Quit quilting and clean House
 

I use to be a fairly good house keeper, but I have let some of my up high selfs and kitchen cupboards and garage go. Now I have to quit for about 6 weeks and get this place in order. I noticed a cob web in my sewing room last night and the valance needs washed. Anyone else have these problems? I also need to sort out one side of the garage and have a yard sale. I don't like to have to do all these stuff. :(:eek:

Oh I know how it is. I just did a semi-major clean up in my kitchen yesterday. Pulled all the decorative stuff out of my window area ( its supposed to be a window seat), and wiped down all my collections. I have a lot more to do, but I would so rather quilt!! But sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do. Lol.

A friend of mine told me about the lady that cleaned her house and I ended up hiring her too. It has been about 5 years now and it is nice that things actually get cleaned every 2 weeks.

The garage is my husband's concern - I have gone thru it and got rid of things I no lingered care about several years ago.

Just today my hubby cleaned a cobweb on the kitchen ceiling! I used to be a good housekeeper AND worked a full time job, AND raised 3 kids. Those days are gone! Mostly it's because I'd rather do something else and time just seems to vanish and before I know it, it's time to call it a night. I have a big load of company coming in May and I need to start getting some of the grunge work done. It just sucks the joy right out of my life!:(

Boy, oh boy!! All sounds sooo familiar. I'd rather be in my sewing room than dust, etc! I just have to push myself. Old saying "If I don't do it, it don't get done!"" so, so, so true...

I think we all are there to some extent, I especially like your comment Tartan and had to laugh to myself. I too go through the house once a week, but not to necessarily clean- just take a look at what needs to be done and talk to myself about doing these things, and think oh well I will tackle this later. I kept a cleaner house working full time and taking care of our kids. Both are adults now and I'm retired, and have really gotten to be lazy, but I'm enjoying retirement and my quilting, much better than I enjoy keeping a spotless house. I just tell myself and others, this house work will still be here after I'm gone ad someone else can do it then, but I won't be able to quilt anymore, so just continue to do my favorite thing-quilt!

Need to follow Fly Lady site. She takes on one area of the house a week and you just do about 15 minutes in that region each day and it is so much easier to keep up that way. Check it out! FlyLady.com

Hey, until one of us get attacked by a "dust bunny", I figure we're OK:)

My Mom was an avid gardener, bird watcher and fisherman - our food and clothes were always clean - we had a few dust bunnies sometimes - she said she was going to be under 6' of dust for a very long time and was not going to chase it while she was alive....

I'm clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy!

mine is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy!

LOL, I saw your post when mine popped up! I guess we're both clean/dirty

just finished doing my sewing area upstairs here and the basement downstairs - took me a month, but everything is in order, in place, all marked in boxes (plastic see thru (I totally do not trust me when it comes to cleaning). But I am done and is it ever a good feeling. And, I rewarded myself - I got two quilts done, have started on a third and I am as pleased as punch when I look for a Harbor Freight rotary cutter, I can go in my cupboard and there's a drawer that says "Rotary Cutters" - easy -peasy. Or I have box upon box of fabric less than 1/4 yd, more than 1/4 yd, Batik, Edie's next quilt, which have all the colors I am going to put into it. I am proud of myself. And what makes it so worth it, I CAN FIND ANYTHING I AM LOOKING FOR NOW!!!!!

And the best/worst part of all, I have my income tax done (that's good)- learned something - I guess filing widowed and filing single are the same thing and I ended having to pay Federal, (that's bad) but got money from state. My husband died in March 2013, so last year I could still file joint. This year I had to file single and I am going to end up close to $80 less a month because it wasn't changed correctly. So watch it very closely. I don't wish this on anyone, I ended up having to pay Federal $607.00. It's bad enough to lose your husband, but when the government takes the money he earned for me to live on, it does not make me a happy camper. There went my plans to fix the side of the yard so water wouldn't get into the basement. So now I have to save for another year. Be sure you check with your pension person or whoever to find out the best way to file exemption-wise FOR YOU! I have it fixed now, but the horse got out of the barn last year and it's too late to put him back. Well, from a clean house to a cleaned out wife, Happy New Year! Edie

When I first retired a year and a half ago, every morning about 8 I would start cleaning one room, cleaning cupboards, closets, etc. and work on it until about 11:30. Then I would have lunch and sew/quilt the rest of the day. Now I am on the computer until about 9, get dressed and quilt. Floors and furniture get dusted once a week, laundry gets done and I do lots of quilting. My DH teases me about my quilting dust causing him to have "quilters lung"! To help combat that, I keep the door to my studio closed. Life is too short to not do what makes one happy. :) Quilt On!

We have someone who comes ever other week. IN the in between weeks I vacuum.

