Jubilee block 13...and Everything begins with a good clean

We think of 13 as an unlucky number. Most buildings don't have a 13th floor. Friday the 13th is a good day to stay in bed.

Phooey! My little trip began on friday the 13th and while I was away, I made my 13th block. And, all that worked out just fine. (yes, I did rush to block 14, just so 13 could be behind me, but that silly supersitiousness hardly seems worth mentioning.)




I know this next stuff makes me weird. Can't help it. It's my thing.

I was hesitant to show you my sewing room storage area because it looks like a small explosion took place there. It always looks like a small explosion took place there, except when it looks like a large explosion took place there.

When I've been working on an internal problem; trying to make some change in what I'm doing or how I'm acting or what I think about something, I can get very intense and in depth and retrospective. Rob has told me that he recognizes a good clean as a sign that I am feeling better or have solved my problem or that a depressed time is ending.

Yesterday, I decided to clean this storage space. It wasn't too bad before, tho I did have stuff stacked on the floor, which meant I needed to find more places to store more stuff. And, my Mom sent stuff home with me, so there was going to be even more stuff stacked on the floor, or it was going to have to stay in Rob's garage...and unless I want him storing saws in the sewing room, I needed to get out of the way in his garage. So, I decided a re-org was called for.

At one point, it looked like a fabric oriented episode of The Hoarders. At one point, I had pulled so much stuff out that I couldn't get out of the closet and into the rest of the house. Once it was all pulled out, it was time to figure out what to keep and where to keep it and what to get rid of (watch for some pattern giveaways). I had to attack the problem from many fronts. Sometimes, I was organizing in the garage, figuring out what needed to come in and getting it with similar items. Sometimes, I was organizing from inside the closet and sometimes I was attacking the pile from the left and sometimes from the right. By the time that Sydney got there at 4:30, everything was in it's new designated area and I had vaccumed and was cutting scraps. And, in a very pleasant mood.

Everything isn't in its right spot yet. That's fine tuning. But, it was in its designated area. An area for yarn work and an area for paper crafting. An area for my scrap books and photo albums. A place to store all those vintage machines I own...well, almost; I need a place for one more and two are going on craigslist. All the patterns were in their right boxes and all the garment sewing supplies were together. I could actually get to my gardening books. My already started projects are within arms reach, so maybe I'll reach for one of them instead of starting something new. Maybe.

I had rendered about a dozen pair of jeans down into usable fabric and got all my heavy duty fabrics together so I can actually use them to make quilts. My one recurring thought through the day was that I can't use all the stuff if I can't find it and get to it and if I'm not using it up, then I have to stop bringing stuff in. So, the solution to bringing new stuff in was using up the stuff I have. Logical, right?

Anyway, now I'm going back to making charity quilts. There's a great deal of satisfaction that comes from making them and spending all my quilting time working on projects for me just didn't provide me with that. And, after a four month break, I'm looking forward to it. I'll spend some time on quilts for me and some time on quilts to donate.

And, I have some wonderful things started that I just need to get on with. Cleaning was a way to get back to what I enjoy. Cleaning means a fresh start. For weeks, I had the voices of other people in my head. Constantly talking to other people and planning what I'd say in this situation or that situation; thinking how I'd react, or how I'd feel; and actually feeling those feelings as though the whole thing was real and not just something in my head. Yesterday was the first day I was alone in my head.

Consequently, because I was working so hard, I was all alone outside my head, too. Hard work is lonely like that.

Have a great Wednesday. This Saturday is the end of my quilting class. Can't wait to see what everyone did for homework.

Lane