I don't know about you but for me this past week went by way too fast. Of course working 56 hours this past week probably helped with that. I've put in a lot of long hours and my 30-30-30 plan fell by the wayside. But I am going to pick it back up this week.
Here in the south there are a lot of little festivals. This past week was Rattle Snake Round-Up in Whigham, GA. We have gone to this just about every year. They have different events such as snake handling exhibitions, snake cooking demonstration, some other reptile/wild life exhibits, lots of craft vendors, flea market type vendors and of course fair type food. Tatianna and Zach came over this weekend and we all went. It was a good time but the number of vendors and the attendance seems to be going down.
While she was here Tatianna and I went through some stuff. She is taking all my extra knitting looms. The young woman that she works with at church has a goal to knit 50 baby hats and donate them this year. The hope is by using her wrist more the young woman will strengthen it. Tats and I got everything set up for that activity including creating a knitting kit for her. Tatianna managed to knit 6 baby hats this weekend and we found directions for knitting booties as well. Tatianna and I both made a set to make sure we understood the directions. In addition to taking the extra looms, Tatianna also took the majority of the yarn. To be fair it was given to her but it was still here in my house taking up room. So it being gone is a good thing.
When Tatianna dug out the yarn, she found some more of the pre-cuts I have in my stash. I got those counted up. I believe that is all of the pre-cuts. So the grand total of pre-cut inventory is:
2-1/2" charms - 18 packs
5" charms - 115 packs
10" layer cakes - 74 packs
Jelly rolls - 24-1/2 packs
Fat Fifths - 58
Fat Quarters - 1,465
That isn't counting yardage. So I have plenty to keep me and Tatianna both sewing for the next little while.
Tatianna has been working on one of my UFOs. This was a quilt I started 12 years ago for Arianna. It was completely cut out and just needed sewing but there were something like 5,000 little 1 inch squares that needed marked on the diagonal. When Arianna wasn't interested in helping me mark them, I lost interest in working on it. Tatianna is getting all those little squares sewn onto the 2"x4" strips. Then she is going to bring it back to me.
When she does bring it back to me she is going to have a pattern that she wants to do make. We then will shop my stash for the project. She and I have similar tastes in colors and patterns so it shouldn't be too difficult to find fabric she likes.
As I mentioned there are all sorts of little festivals around the south. Another one close by us is Mule Day. It is the first Saturday in November. Kim would like us to have a booth this year. If not this year then next year for sure. That means I need to make up some throws to sell. He would like to see 12 quilts ready to go. That means something quick and easy, like a simple patch work or a Jelly Roll Race. I have the pre-cuts in the stash and ready to go. I just need to make the time to do it.
I still haven't figured out what my quilting goals are going to be this year. I need to make some or nothing will get accomplished. If you have suggestions send them on to me. For now I am going to get back on my 30-30-30 goal. It does make a big difference in my day when I do it.
What are some of your goals this year?
Do you have any ideas for quick and easy quilts?
How are you managing your stash?
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Depression, Holidays, Messes and a New Goal
I've been a little checked out for the past month and a half. At the time of my last post, I had learned of my baby brother's death. I was in denial at first but slowly the reality sank in. And I kind of shut down. I struggled with doing anything but going to work and coming home. Which made it difficult to celebrate the holidays. But with the help of my husband and children, we not only made it through, it turned out quite well.
During my shut down period, I didn't do any housework, organizing or crafting. My studio has always been the dumping ground of things that need a home so without me going through it for a month and a half, you can imagine what it looked like. The kids were fairly decent about keeping the rest of the house picked up.
So I as I was starting to mend so to speak and get my life back on track. I was watching a Just Get It Done Quilts video. Karen Brown was doing a Q&A. One of the participants mentioned that she was having trouble getting back into sewing after a death. Karen suggested that she take her time and grieve. Which was what I had done. But now my studio was a mess, my house is a mess and I was (am) overwhelmed. In answer to another participants question, about organizing and doing unpleasant tasks. Karen suggested setting a timer. She suggested 30 minutes. Just work for 30 minutes. I took this suggestion and ran with it.
Starting on New Years day, I started to do house work for 30 minutes. Then I organize my studio for 30 minutes. Then I sew/quilt for 30 minutes. I have been doing this just about everyday with the exception of Sundays. Has my house gotten miraculously clean? No, but it has gotten better. Is my studio organized? No, but it is getting better. In fact I have done a few things that I have been putting off doing. Have I finished up any UFOs? No, but I have made progress on a project that had stalled. In fact I frequently do more than just one round of 30-30-30. If feels wonderful to be accomplishing something. And it is helping to lift my depression.
Messes - Part of my mess trouble is I have too much stuff for my space. That is household stuff, crafting/quilting stuff, and plain old living stuff. In doing this 30-minutes of cleaning, I am deep cleaning. That means getting rid of stuff. I've thrown out expired medicines, worn towels and sheets, and junk. I'm donating clothes, crafting supplies that are in excess of my needs, and anything someone else my use. If I haven't used it in the past 10-1 years do I really need it? I am really trying to not bring in more stuff as well.
