Dusting out the cobwebs...

     So when we last spoke, I was considering cutting my Pioneer Woman fat quarters into more usable squares... which I did! Some I cut 4-1/2", but that seemed a little big, and some I cut 3-1/2," which seemed "just right." I already made up my mind, unlike Goldilocks, to skip trying the 2-1/2" size which would have been too small. Any of these sizes will make great 12 inch finished blocks, if you ever decide to chop up fat quarters! I do have an abundance of ideas for them, but...

    before I even finished cutting them, I got mad at myself for starting yet more projects and I put everything away for now! It has come to my attention that the general MESS my sewing room has become is one of the main reasons my creative juices are dried up. I mean, I can barely walk in there, let alone know or find anything I have.

    I decided to box up some of my unfinished stuff and relegate it to the cellar for now-- until my life gets a little less crazy. So this includes many, many unfinished small pieces-- like the small My Christmas Album piece, both Once Upon a Time, Winter pieces, all three "Twist" projects, and binding only on many of my yearly series from Sept- Dec when I ran out of gas on getting bindings on! And that is only about 5% of what I boxed!

    I do have a bit of a fatalistic streak, and everything time I box something up, I wonder if I will ever be unboxing it-- or who will eventually unbox it-- hee,hee-- and what they will think! But year after year, three boxes of Christmas ornaments still get unwrapped by me, myself and I- so let's knock on wood these dear things will eventually be unboxed by me, and finished by me! I can see myself pulling one out a time, from the top down, and completing them in some future place.

    This is the "after" picture of the closet and many hours of work, in case you think it's the "before"! It's not very glamorous, but I can now see what I have-- notice TWO EXTRA IRONS, haha!

     Then I boxed up some kits-- the remaining Frivols, some Sew Sampler boxes, my Dessert Quilt, and a couple of other large kits that I will not be getting to this year. Won't it be fun to unbox this stuff, when I forget what's in there-- what delightful surprises!

    Next, I'm going to box up some fat quarters and other untouched fabric that I just don't want to break open for now. All of this has really given me the room to at least navigate around in there and hopefully organize what's left and what I do want to work on.

    Here are two things from the "unfinished pile" that are SO CLOSE I'm going to try to just winch them across the finish line.

     This is a little wall hanging I made (or was making, LOL!) for my figure skating daughter about ten years ago. I actually sat during her ice time and worked on it. It's a Fig Tree pattern-- well before the day I knew who Joanna Figueroa was, or what Moda was, or Grunge fabric. So I was delighted to rediscover it! 

     My daughter will still love this-- all it needs is about 50% more free motion quilting and it's done. I even did the binding before the quilting-- haha. A real breach of quilting etiquette there-- what a novice!

     Here is my "applique" work-- it speaks for itself! I love it-- perfection has eluded me for many decades, so why make it a priority now?  The loose strings are quilting threads, waiting to be buried, for so very long now-- they will get their due!

I guess this was also from the free motion quilting pile--

     This is a slightly younger piece-- back in the days of Craftsy. It was Lori Kennedy's class-- her free motion is very unique and folksy-- look her up. So this was a practice piece-- it looks like I was going to make six of them. So five untouched quilt sandwiches went to the donate pile, and this one just needs the binding stitched down. Again, I love it, and I can just use it as a little candle mat or something. I hope to continue to just box up and get control of my space for the next couple of weeks.

     I didn't get any sewing done on Mother's Day as I had hoped-- and I'm falling behind on A Ribbon Runs Through It. This is Block 13 of 16-- to stay current, all 16 need to get done by the end of the month. Gonna try my best! Then Phase One of this project is over.

  

Flying geese are such a problem for me-- after twelve blocks, you'd think I could do it! I tried stitching a little to one side of the drawn line-- then a little to the other side of the line-- then I just stitched RIGHT ON THE LINE for goodness' sake-- but I still end up with a little scant-ish seam in one corner. I'm just going to let it go-- I'm using a little shorter seam length, and I don't think the quilt will fall apart over it. I already checked, and Phases Two, Three, and Four have more opportunities to not get them right.

My cross stitching project is getting very exciting and very, very close to being finished. My mom and Mr. SFO have made a running joke every day of saying-- "Are you going to finish that today?!" I'm still laughing along, and one day, maybe within a month, I will put the last stitch in right under their noses!

     And here are my Gypsies--

This is a Facetime snap when they exited Smoky Mountain National Park. Watch their YouTube Channel, Gypsy Trails-- it is way better than anything on TV! I am pleasantly surprised that they have been able to get in touch by phone, Facetime, or even text for all except a couple of days. Still, I miss them terribly. If I had realized when they drove away in April, how a happy part of my life was ending, I definitely would have cried more! 

But as they say, you can't go back, you can only go forward, so I will keep on clearing out cobwebs, both real and imagined, and take a day at a time.

xoxo

Carol