Mid-year course correction

Here we are at the mid-point of the year and, as sometimes happens, changes need to be made.


I had wanted to concentrate on getting UFO's, WIP's and the like completed so that I could get on with other projects without the nagging guilt of all the unfinished items I was neglecting.


And I did pretty well with that.


But then, life happened.


Our gas meter, located in the basement, needs to be replaced.  Which means that all of the boxes, bags & totes that I had in that area needed to be moved.


The only place to move them was around the quilting machine.


So, at this point, my long arm is out of commission.


Moving all that stuff revealed that I really have a problem. . . . .with books, pamphlets, magazines and loose paper:

That is a five shelf book case that was in the house when I bought it.  So far I have cleared out an untold amount of magazines and loose papers from it.


Now I have to work on the books.


There are quilt books, crochet books, embroidery books, counted cross stitch books, etc.  Any craft you might want to know about is probably there in that mess.


The boxes and totes that you see contain projects, fabric, sewing tools, etc.  The wooden cabinet contains patterns, fabric, blocks, and sundry other items.


Since I need to keep that area open for the gas meter guy I am now going to focus on clearing out the books that I do not want.  They are all in very good condition. . . .and many are out of print and hard to find.


My thought is to sell as much as I can and then decide what to do with the rest.


As for the fabric, I plan on getting it folded uniformly and pulling out the smaller pieces and start using my Accuquilt to get uniform sizes for scrap quilts.


The other area that I need to work on is this:

This cabinet was purchased from the same family that we got the cabinet in the first picture from.


It holds quite a collection of things:

Thread and knitting needles

Yarn, crochet thread, pencils, leftover pieces of bindings

More yarn, a finishing kit for one of my UFO's.

I think the last two cabinet sections hold smaller bags of batting that have not yet been used.

Once I get through the bookshelf and the totes and all clearing this cabinet will be my next endeavor.

There is no way that I can use all of this stuff if I don't know what I have. . . . and if I am not interested in it anymore there is no reason to keep it.

Wish me luck!

In peace and pieces,


Sherry


This content was originally posted on the quilt blog Books, Hooks, Sticks, etc. (www.bookshookssticksetc.blogspot.com). If you are reading this on any site other than the original or quilterblogs.com it is WITHOUT my permission and the content has been stolen.

2017 Plans

Yvonne is having a Linky Party over at her blog (just follow the link on her name) for those of us that have plans for 2017 that we want to make public.  Oh my. . . .that means people can hold me accountable!!

I've mentioned before that I am pretty terrible about keeping up with quilt-a-longs and such, but I am hoping that I can get better with than in 2017.  So that is Goal #1.

Goal #2 is to keep up with the "Motivational Monday" exercises from Crazy Quilter on a Bike (I wrote about her on my last post.  That will keep me on track of what I want to get done so that I can keep my projects moving forward.

Goal #3 is to get more organized (which is a never ending challenge). . . but I am hoping that by concentrating on a few projects at a time that I will be able to work some organization into my routine and make some headway.

Goal #4 is to downsize. . . . .I have started to realize that it does not matter if I have the newest pattern or the most recent magazine. . . .because my style of quilting is more traditional and the money that I have spent on the "latest and greatest" would have been better spent in my retirement fund.  I have more books, patterns, magazines, fabric, yarn, thread, etc. than I could possibly use in three lifetimes so I really don't need to continue purchasing more "just because".

So, while I am working on my projects I will be using up what I have on hand before I go off to shop. And when I do go off to shop it will be with a plan in hand so that I don't get sidetracked.

Mr. Books and I have started to make plans for retirement. . . . although that is still quite a bit far off. . . .and part of those plans might include a move. . . .and I don't want to move all the stuff that we currently have on hand. . . . .so, if it is not good it will get tossed, if it does not work for me it will go to someone that can use it, but it will not just stay locked up in a tote box taking up space!

So, that is what I plan on concentrating on in 2017, what about you?


In peace and pieces,

Sherry

This content was originally posted on the quilt blog Books, Hooks, Sticks, etc. (www.bookshookssticksetc.blogspot.com). If you are reading this on any site other than the original or quilterblogs.com it is WITHOUT my permission and the content has been stolen.