except their food twice a day, and once in a while, they get a cookie. 

This was the girls as I prepped to go to the mall earlier in the day. I take them for a walk once in the afternoon, and they expect it every day! Silly girls! I'd be more likely to take them if I knew someone wouldn't walk off with them if I tied them up outside. I'm OK with doing that occasionally at the grocery store, but I wouldn't do that at the mall. 

MOM -- can we go with you? 

They've only fought once before, and that was the very first night that Murphy came to live with us. Lexi was already here, and I think they were setting some boundaries. So we've been fortunate, but as mentioned, I'll be watching to see how they behave this morning. So far, they are keeping a great distance from each other, but that is their normal early-morning behavior. 

Let's just say it was a pretty traumatic situation for all of us. Murphy, the one who ended up bleeding, is OK. Her nose bleed for a few minutes, then stopped, and she doesn't seem to have any open wounds, so the blood must have come from a whack rather than a scratch. 

I managed to get rid of a few more papers in the office, but nothing too significant. That nice open space on the desk is partially covered with something I pulled off another shelf (knickknacks), and I want to pack it in paper before it goes into the donation box. I won't have time today as I've got to prep for my trunk show tonight at the Durham Trillium Quilters Guild, but I'll get back to it this week. 

This was the quote in my tea yesterday, and I laughed. Yep—this sounds like the office and the decluttering process! Change is good—well, not too much. But we must learn to adapt, or we're going to struggle. 

Another great quote

Yesterday, we had our Many Blocks session. A few of us are working on quilts with many blocks in them. My quilt is the 365-day challenge. I must admit that it keeps getting put on the back burner, and I need to focus more on it. I have twenty-some blocks cut out, and yet do I think to sew them?

ONE block for the 365-day quilt

I must keep that bag of prepped blocks close to the sewing machine and spend a few minutes each sewing them. It wouldn't take that long, especially since they are cut. I'd also like to get the rest of the April blocks cut—I think there are eight. I have a retreat in a couple of weeks, and it would be a great thing to take. It's small, and I will have no choice but to focus. Perhaps I can get more blocks cut as well. 

The biggest issue is getting time to sew! My sewing time isn't nonexistent, but with all the prepping (taking photos, cutting, writing, etc) for the homework, there seems to be little time left to sew something! 

While traveling by train to my adventure tomorrow, I should spend a few minutes listing all my jobs and working out my retirement plan. Going cold turkey would not be good for me, so I'll have to try and figure out a plan to ease out of everything. I still have a few years, but it's best to get the plan in place now. 

Oh, I had to laugh. The EXIT Game was sitting on the table, and as I ate my lunch, I was mulling over the puzzle that we couldn't figure out the night before. I love how the ANSWER just jumps out at me, and that's what happened at lunch. Well, I did a happy dance around the table while DH thought I'd gone mad! But he congratulated me on figuring it out. Once you see the answer, it is pretty obvious! 

So, at dinner, we opened the next clue. Oh dear. We're right back to square one - what is the answer to this one? As I said the other day, we are NOT fast, but we get most of them eventually. But we spend much time figuring out how to get the answer! Our brains are working at top capacity to solve these things! I don't care how fast we solve the puzzles; I only care that we solve them! Or at least understand the logic and learn from that! 

I looked at the background fabrics I have set aside for Dear Jen. I eliminated one of them that is hard to tell if it's light or dark in the scheme of my quilt. And I brought two more out that I thought I was done with, but they are good lights. I'll try to be more careful in the future, but it's tough to know until you've made the blocks. Of the 20 blocks I've completed, I'll reject a few as they do not have enough contrast. 

And this fabric on the right - I swear that's NAVY BLUE, not black. The collection is called Ebony and Ivory, but ebony, to me, should be black. No one will notice in the scheme of things, but every time I look at the darks in this collection, I see NAVY blue, not black. 

Black or blue?

But that's OK. When I assemble the quilt, I'll pick the best blocks and put the rest on the back. 

It's Remembrance Day today, so please take a few minutes to reflect on all those who have served and continue to serve to keep our countries safe. We owe them a lot, and I'm sure we will never truly appreciate the horrors they went through and continue to experience after. 

It's Monday sewing today, and I have a lot of non-sewing things surrounding the computer that I want to take care of during the call. I hope to be super productive because I need some of that mess cleaned up! 

On that note, I'm off to spin class. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!! 

The decluttering continues

AH—those DHs and their set ways!!! This will NEVER be a dining room! But be sure to read to the end—the office may eventually have another purpose, and I approve!

Look at Murphy! She needs different things to entertain her brain, so she climbed on a rock in the forest! 

MOM -- look at me!! 

How fitting was this bit of wisdom in my Yogi tea yesterday? 