It was great to read this thread! I thought I was the only one who wanted to give up cleaning to just sew (or read!). I try to knock down the dust bunnies now and again, but sometimes when the sun is shining in that big picture window, Oh-Oh! I really need to declutter. My son told me to rent a dumpster and call him when it's here! He would get rid of everything! My husband one time decided there was too much stuff in the basement after we had moved my mom in with us. He started pitching boxes (without knowing what was in them). Unfortunately, he pitched one of my mothers that had some antique figurines in it that now would be well over 125 years old. And since I only went to basement to do laundry, I didn't notice they were gone for years until I remembered them and went looking. I think in 44 years of marriage, that was the maddest I ever was with him! Gotta just love these guys! Now I wish he was able to go pitch some stuff, but COPD pretty much keeps him sedentary.

Friends, family and customers come into my house through my sewing room. I like it that customers do not have to come into the rest of my house, but sometimes that room gets really messy. In January, I cleaned that room thoroughly and the children's toy room. I am another that is trying to use the Flylady system. My sink is clean, the rest of the house still needs some work. I would rather sew. At least from 9 - 5 I can sew without feeling guilty because the house is not as neat as I use to keep it.

Aren't cleaning and quilting mutually exclusive??? Like most, I try to keep the worst of the mess down to a dull roar but sometimes those lions are pretty loud!

You mean we have to actually CLEAN the house and not quilt? My housekeeping chores have suffered since I began quilting but life it short, quilt.

We all "do" something. My SIL is a beautiful, marvelous woman and vaccuums. She has more of the things than I have sewing machines and sergers. I wonder why her floors, upholstery, and draperies don't wear thin. When I grow up I am going to be just like her.

Pat

Oh, my, My dear hubby, is retired. He is the one that does the house cleaning. I still work 3 days a week, and quilt the other 4 days. I do at least once a year, completely clean the house, curtains down washed and pressed, windows washed, walls dusted, etc. I do so love a clean house, but quilting comes first, as long as DH is still around to clean.

LOL!!! I LOVE this. Your mama was so right! Thanks for sharing her point of view. I'm going to tell my DH. It is his philosophy completely. He'll appreciate it.

I do the ceiling and walls once a month and the floors once a week and dust whenever. One time I let the dusting go and wrote on a table Martha Stewart Doesn't Live Here. My GD got a big charge out of that. Some days I just want to be creative and learn new quilting blocks or finish a project and I could care less about the house. As long as we are healthy and happy it will be fine. Always another day to clean as long as I don't let things go to long and make it harder on myself.

When I do dishes, I get the water in the sink really hot. I use the microfiber rags. After washing the dishes, I wipe down the appliances at face value on one day. Before I sweep the floor, I start at the ceiling to knock any cobwebs down, then wipe the table and work my way to sweep the floor. I have a small kitchen but use a big mop and industrial squeeze bucket. I see no purpose in using a small sponge or small mop. I use a wet Swiffer on my kitchen cupboards to get rid of any dust. Bathroom is mostly ceramic walls. Scrubbing bubbles and a small mop in the shower/tub area are great. I spray everything down and the toilet starting with the tub/shower area. We have handheld shower. I hit the tub/shower with hot water then spray it after I've hit the sinks and toilet. by the time I get to the tub/shower, it only takes about 5 minutes then rinse. Then the floor. We have a tiny bathroom. So really only takes about 20 minutes. I have about 3 sf to mop. those are the worst areas. I clean the bedroom when I change sheets. One new set. So when it goes into the washer I just clean the bedroom (10x10). I have to do this because dog hair moves at lightning speed. Not going to talk about the office and sewing room. I try to pick up as I go. All in all I might spend 4 hours a month on my house. It's little. Yeah would like more space but really only need a 1/2 bath because invariably, we seem to need it at the same time. Throug the day we're good.

I'm down-sizing, or as they call it these days, right-sizing. I've been getting rid of stuff for about a month - much of it things I'd forgotten I had and/or never used. I met with a realtor today. It won't be long until I move from a 3 BR 1500 sq foot condo to a 2 BR 1000 sq foor retirement apartment. The monthly fees include all my utilities, once a week housecleaning, linen service (sheets and towels), and one meal a day. I can hardly wait!!

Gotta run ... I'm off on another trip to Goodwill. :D

Dust bunnies don't scare me but as soon as I catch that cob he's getting flushed. I now have electric heat and it seems like cobwebs have gone crazy-I sweep the floors every day and the ceilings every other day. But as I was reading every ones posts I was looking around and its time to do a bit de-cluttering maybe. I have 3prs of shoes 2 prs of boots and an array of jackets and coats on the backs of chairs. Our weather is very squirrelly- Mon. was a hoodie-Tues was a jean jacket-Weds was a heavy wool long coat-today is a spring jacket - Fri and Sat. will be shorts and T-shirt. I try to keep up with my messes. And if I know I'm getting company I will dust and do a second sweeping. But I do a complete old fashion spring and fall cleaning I figure that's enough heavy cleaning a year. My sewing room gets a good going over after each project. I can not stand a messy sewing room -it zaps my creativity.

