de-cluttering?

 

   This year I am taking part, again, in Just Get It Done Quilts' 21 day declutter challenge.

Now, I am fully aware that this is going to take me at least three rounds of 21 days because I've been hoarding so much crap in my sewing rooms.  There is literally not a flat surface that isn't piled with stuff...except for my sewing machine cabinet, which currently has only my machine and a few tools sitting on it. 

   I've started in the North room. My cutting table and ironing table are (allegedly) both in here along with my Cricut and my Scan n Cut and my serger and a bunch of bins of fabric. 

These were taken on Jan 29, and some progress has been made.  Not enough, but at this point any progress is a good thing.  Many of the cardboard boxes are empty, ready to hold like objects as I discover them so I can then put them where they belong- things like scissors, pins, marking pens, measuring tools and other notions. 

  You can see a glimpse of the South room through the doorway.  It's in better shape as I did quite a bit of purging in there before Halloween and haven't been up there much to mess it up again. 😼  Hubby and I moved my loom to the garage, wrapped up in moving blankets and plastic.  I still want to sell it, but nobody seems interested in buying it at the moment. 

  I still have a vision of the wall in the lower photo lined with nice white cabinets that will hold my fabric and my serger when not in use (but with a space to sew with it). I thought that might happen this year, but I needed to have a stairlift installed in able to get up to this floor. A 3 flight, heavy-duty stairlift that goes around 3 curves is surprisingly expensive. (if you're thinking about $5000, you're too low.). When I'm upstairs, the chair parks where the loom used to be, so I still don't actually have more room, it just looks more open.  

My chapter of the smocking guild has been working on a group project called "Just Pin It", which is a sampler of various smocking designs meant to be framed and used as a place to keep our convention pins and the like.  I am spectacularly behind on this project.  I think this is month four, and I'm still working on month one.  Maybe I can catch up before the meeting on Jan 12th!  (ha. fat chance)

I have the borders done and have started the bargello unit ( top center) twice.  I decided I don't like the colors I was using, so went out with a friend and we picks out new ones that I liked better but will still coordinate with the borders so that I don't have to pull those out and re-smock them.  This project was designed by Carol Kick and is available to members of The Smocking Arts Guild on their website.