A fitting quote

Based on that and the fact the date of my adventure was changed, I decided to hit the office with a vengeance! I could hear you cheering me on, so I went for it. And besides the thought of having a flat surface for that puzzle? I'm in! 

I found magazines from 2014. The newsmakers of 2014. A lot different from today's newsmakers - just a mere 10 years ago. But who is on the cover then and now? Yep -- that would be Taylor Swift!

Old magazine

An "ancient" and well-used paper. Stained, ripped, torn, and now in the recycling. 

Good grief - I kept this?

I mostly stumbled upon brochures from another show! This time, it was the Houston Quilt Show—not one year's worth of brochures, but two years. I collected them when I worked for the fabric company, and we were always on the lookout for new designers. 

Pattern designer brochures

I had to empty my recycling, which became so full and heavy!

The recycling bin is full

Some of the brochures were in their original packaging. YES—shame on me for collecting all that stuff and NEVER acting on most of it! It was such a waste, but I have no regrets. It is what it is, and it's all in the recycling. Except I did keep this bag, as that tree could be used in journal-making! I'm allowed to keep a few things!!! I'm more excited about dealing with this now than having to deal with it if I were to move. I cannot imagine dealing with this because I HAVE to, rather than I WANT to, and with no set deadline! 

A cool image on a paper bag

Oh my—I have a fond memory of Deborah and me doing a schoolhouse on striped fabric and digital prints. I took a picture, but the card is gone. 

Schoolhouse invite

I kept plugging away, and YES, I did consolidate some of the stuff, but look!!!!! I can definitely put a small puzzle together in that space. 

Open space on the desk

I consolidated some of the junk on top of the filing cabinet to free up space on the desk. But it's all in containers, and it's easy to grab a container at a time. Well, that's my reading bag out front. 

Three containers of stuff 

This stuff is still on the floor, and I will try to deal with it today. I need to address this before I move on to the next pile, or I'll make a bigger mess. 

Stuff to deal with today

I chuckled when I went through all those pattern designers. This company has nutcracker patterns. I remember years ago when I coveted EVERY nutcracker pattern that existed. Why? I've not made one of them, but I NEEDED them. 

Nutcracker patterns

Somewhere along the line, I got this idea that I have to do EVERYTHING, or READ everything, or collect everything. I remember saying as a kid (I lived a VERY sheltered life in the country until Grade 6 and even then) that I would read EVERY BOOK in the world. I had yet to learn how many books there were and how many authors, and the numbers are growing by the day! No one told me, which in some ways is good, but in others, someone should have said - there is only so much you can do! Read the good books first! 

While pitching and purging, I came across these from my daily quote page calendar (2017). I thought it was appropriate for what I was doing. 

Quote of the day

Ah, Jen Kingwell, she was in my life way back in 2016! I didn't know how many of her patterns we would do as sew-alongs at that time! We are on our FOURTH Jen Kingwell pattern, although I taught one of the quilts twice! Let's just say that her quilts are challenging and leave it at that! 

Jen Kingwell

Wait, I have one of her classes this morning, and I do not want to give anyone FOMO, but this is such a great class. Her pattern was written for hand piecing, but no one (wait - we have one lady) will handpiece it. Some of the blocks are IMPOSSIBLE, however, I'm breaking them down into various techniques and providing the information back to the group. I dare anyone to say they are NOT getting their money's worth from that class fee! I introduce a new technique or style to replicate the hand-pieced blocks every month! This is a fortunate group indeed!!! 

And then we have the easy quilts. I swear these two, along with log cabins, are so common that we should just have a website for super-easy quilts, have someone write a good pattern, and be done with it. How many of the same patterns do we need? 

Super easy quilt - 9-patch and hourglass block or 9-patch set on point

Half square triangles

I found this pattern. I know some people require a pattern—I totally get that. But some of these are so simple—squares and half-square triangles—that a pattern is really not needed. The beauty of these easy ones is that you can easily make them any size you want by adding blocks or making the block sizes larger or smaller! 

Simple pattern

I am lucky that my brain works in quilting like a duck takes to water. I get it, and I keep reminding myself that some people struggle. So, that pattern above? It's up for grabs if anyone wants it. 

I found this, and I have no idea what it's for. It says salt in multiple languages around the edges. 

What is this?

I was going to ask you what it was for, but then I decided to check with Google. OH MY GOSH—this is for the dishwasher. But what do I do with it? I guess I had better read the instruction manual! I took it out of the garbage, and I'll check the manual! 

I was on a roll, so I excavated a few more boxes and bags from the back of the desk. Those are all dealt with now. 

More stuff to deal with

Seriously? A box of oversized golf tees? What does one do with those? They went in the donation box. 

Oversized golf tees

And I had to empty the recycling bin a second time! 