Tell him vacuums are not gender biased! lol

A spider needs a place to live, and if you ever look at a spider web that catches the light it is beautiful.
I remind myself of that every time I find one in my house.

I live alone and my kitchen and bathrooms are always clean, but I wait for my dear cousin to come down from Canada for a visit, then I do a deep clean - which reminds me she'll be here in 3 weeks so I'd better get started!!

I am in a cleaning frenzy at this time. My DH and I both got sick two weeks ago and are now better so it is time to change the sheets, clean the bathroom, vac and dust. I hate to clean or do anything when I am sick so if I start to feel bad, first thing I do is change the sheets so I will have clean sheets to be sick in. The first thing I do when I get better is to change the sheets so I will have clean sheets to feel good in. I hate to dust and vac but it seems I have a dust magnet and my dog sheds everywhere. I would rather quilt than clean but it seems that if I don't clean I don't feel like I want to quilt. Just an idiosyncrasy, I guess.

The dust bunnies may not kill us but it's the dust rhinos that worry me. :D They are scary and I swear they growl!
I clean bits and pieces here but mostly quilt and am job hunting too.

I don't have tooo much of a problem with the vacuum cleaner, its the dusting that drives me crazy. I hate it, however, after a remodel of the kitchen, the whole house is under '6 feet' of dust and insulation - even had to take my sewing machine into the shop for cleaning and oiling. So.........I guess it is time to stop the quilting and get on my horse and DO IT. This time will be ceiling to floor with bucket and swab (even the windows need to be done). Who knows - I might find Treasures. wish me luck.

I was also widowed in Feb. 2013 and I don't have a lot of company. I can definitely say I ain't scared of no dust bunnies. I do whatever I feel like when I get up I do try to keep up with some of the house work but I sew most of the time..

I can't stand a mess or dirt so I straighten up every day and clean once a week. Make my bed everyday, dirty dishes in the dish washer.... I even comb my hair and put make-up on every morning. No offense to some of you, but when you post pictures of your homes, my friends and I can't help but think that you too might want to spend a bit less time in front of the sewing machine, and a little more time tending to your cleaning. Yikes!!!!!!

I got the shelves( I spelled wrong in my new thread post) in the master bedroom cleaned today. HOO Ray! My DH had to stand by and go shake the rags and I used him to hold onto when I got off the top step of the stool. thanks for the flylady web site. I signed up for her e-mails. I also cleaned the lights over the master bath. I thought about boxing all my stuff up and leaving the shelves empty so easier to clean but If I am going to do that, I my as well get rid of it all. I can't. :eek::(

I have never let a cob web or dust bunnies bother me. As long as I have clean cloths, clean bathroom and the dishes are washed I'm happy!

I am also so very , very fortunate to have a dear huband that understands my need for sewing time after a forty hour work week. There isn't any chore he won't do so that I can be in front of my machine. I love him.
peace

After my husband died March 2, 2013, I needed to do something and so I just started cleaning. When I was taking care of him, stuff had to go by the wayside because he was more important than a few dustbunnies. I needed that work in the house to realize that it was me that was going to have to take care of it from now on, scared the bejabbers out of me. BUt here it is almost two years later. I am doing fine for a 76 year old bag!!!!!. I don't say I have to do this before I do that, but when I diddly darn feel like it. Every thing gets done one way or the other. But when I just felt like sitting and sewing, that so took precedence over everything. Who's going to tell on us, the Dust Bunnies?????? They are darn lucky we just leave them alone!!!!! I am in the process of starting a new quilt and there is a lot of fussy cutting in it, but I love it and I am happy when I can do stuff like sewing. Good luck to you Linda1. We'll make it! For you it is February and for me it is March 2. I will take a rose to Fort Snelling National Cemetery in St. Paul/Minneapolis and visit him for a while. And then come home. He was such a good husband and absolutely gorgeous. I think he is proud that I have made it alone - but with the dog, and since October 2 two parakeets and now in April I am going to get a couple of Finches and put them in my sewing area, hang them from the ceiling.

Take care. God Bless you. Edie

It seems if the kitchen and bathrooms are clean and the laundry and grocery shopping is done, and the sewing room cleaned up, I don't care about the dust. When I can see the dust on things on the high shelves that is when I say OK, that is enough , time to stop for awhile and get this museum cleaned up. I am kind of a hoarder but a neat one. I have a lot of stuff but it all has it's place. I always cleaned my kitchen cupboards one a year but now it has been 2 yrs. I seem to clean the small pantry about every two months and that is because I need to find stuff to cook with.

In 100 years, who will know if your house was clean or not? .....but I'll bet one or more of your quilts might have survived. That's my justification.