Thread: What are we organizing today 2019

Irishgal: That is a great accomplishment!

jmoore- yes, I need more hours in each day, at least 24 more LOL. Actually, I just need to learn to say no and that I don't have to try and grab every artistic opportunity that comes my way--- or at least to plan a little better so that I already have things ready to go when an opportunity does present itself.


Rob

Rob

Good job, Conchalea!

I was spinning my feet earlier today. I couldn’t get motivated to make the BOW so I decided to start sewing some scraps from my ‘less than 2” wide’ drawer. I started with 2-3” lengths I had bagged and just sewed pairs together either side by side or end to end. Then I sewed a few of the pairs into 4’s. Now I need to iron them.

Wow, all that snow! This is the time of year that I am really grateful to be living in the South. Brrrrrrrr.....

Well, I cleaned house today so I feel very virtuous. No sewing time today but I did straighten up my sewing area and got it ready to be used.

Everybody in the snow and ice, stay warm and safe.

I cleaned my living room! Pulled out the couch cushions and vacuumed...so glad I do not have carpet...I don't know how many times I cleaned up the floor...lots of little crumbles all over. And then the Grands started trickling in..no school..lots of snow on their boots and pant legs that puddles in the mudroom. After they left I pulled up the rugs from the floor there and threw them in the wash...tomorrow's another day at home.

Connie love your mindless sewing. I, too, do that when I want to sew and just not think! Almost done with the homespun quilt tops...maybe tonight.

At the beginning of the year I set goals for decluttering in Jan, Feb and March. Due to the gallbladder surgery, I fell a little behind, but managed to do a modest declutter of the hallway. My Feb. goal was to get the sewing studio/guest bedroom decluttered. The main problem areas have been the guest bed and the nightstand which are always piled high with WIPs and the side of the room that contains my Sweet Sixteen, small cutting table and the recliner that sits in the corner between the nightstand and the cutting table. The bed, nightstand, recliner and cutting table are always piled high with WIPs and an assortment of other things that don't have a home.

After looking at a variety of storage solutions I got some great, relatively inexpensive, plastic drawer units from Target. They are meant to sit on a desktop but the drawers are 14" so they can hold 12" blocks. Each drawer unit has 3 drawers and runs around $12. I bought 4 and stacked them 2 high on the radiator that sits behind my small cutting table. They took the place of a wire rack that was filled with an odd assortment of containers holding UFOs that were still in small pieces and various odds and ends. It looks so much better and holds everything that was in the wire rack plus some additional UFOS that were stored in those plastic scrapbook paper envelopes and stuck in a cardboard box under the table. That left room in the cardboard box for me to put some WIPs (in protective plastic) that were too big for the drawer units. Now my WIPs have a place of their own that's easily accessible without being stacked all over the guest bed and the chair! Progress

Rob

Sewbizgirl and oksewglad: Please pass some of those cleaning vibes my way. .

Rob: Way to go with solving your WIP problem. Thanks for sharing.

Rob, it sounds like you have made great headway on your February goal. I’m glad you found containers to better organize your WIPs and UFO’s and I bet it feels great to have it neat and tidy. Congratulations on your decluttering progress.

I have been sorting through scraps as a break between sewing. Some I am cutting with my die cutter as strips. Others are just being put away. Some I am using to add to scrap projects. I go through stages where I just toss things into boxes and now I have a monumental task in front of me to sort through the boxes. It will be a loooong process but I don’t have any set time to have it finished. It just feels good to work on the process.

When I finish a project I'm left with an almost full tub of the left overs. I finally decided that they have to go somewhere. So I started putting them back into their respective color tubs, and the small pieces into the scrap bags. That leaves an empty tub, so the next project goes in there.

But last night we had this thing call the "Wind". It took about 6 pieces of siding off the house, off the two story part and ripped them up and strewn them all over the yard. Of course along with horrible ripping sounds. Since I am so unstable on my feet I had the renter go out and pick them up so they would not blow around and hurt someone. The wind is still blowing this a.m. and I am afraid that I won't be able to turn that in to the insurance company until the entire event is over.

That siding is over 25 years old as I've owned that house for 25 years and I did not put that siding on. Anyone have experience like this?

Thanks in advance, Marcia.

Sorry to hear about the siding, Marcia. I’ve had wind tear shingles off the roof, but not siding. In my case the storm was over before I discovered the damage, so I’m not sure if you need to wait to contact the insurance company or not. If you have a local agent who you bought the policy from I think I’d call them and ask how to proceed. Otherwise try calling the insurance company directly (that’s what we have to do now since our agent has retired) and see if you can get the process started.

Rob

Meant to add- your insurance company may have info on reliable contractors and materials suppliers. Mine keeps a list and if you use one of the contractos on ther list for covered repairs, the insurance company will guarantee the work and cover any fixes that need to be made if the work was not done correctly.

Rob

Glad to hear you got home safely, Conchalea! It must have been pretty scary riding in that wind. We had a lot of wind yesterday and some today, but not like what y’all are describing.

Bought one more plastic drawer unit with wheels and Two more of those desk top ones today on the way back from the barn. Tonight or tomorrow I’m going to finish organizing my sewing studio/office and will look for some more things to get rid of as well.

Rob

Conchalea: I’m glad you got home safely. It sounds like you are making progress with decluttering. I go through spurts and I know it feels good to get even a little done.

Battle Axe: I’m sorry you had bad winds. Rob has very good suggestions for you on how to start the insurance process. We had bad winds yesterday and I know at least one small branch came down but no house damage that I know about anyway.

Oh, I like that, Conchalea!

I find that I am struggling with throwing things out. I've got weird odds and ends in my studio like the enormously long piece of elastic off of a fitted sheet with a bit of ruffly fabric still attached that I look at and think, "that's an interesting texture, maybe I can use it somehow" so it never gets thrown away. Surely I could just create a ruffled piece of fabric if I ever need one....

Rob

Conchalea: I love that wallhanging! I am thinking of putting my BOM applique blocks into wallhangings instead of making them into a quilt. I have white walls in my main living areas and it's time to add some pop of colors around.

Rob: I am chuckling over your elastic with ruffled fabric on it. I probably have some of that laying around in boxes that were from my DMIL.

tranum: I need to remember the advice you read in that book. Thanks for sharing.

There won't be any organizing for a few more days for me. I'm too tired after subbing and I have 2 more full days this week.

tranum: I just counted my empty plastic shoe boxes and I think there are 23 of them. Hmmm! Do I really need to keep that many? (Chuckling to myself.) I do plan to organize a few closets and will probably use some of them and then I can say goodbye to those extras.

After so long the elastic deteriorates...don't ask me how i know!

Empty shoe boxes...sounds like a good thing.

Made it to work this morning..one lane paths on my country roads. Still unplowed on my return home. Lots of ice to skate over as one goes down a hill. Supposed to be school in the morning but can't imagine a bus on these...and yes it's a bus route and no alternate routes.