The recycling bin is full again!

Remember me saying that I had to handle everything without just chucking it? I found MONEY!!! It was in a travel brochure from 2015 when I rented a house in PEI for a month. I suspect I know how it got there. A friend visited on that trip, and I likely bought something, and she paid me in cash. There was $60!!! And I found a $100 gift certificate the other day. No expiry date on it, and for a local shop that is still in existence. I'm going back to see if they will honor it!! 

Money

This is my clear area now! And yes, I want to get into those two remaining ends of the desk and keep digging! However, I was starting to hold onto too many pieces of paper, and I knew I was getting tired. 

WOW!!!!

I made amazing progress. While I still have paper to deal with, I made huge leaps and bounds in getting rid of stuff. I'm extremely excited about that. The big thing was that most of it was garbage—or should I say worthless junk that I had collected over the years. There were no action items, no earth-shattering stuff—just junk. And it's gone!!! 

Now, I must deal with odds and ends, which keep getting consolidated into a box. I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and use the garbage bin wisely when I get there. But I must take some time every day. This is actually one of the most freeing things I've done. Dare I say (and I'm a chocolate lover) that the satisfaction is way better than what I get from chocolate! GASP!!!

I'm giving a lecture on Monday on Modern quilts and even found some of my notes related to the lecture. Sigh. 

I also found these dots in the nick of time! I use them to indicate the blocks I've assigned in the pattern, as in my Dear Jen quilt. So, how timely was that? They will go in a safe place (the desk drawer, where they belong) so I can find them each month. 

My little dots are found!

It is so unbelievable that I allowed myself to dig this hole. I like to pile papers on each other; before I know it, they are buried. I wouldn't have time to deal with the paper, and then it was out of sight and out of mind. I'm remembering almost everything I find! But do I need to keep it? Nope!!! Think of how much brain space I'm freeing at the same time as I clear the physical space! 

There are two large buckets of paper on the desk that I want to tackle next. One is of the current paper, which might slow me down as I find things I'm supposed to do, but there's also more junk. I can feel it!! And the other is a bucket of filing. Good god --- there's no room in the filing cabinet to file it, so that will be a bit slower. But YES - I know most of this stuff no longer needs to be kept, so it should go relatively fast. First, sort the bills and other paperwork by category, find the appropriate folder in the filing cabinet, and then PURGE. 

I have three Zoom classes today and two tomorrow, so I doubt I'll have time this weekend. I really need to be sitting at the computer writing, so I may have to leave the decluttering for a bit. OK—I get excited on the walks with the girls, anticipating coming back to the office to declutter more. What is happening to me? 

But the important thing is that I'm not just tossing. I'm learning from what I see, and that's the most important thing. Whenever I go to a trade show, or anywhere, I try to pick up NOTHING. I take pictures to check out their websites, but I pick up NOTHING. Accept NOTHING free, as it will become clutter. Now -- if it's something that you can use, then by all means take it. But if you don't have an immediate purpose, just say NO!!!!

All the homework and presentations are done for today. Wait, there's a bit more tweaking I want to do on the final one today, so I have time to make that happen. 

But look at my scrap box after making the blocks. It's so pretty!!! I'll share the photos tomorrow of my quilt blocks after the group has seen them. 

My scrap box

If you're struggling to get motivated to tackle a drawer or a door, try verbalizing it! I verbalize through my blog, trust me, that's a HUGE motivator. Even talking about it can help. And if your SO isn't on board and won't listen, talk to me!! 

DH has a few things in his office that need to go, and I keep talking about how much space I will have. He even mentioned at dinner that he needs to clean his space. I think he let it go because he saw how bad my office was, and now he doesn't want to be the messy one. 

DH was so impressed (GASP) at how much progress I've made; he even suggested I put a hospital bed in here for him for when he can't make the stairs - he has bad knees. I said I'd order one today for him and put my stuff in the bedroom, which is about four times the size of the office! I could dance amongst my crap! He said he wasn't quite ready! But now that he's put that bug in my ear - I won't forget that! Be careful what you wish for! 

On that note, I'm out of here! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!!

Time to tackle the UFOs

So, if you signed up for Dear Jen (as of 8 AM yesterday morning), the Saturday Sampler (BOTH at Thimbles and Things), or Crossing the Finish Line (Hobby Horse), you should have received a confirmation email from me with all the details. 

If you signed up yesterday for either of the two classes at Thimbles and Things, I need to retrieve your information from the website and add you to the distribution list. So be patient. 

If you are in Spice Market, the email goes out today. The admin side of classes is not my strong point! But no worries—there is ZERO or extremely minimal prep for the class, so don't panic. 

We will have loads of fun in those classes, and here is one of my mottos. Actually, there are two of them. 

Ingrain this in your memory!

