12/4/13

No picture post

There will be no pictures today; no photographic evidence that can be held against me.  You'll have to use your imagination, based on my words.  I'm doing that instead of a picture because only a few of you will actually be able to envision how bad it was.  The rest will see it based on your idea of bad housekeeping, and that vision won't be nearly as horrifying as it really was.

I'm a quilter.  I like to quilt.  I quilt a lot.

I don't like to clean up after my quilting.  I don't do that a lot.

We use my Grandmother's end tables on either end of our sofa.  One of them is next to my place, under the lamp.  My good sewing spot.  The other is at Sydney's end of the sofa.  Where Sydney stays.  And, she can claim her own messes on my Grandmother's tables.

Now, you have to understand what my memory of these tables is.  My Grandmother kept one next to "her chair".  Her chair was where she held court when she had guests.  Nobody else sat in her chair.  We sat in the draft, in the uncomfortable burlap covered chair across the room.  I have that chair at my house, too.

Okay, it wasn't really like that.  But, it's my story, so I get some poetic license.

I get the whole not liking to clean up after myself from this very same Grandmother.  She was NOT the one that taught my Mom how to keep house.  (At my Mom's house, dust didn't settle on the furniture.  It went straight to the dust rag to save itself some time.)  Subsequently, that table was always covered by a pile of miscellaneous and unrelated items.  Honestly, you never knew what would be there.  We won't even go into the partial list that I can remember; it's not important to the story.  Just let's say that these tables got used to an assemblage of junk, left over from multiple projects.  And, they might be a little bit haunted by my Grandmother, who causes things to migrate there when no one is watching. 

Anyway, I digress because the mess I spent 15 minutes cleaning up this morning was my own.  Made over about 4 months.  And, God love him, permitted by Rob to happen.  Even though I'm sure it ripped at his OCD like a chainsaw.

I threw away a wad of thread that was big as a baby's head.  I kid you not.  There was every kind and color of thread in that wad.  I ran my thumb across it and saw remnants of a dozen projects. 

There were pieces of at least three individual sewing kits.  There were pieces from my hexie sewing kit, and pieces from my hand quilting kit, and pieces from my general sewing kit.  The pile included at least 4 pair of scissors, two hemostats, one thimble...where are the other thimbles?, five seam rippers, at least a dozen spools of thread, 400 paper hexies that had escaped their can, an envelope with a letter that was delivered in September, and for some reason, a green alligator watch band that I just had to have, but is too flashy for me to wear. 

Did I say I love Rob for letting me be me?

Lane

13 comments:

Marei said...

Let's face it...the table is the problem...it's got clutter gremlins. There is NO WAY that table will ever be clutter free for more than a couple minutes. It's all the tables fault! BTW when I read "green alligator" I couldn't figure out why you would even think of wearing an alligator! I need some coffee...and I don't even drink coffee. Oy!

Patricia said...

That green alligator watch bad sounds really "in". You should think about wearing it with those sharp pants you made and the green coat. You might really like the look! Be happy you have one table, I have a entire house (and on occasion a poodle) that looks like you describe your table. Be well and happy!

Unknown said...

Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one! When I am in the create mood, I don't clean up either, thank goodness most of it is confined to the sewing room or the quilting room. My rule for cleaning is: no garbage around, laundry in hampers, dishes not overflowing, and as long as emergency personnel can get in if needed, all is good!

Kath said...

am I the only one who is disappointed not to see the "before and after?". OK, I'll be honest, I just wanted to see the "before" (grins).

lw said...

I wanted to see the ball of thread,

We have a pass through shelf behind our sofa and it has serious clutter gremlins.

http://thankfullga447 said...

I cleaned around my chair this morning also. My life goodies are around my chair, hexies (3 boxes), 4 books, knitting,magazines, thread, snips of fabric and my goodie stash (candy). I put it all away, having 4 kids for dinner and they wonder. Now if I only remember where I put all the stuff.

Becky said...

My chair has a knee-high pile of books in the floor beside it, and my side table always looks like a cyclone has gone through. It takes me a morning to sort through it all (when I decide I can't stand it any longer). Maybe it is a quilter thing!

Nancy said...

So glad to know I am not the only one! I have a real problem filling up horizontal surfaces! Fortunately, it is just me these days so no one to get after me about it. Rob sounds like a good guy not to have commented. My apartment is not large and I have two lovely wing chairs (one a recliner) in my living room. One is covered in the quilting fabric I have offered on Etsy and the other is just mine. The floor has some pile of books that no longer fit in the bookcases. Perhaps that is something particular to those of us whose creativity can take over. Is that so bad? I don't think so.

Rebecca Grace said...

You know, we really ought to bring back the idea of tablecloths, except that they should go ON TOP of all the things on the table, so we don't have to look at our messes and so we can pretend they aren't there. ;-)

I feel your pain, but hope you didn't stop to COUNT all 400 hexies!

Cathi said...

Blame the clutter on grandma!

Lakegaldonna said...

Awesome! I totally understand. Don't beat yourself up too much as many of us are similar to you. At least you found stuff you might have been looking for.

Thanks again for frequent posts, you and your doings are a once a day check in. When you don't post I miss it.

Donna

Rita@PinPrickedFingers.com said...

Hahaha! My end table by my 'spot' is always cluttered with sewing stuff. That's what makes my 'spot' so sweet!

Anonymous said...


Thanks for this post. So glad to know that my "command central" is not unique in this world and so will be less anxious about it. Were it me, I would be hanging onto that ball of thread too as it has it's uses....
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