That being said. One of the first Just Get It Done Quilt Videos I watched was about using your stash. In it Karen has advised us to inventory your stash. This week I started doing just that. I've inventoried about 90 percent of my pre-cuts. I need to dig in a closet to find the rest of them. I am going to have a time inventorying the yardage. It's in about 10 bins and a steamer trunk in that same closet. But I need to find fabric for borders and backings so I am hoping to start that sometime in the next week or two. I hope to try a folding trick on the yard age where you wrap it around one of your rulers. It makes the fabric all roughly the same size for storage. The thing about inventorying your stash. You find all sorts of gems you've forgotten about. I plan to not only inventory my yardage but also manage it. I think that any yardage that is less than 1/2 a yard will get cut into pre-cuts and added to scrap management.
I just read that last sentence and I had typed "crap management" ( I fixed it of course) But "crap Management" could be just as good a title for what I will be doing. I'm talking about all of those pieces that are left over but too good to just throw away. They are crap until you figure out how to use them. I have 3+ tubs of them to deal with. Another of Karen Brown's videos is about managing scraps. I have decided to take her advice and make my scraps into usable pieces for scrappy quilts etc. I may have already figured out how and where to store those pieces. We'll have to see how things turn out.
In the meantime I will keep doing my 30-30-30 while I plan out my quilting goals for this year. I never did make any last year. The results of not planning/goal making is no progress. That will have to change.
Until then, Check out Just Get It Done Quilts. I think you will fine Karen Brown to be informative if not inspiring. You can also find her videos on You Tube.
During my shut down period, I didn't do any housework, organizing or crafting. My studio has always been the dumping ground of things that need a home so without me going through it for a month and a half, you can imagine what it looked like. The kids were fairly decent about keeping the rest of the house picked up.
So I as I was starting to mend so to speak and get my life back on track. I was watching a Just Get It Done Quilts video. Karen Brown was doing a Q&A. One of the participants mentioned that she was having trouble getting back into sewing after a death. Karen suggested that she take her time and grieve. Which was what I had done. But now my studio was a mess, my house is a mess and I was (am) overwhelmed. In answer to another participants question, about organizing and doing unpleasant tasks. Karen suggested setting a timer. She suggested 30 minutes. Just work for 30 minutes. I took this suggestion and ran with it.
Starting on New Years day, I started to do house work for 30 minutes. Then I organize my studio for 30 minutes. Then I sew/quilt for 30 minutes. I have been doing this just about everyday with the exception of Sundays. Has my house gotten miraculously clean? No, but it has gotten better. Is my studio organized? No, but it is getting better. In fact I have done a few things that I have been putting off doing. Have I finished up any UFOs? No, but I have made progress on a project that had stalled. In fact I frequently do more than just one round of 30-30-30. If feels wonderful to be accomplishing something. And it is helping to lift my depression.
Messes - Part of my mess trouble is I have too much stuff for my space. That is household stuff, crafting/quilting stuff, and plain old living stuff. In doing this 30-minutes of cleaning, I am deep cleaning. That means getting rid of stuff. I've thrown out expired medicines, worn towels and sheets, and junk. I'm donating clothes, crafting supplies that are in excess of my needs, and anything someone else my use. If I haven't used it in the past 10-1 years do I really need it? I am really trying to not bring in more stuff as well.
That being said. One of the first Just Get It Done Quilt Videos I watched was about using your stash. In it Karen has advised us to inventory your stash. This week I started doing just that. I've inventoried about 90 percent of my pre-cuts. I need to dig in a closet to find the rest of them. I am going to have a time inventorying the yardage. It's in about 10 bins and a steamer trunk in that same closet. But I need to find fabric for borders and backings so I am hoping to start that sometime in the next week or two. I hope to try a folding trick on the yard age where you wrap it around one of your rulers. It makes the fabric all roughly the same size for storage. The thing about inventorying your stash. You find all sorts of gems you've forgotten about. I plan to not only inventory my yardage but also manage it. I think that any yardage that is less than 1/2 a yard will get cut into pre-cuts and added to scrap management.
I just read that last sentence and I had typed "crap management" ( I fixed it of course) But "crap Management" could be just as good a title for what I will be doing. I'm talking about all of those pieces that are left over but too good to just throw away. They are crap until you figure out how to use them. I have 3+ tubs of them to deal with. Another of Karen Brown's videos is about managing scraps. I have decided to take her advice and make my scraps into usable pieces for scrappy quilts etc. I may have already figured out how and where to store those pieces. We'll have to see how things turn out.
In the meantime I will keep doing my 30-30-30 while I plan out my quilting goals for this year. I never did make any last year. The results of not planning/goal making is no progress. That will have to change.
Until then, Check out Just Get It Done Quilts. I think you will fine Karen Brown to be informative if not inspiring. You can also find her videos on You Tube.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)