And here's the second. 

We can, but we won't need to!

Although --- we're going to make all the projects easy enough that the second motto shouldn't have to happen! YES - even Dear Jen!

I got very lucky yesterday. I made it to the thrift store late in the day, and guess what? I found EXACTLY what I was looking for, and it was senior's day! So, everyone in my binding class knows what I'm talking about! It's currently in the washing machine! And for $16, including tax, I have the PERFECT thing (quilted bedspread) for the base of all the binding techniques. I can't even make my own quilted samples for that price. 

I'll contact you today if you sent me an email about not getting into the binding class. So, if you want to be on the wait list for Crossing the Finishing Line, email me (elainetheriault@gmail.com). I will rerun that class, but I will wait until there is enough interest and figure out a time. It will NOT happen this year.  

Phew—once I send this last email regarding Spice Market, I can move on to the homework I've already planned. Four presentations are in various stages of completion, and they'll all be done before the weekend. 

We should all try something new from time to time. So I decided to buy a new kind of soup for lunch. I'm a big Habitant soup lover, but let's go for a different type. 

My "new" soup

So I had this soup last week. Would I buy it again? Would I buy it to replace the Habitant? The answer is NO. Why not? First off - it's DOUBLE the price. Yep -- double, and it wasn't all that great tasting, and I thought it was too watery. Yes - I know it's organic, hence the extra price, but it could at least have been thick and creamy. I'll try another brand another day - they were low on soup the day I bought this. 

But here's the thing - at least I tried! 

Claire and I tried many experiments yesterday, and we killed one of my embroidery machines. It has a wee hiccup, which hopefully can be diagnosed quickly and can return to duty soon. That entailed an "emergency" trip to a dealer (35 minutes away) to hopefully get them to look at it quickly. Fingers crossed. 

As Claire and I discussed what we would do, I remembered having oodles of towels that I bought years ago. I bought them 10 years ago when M was still at home and intended to embroider them. Well, look at those horrible big bands—those are NOT in the right place to welcome embroidery. So we messed with all four of the facecloths and the eight orange towels? I guess I could put them out and use them now! 

My little stash of orange towels

Instead, I went to the Bay and bought NEW hand towels. They were on sale - 40% off and I might return today and buy a few more. The "white" towels in the bathroom are no longer white and are VERY OLD. It's time we had new towels in the bathroom. 

But the price tag was stitched into the hem of the towel!! It was serged into the edge of the orange towels. 

Price tag stitched into the hem

I won't share with you what we did. I'm saving that for my machine embroidery class. 

Remember the homework I gave you yesterday? To dig out a UFO and evaluate it? And then, you need to organize it so that if you decide to give it away or sell it, someone could make it without too much difficulty?

In the tubs I received last week, there were five partially completed projects. I intend to finish all five of them, quilt them, and then donate them. 

This is the condition of one of them. It's in PERFECT order to pass along to someone. The cut pieces are in labeled bags (personally, I'd put a sticker on the bag or a note inside rather than write on the bags - but that's me). It was easy to see where this person left off, so it shouldn't take too long to get this assembled. 

A nicely organized UFO

The other four are in similar states or simple enough that I know how to finish them. This is what you need to do with your UFOs. 

If they are in a jumble like many of mine are, this is NOT good. It's going to take someone way too long to figure it out. They'll lose interest and just toss the stuff. 

This is an example of the current UFO for this month. It was a jumble of stuff - some related to the pattern in the box and some that did not. 

A jumbled mess of a UFO

I got rid of all the excess bits and need to deal with all the embellishments, but the fabric and the partially pieced bits? They are all in bags now, so working on this project will be much more inviting. 

If you are unsure how to get started, why not attend the Virtual Retreat this weekend? It's a perfect place to grab ONE project and sort through it. Then, if you have questions, someone on the call can help you. Or grab that box and sit outside in the nice weather, although today is the last day. Well, it's still going to be nice, just cooler!

But start getting those UFO boxes organized. Do you still want to make the project or are you ready to pass it along? Be ruthless -- how much are you sewing? How long will it take? Etc. Etc. 

I'm going to spin class this morning, so no time for more. But here are the links for the Virtual Retreat. 

Saturday, October 26 -- Starts at 6 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89816483795?pwd=Mjc3M3pvVmZPdjdsQzlHS3Zhck52dz09

Meeting ID: 898 1648 3795
Passcode: 248667

Sunday, October 27 - Starts at NOON EST (it may start a bit later since there is a class just before)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82983517671?pwd=ODdsa1FJenQwdFNaQWFTNGd4bEhPZz09

Meeting ID: 829 8351 7671
Passcode: 117636

And on that happy note, I'm out of here!!!!

Have a wonderful day!

Ciao!!!!