This TILDE has been a bust... got off to a great start then fizzled... but this NEW YEAR... I renew hope... tomorrow after a night of binging on good food.. I am going to start cleaning / purging for a half hour a day starting in the living room and working clock wise til I bring order to this house...

I pick up a remnant here and there from Walmart and look for good cotton fabric clothing at the thrift store to build up my itty stash. Love it when there's a sale at the LQS! I tell DH I'm stocking up for retirement!
Sherry

Lady Rags, I am with you!!!!!!!!!!I have spent many valuable hours stalking the quilt shops in order to have the best supply when I retire, ah heck, even for now to use!!!
I have my own business, so I can get threads and more threads for my business, I love to machine embroider as well. My theory is that when I want to at any time to go shopping in my slippers and bathrobe. Mind you my space or basement or (studio, when I want to sound really cool ) is very well organized. DH built the cabinetry for my stash even though it is, well bursting at the seams.

You know, that piece of fabric will not be there the next time you go the quilt shop!!!!!!!

Wow, Mary Kay, can I borrow your DH please? Mine's the opposite, I am neat and I come from a neat family, but I'm losing the battle here and picking up very bad habits along the way

Ann, my likes and dislikes change, too--that's why I got rid of those quilt patterns. I pretty much purged my fabric stash when we moved into our small condo. I still have a lot of fabric, but I'm more into using my stash than buying too much more. I love scrappy quilts and I want to make alot of them. I'm going to have to LOVE a fabric before I buy (except Civil War reproductions--I love ALL of those! ). Judy in Torrance

I find each year (and sometimes oftener) my quilting ideas and my likes and dislikes change. That perfect fabric that I bought for a perfect project no longer interests me and I think to myself "what in the world was I thinking" Usually my frugal nature says well keep it for a while and maybe you will use it and sometimes that happens. But about once a year (usually in the fall when we move back in to the mobile and I have to rearrange and organize the sewing studio/craft room) the purging frenzy hits me. So I set up a box and all the ufo's that I am sure I won't finish, the orphan blocks, the small scraps that could still make blocks, and the fabric that says what in the world were you thinking goes in it. After a few weeks I get a UPS box or a U haul box and start packing. Everything that is in the first box gets reviewed one more time with a very critical eye. If I can't think of a VERY IMPORTANT REASON TO KEEP IT, it stays in the box. then I go through my stash one more time with an even more critical eye. When all is said and done the box is mailed to a friend who does charity quilts for cancer kids and homeless moms with newborns. Like he says the baby doesn't care if the quilt is scrappy, he/she just needs to be warm. So it is almost time for the box to leave here. My stash will be more focused, I will feel good because someone else can use the stuff and my dh and dd will be glad it is some less for them to deal with if I die. So everyone is happy. Ann

mknavy90 and All others


I AM NOT GETTING RID OF MY STASH!!!! That is my retirement dream... I do not care if I have to stuff it under the bed ... it stays ... hubby can go....

You are right ... I have gotten rid of all other past hobby stuff as I have not done any XX stitch in years and no longer have an interest... I am keeping just my knitting needles... but everything else is going... I do not want to get rid my my needles as they were given to me my granny and my mom... myDD can get rid of them if she does not want them.



BUT I REITERATE MY STASH STAYS....

Mary Kay, what an awesome DH you have and what growth you have had!!! I'm working on the pack rat stuff. . .over the last five years, I've accumulated some treasures from two grandmothers and a father in-law and one daughter who moved back home as a roommate after living on her own for a year! Terry who is sewing a project from her stash!

Put something away throw something away every time you walk into a room. In my sewing room I could spend hours putting away and throwing away. I don't want to even talk about the garage.

I can't work or live in clutter. Our condo is so small that anything out of it's place makes me a little nuts! I organized my sewing area at one end of our living room and it helps me get more accomplished. I just have to make myself put everything back in it's place when I'm finished. I've finally conquered the "Susan Spotless Syndrome"-- a little dust never hurt anyone, and as long as the kitchen and bathroom are clean, I'm happy!!! Of course, my kids are grown and it's only my DH & me and it's easier with just two people. (Believe me, I remember all the work with four kids!!!) A couple of nights ago I took out all my patterns I've been collecting for 25 yrs. and I threw out alot. I'll be giving bought patterns to my Guild and the magazine clippings I'll never make went to the recycle bin. I think most of us have way more than we need--remember how most of us lived in the 1950's? I'm trying to stop buying stuff I don't need--even quilting stuff!!!

My goodness Mary Kay--I can really relate! DH and I both come from pack rat parents. It's in our genes! The in-laws were cured by a very bad fire and then a hurricane. Scary stuff. MY parents on the other hand bought the house next door, and then connected them! So... we're somewhere in the middle. When we moved into our new trailer we got rid of alot of stuff, but there are still bins of computer stuff and various other things that still haven't been "unpacked" after a year.
We'll keep trying to work on it!
Sherry in S MS

I grew up in an extremely disorganized and crowded home. My husband cured me of this habit over the past 10 years.

About 10 years ago, we got on a de-cluttering kick. Garage sales every year, and yes, there were some things that I had been holding on to (we laugh most now about the old Lucy (from Peanuts cartoons) shag rug pillow that I made in 5th grade) that were extremely difficult to get rid of - tears and everything were shed my me!

And then 5 years ago, when we moved back from Houston to Denver, he wouldn't move a thing that didn't already have a specific designated space in the new house. He keeps a pretty clean house (he is the Stay at Home Dad). In fact, it's Sunday morning (7:37am) and I need to wrap up so I can go do my share of this morning's vacuuming.

Because of these new habits, I regularly and pulling things out of my closets, stash, etc that I have not used in 1 year+ and I am packing it into bags to donate, share with friends, etc. We are always focused on not allowing my former pack rat habits into keeping things that will likely be better used by others.

We also ensure that we are not making purchases that are the short term "fun" stuff that will in short order will be stuck in the closet or clutter pile.

So in summary, everything in it's place, and a place for everything.... and if we haven't used it in a awhile, it's time to pass it on to someone who can.

These were life changing habits for me, and I am very appreciative that my DH kept moving us forward even when I cried, and kicked and screamed. I am a better person for it now!

Mary Kay

I went along for years with my sewing room in a mess, and I finally decided to take a week off, set a budget (I came in under budget), and just fix it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it now. I can find everything, and have a place to put everything, and I've already almost finished a new little quilt in just a matter of a about a month and a half. What's more, it's STILL a lovely, neat room.

I always felt I could do almost as well without doing this, but I found it soooo much more rewarding than I thought it would be, and it really was kind of fun once I got into it. I encourage you to take the time to do it. You will be rewarded with interesting finds and an inspirational work place.

(I wrote a running series of blogs on this and posted before and after pictures, if you want to see) Cheers.

My house is a wreck again ... and the sewing room is the worse... Last time I cleaned in here I stopped cause the machine called my name... I have to tackle cleaning again cause I can not find anything !!!

Bummer.... I will go back to posting progress cause that is the only way I actually get anything done.