Love it or lose it

I spent this weekend cleaning up in the studio and playing love it or lose it with my fabric and tools.  It had gotten out of control.  Like you had to be careful walking around because there was so much stuff on the floor.  I could only step a couple steps into the closet without stepping on a quilt folded up and piled there. That had to change.  There are no before pictures, thank you for understanding.  I started in the closet, with the goal of getting rid of a third.  I did not succeed, and I guess I knew I wouldn't, but I still got rid of a lot of stuff.  Old stuff, stuff I'll never use, stuff I bought when I was a new quilter and thought I needed a piece off every bolt and every new tool that came out.  And, I started on the fabric.  It had one chance to make me say I love you, and if not, it went in the giveaway box.  I went through all the collections, like the civil war fabrics and 30's repros and 50's repros and Christmas and batiks and if it didn't strike my fancy, it was gone.  There were a lot of prints that were weird multi-colors or largish prints that I'd tried to use in quilts before, but had never been able to make fit anywhere.  They're gone.  

I told Rob I may as well give it all away because I had enough UFOs and kits to keep me busy for the rest of my life.  

The studio still looks cluttered.  I guess that's to be expected in a room that holds my home office and where three machines are always ready to sew (Bernina for quilting, a machine for piecing/sewing, and a treadle) and where there's a place to sit in front of a window and relax with some handwork.  That's a lot of purposes for the smallest bedroom in the house.  To me, it's cozy, but I get where it might make someone else claustrophobic.

And, the closet.  UFOs on the left (at an angle where you can't count them).  Patterns and tools for working with yarn and floss across the back.

And, Linus fabrics and fabric collections to the right.  

And the giveaway pile in the garage.  Rob has a friend that sells things and believes everything has a value.  She give it to loved ones, sells it, or barters it for other things.  And, she'll take just about anything.

During the week last week, I was all about work.  There isn't much going on right now, so I took several training classes, part to increase my understanding of my job (there was no training when I started...they just handed us a computer and the first few of us created the job).  I need to learn more about the stuff the others added to the job responsibilities so I can continue to be a good mentor.  The other part was for software skills because I'm pretty good, but I could be so much better at working with and presenting data.  

I also managed to make two people very angry and I'm not sure how.  I asked some very detailed questions to them both.  I was polite and asked some followup questions.  And, while I got the answers, I pissed them both off.  Communication isn't my strong suit and I'm always working at being a more effective communicator.  I have to remember that no matter how I think I'm presenting, there's another person involved in the communication and their feelings and emotions come into play.  But, it still makes me feel bad when I make someone angry.    

Communication will always be a WIP. 

Everybody have a great week!  I know there aren't many pictures in this week's post, so I'll tease you that next weekend is quilt folding weekend, where I refold all my quilts and put them back into the closet in an orderly way.  There are always lots of pictures after that.  

Lane