Teen

The sewing space pictures look fantastic, you guys! Lovely creative spaces…Doesn’t it feel good?

Rob…good to hear about the DH. We don’t want him anywhere near a hospital so it’s good he’s home.

Sharyn…wow….you really decluttered. I bet it is really nice for you now.

Red….I still have some patterns on my computer I need to print out. I forget what is on there so I really need to review them and remind myself that I have them. Good job..

I’m working on our taxes and closing out 2021 files….so, not much else going on here. Feb is a big month in our family with birthdays so been writing out greetings and shipping no-nothing love gifts…This is the month for annual physical and the myriad of girly exams, too, so, I’m somewhat organizing…lol..

Gemm

KalamaQuilts - what a huge undertaking! I'm so pleased it's been rewarding for you, and I really admire your forethought and ownership of the process. I'm sure you're going to really enjoy the sewing you can do on the special pieces you kept for yourself. :-)

EmiliasNana

KalamaQuilts: So good to hear from you. Downsizing is hard no matter what the reason or approach, but like you my mind was burdened with all I had and the knowledge that I wouldn't live long enough to use it all. I, too, am a cancer survivor and doing well as far as I know now, but life is fragile and no one knows, do they? I was lucky enough to have a resource I could donate to and pretty much got rid of everything I chose to part with, within a couple weeks. I didn't need the money, but because everything was still useable or unused, wanted it available to those who could. Sometimes my enthusiasm for projects or techniques overpowered my willpower and the accumulation became more of a burden than a pleasure. Everything I have left, I love, and God willing, should be finished in another 10 years LOL

rryder

Kalamaquilts- Great to hear from you! Kudos to you for downsizing on your terms, so you can enjoy the things you chose to keep.

I'm still working on getting my batting scraps under control. Have some more bits to chop up for pillow stuffing and then I'll start working on making frankenbatting from the larger pieces. I'm just doing it in a little at a time, but hope to be finished by the end of the week. Then I'm going to take a good look at my studio set up and decide if I want to take the time to do a little rearranging so that I can more easily use my VX560 for sewing rope baskets.

Rob

Julienm1

Rob, I took a day to reorganize my fab and decided to take a time out and trimmed/sewed batting hunks and pieces together. Made a "batt" large enough for a donation quilt that will go to a new home this Sat. So freeing to get the batts under control.

Now I'm working on PIPs (projects in plastic baggies) that I discovered. Found a bag with enough blocks to make a quilt for Project Linus that will be donated Saturday.

Next have to decide if I relly wat to look at the pile of print out patterns.

The organizing never seems to end...

Gemm

I have been trying to get my head around how to pare down my fabric stash but keep slipping off the fabric moratorium wagon. A recent thrift store purchase was just under two pounds of yo-yos and as I was dismantling them for the fabric I discovered that they had been stored where the sun got to them, and just about all the ones made from the prettiest fabric (the one that actually pushed me to buy the scrap bag) have sad fade lines (or circles).

This made me wonder - most of my fabric is stored in semitransparent plastic totes/underbed boxes. Does anyone know if fabric stored behind that kind of plastic is still prone to fading? I don't think any of my boxes are in places where the sun is ever likely to hit them for more than an hour, if that, but I'm wondering if perhaps I should be finding a different storage solution for the boxes that don't have beds or closets to hide under or in. Thoughts?

Iceblossom

Light issues is why I've kept my fabric in cardboard. Cardboard has some issues you should be aware and should never be stored directly on a cement floor and should be temperature/climate controlled -- it will wick up moisture and that can encourage/attract mold and bugs and such.

I think so long as it is not stored in direct light of a window, I'd get some archival tissue paper and simply line your plastic with that. Here's some examples:
https://www.amazon.com/acid-free-tis...er+for+storage

rryder

Julienm1- isn't it a great feeling to get a useable piece of batting from those scraps? I enjoy making frankenbatting because it's mindless sewing that also produces something I can use and helps to declutter my space- win, win, win!

Gemm- Don't know if this would be helpful for you, but what works for me on keeping my fabric stash under control is to limit the size of the storage space I have for it. If my storage is full, I can't buy anything more until there is room. I do make exceptions if I need something to finish up a project, like a backing fabric, but this rule has really encouraged me to shop my stash first anytime I'm working on a project. It's also helped me become more choosy when I do shop for fabric because I know there's limited space to store it and I'd rather store things that are useful for multiple projects (like blenders, neutrals, wow, etc.) rather than something that will sit until I find just the right project for it. Also, I started keeping my stash in the translucent plastic drawer units (I got them from Target or Walmart) so that I could easily access them, rather than using stackable totes. I found that I was more likely to shop my stash when it was easy than if I had to go through multiple totes, or pull stuff out from under the furniture. I haven't had any problems with fabric fading in them, but I try to keep them out of direct sunlight.

Rob

Julienm1

Rob, your shopping/storage rule is exactly why I spent a day organizing. Now I know what I have and where it is...usually within sight. Next project is sorting all the charms I have in those opaque shoe boxes. That's gonna take longer than a day...lol

KalamaQuilts

Today's letting go of the quilt Stuff. There was a stack twice this high yesterday.
That is a Great Dane on top to give you perspective...just kidding, that is little Fiona who lost her family to covid
and came to be with us.
I am so looking forward to only having what I Need
Gong Hee Fot Choy everyone, the year of the Water Tiger!