Stash Management

Does anyone else have a sewing room that looks like this????

Boxes of fabric, totes from classes you taught six weeks ago, boxes of projects half done. Not to mention being the household dumping ground for whatever doesn't have a "real" home? That is the state of my sewing room at the moment. And I am determined to resolve it this month. DETERMINED. I know part of the reason is the lack of storage (no closet), part is the abundance of stuff (see above), part is not having effective furniture  for the room's layout and part of it is that I just haven't been up to the task of taking it on. Instead I've come home from teaching, emptied my teaching bag onto the dresser, and then walked away to work on whatever needed to be handled next, or to pack for the next class or trip. When you do that for 8 or 10 weeks in a row you end up with this....a bit fat mess!!!! So stop one of the stash management plan is to clean it up, get it organized and come up with a more productive layout. I see you all next week and see what we got solved.....

Q2 - Goals and Plans

That's right, this Sunday, April 1st, is the beginning of Q2! I can't believe it is here already. I had SO many plans for Q1, and while most of the big ones got handled, a lot of the little ones got lost along the way.....primarily because I didn't put them out there somewhere, so here's the plan for Q2!!!

1. TOM in Montana -- flights are being booked this week, and the retreat is already paid for!!! I am just about ready to go!!!! Okay -- I still need to select fabric, pack bags, check the weather, etc, etc, etc but the big planning parts are done.

2. Market in Portland - is just around the corner in Mid-May. I am so excited!!! We are debuting some new products and it should be a lot of fun to see the girls and catch up with people that I only see every so often!!!!

3. Stash Reduction - as a lover of fabric and textile arts I have a tendency to collect fabric. I have decided that it is its own category of hobby, unfortunately as a collector, I really don't need entire bolts of fabrics, just small pieces. Additionally, as a designer and sample maker, it seems that even though I have more than enough fabric at home, I am always buying new stuff so that students can have the same fabrics as me for their projects, so the stash that I have is feeling unloved and unused. And lets be honest, space is at a premium in my house, and I really want to reduce the amount of stuff I have laying around. Now, don't worry, I don't see me becoming a minimalist anytime soon, but a reduction is in order. Not sure whether I'll destash stuff, or just give it away to the guild or just use it. But it's well past time for some serious stash reduction, and a serious fabric diet. Now, make no mistakes here a fabric budget of zero is not feasible. I simply can't control my life to that extreme. Nor do i really want to. I DO want to make an active plan to use stuff that I have. To commit fabric to projects, and get those projects done. So, next week, expect a list for Q2, and a plan for getting some of this fabric used, or gone.

4. Reorganize the sewing room/space -- for the first time ever (literally ever) I will be getting a new sewing machine. Not a new to me machine, a new new machine. I have the money all saved up, now I just need to figure out exactly what I want. Once that is done, it's time to reorganize/rearrange/redistribute the sewing room. I'm going to have real sewing furniture, not left over office furniture. Really furniture designed for sewing and crafting!!!! I'll already picked out and ordered by cutting table, but it won't be here until June. The new storage cabinet is on its way and will be here in just over a week. Once it gets here, it will be time to go through the fabric, put it on comic boards, and get it organized (thus #3 above is required). 

5. Projects -- There are so many projects that I want to work on in Q2. The list is insane. But I also want to be fair and not set myself up for failure. So here's the working list. In priority order (though not in time order, as some aren't available to start until mid-quarter). Basically, I have about 10 days to work on each of these projects....for some of them that will be way too much time, and some of them won't even make a dent. So, we'll have to see how it goes.

• Amazon Star - finish piecing and assembly
• Vintage Compass - finish curved piecing and border assembly
• Scandinavian Snowflake - finish appliqué corners
• Harbored Lighthouse - finish border piecing and assembly
• New TOM - Name TBD
• Winter Traditions - not yet available
• Sea Holly - not yet started
• DreamCatcher - not yet started

6. Blog More, Share More, Post More -- I really want to get more into daily posting, at least 4-5 days a week. Right now that seams like a really big goal, but I know that once I am in the groove it won't be, its really just about the discipline to do it. 

What I've been doing.....

Watching - Seven Seconds on Netflix -- it's riveting and scary and real enough to be true (not sure that it is, but it's possible)

Craving - Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips. There are tons of sweet snacks around, but I've always preferred savory ones.

Doing - lots of sewing lately. It's been quieter than usual at work, and I have gotten home earlier than normal, so I've had some time to really sew in the evenings. I've really missed it!

Obsessing - over the new Bali Poppies from Hoffman -- they are so cute!!!!

Loving - the rain that we have has over the last few weeks. I love California, but sometimes I really miss the seasons!

Reading - Younger Next Year - it's interesting. Just enough science to be interesting, and not so much that it reads like a text book.

Wanting - a new car. Or a new to me car. Don't get me wrong, I love my Accord, but I am ready for something new with a little more space and bluetooth.

Pinning - house plans -- not sure why, but that seems to be my favorite thing to pin lately.

Dreaming - of a vacation in Europe. 

Writing - not much of anything. Been way too busy lately. Hadn't even written in blog post in almost two months....

Crafting - Birthday Presents -- my favoritest (aka only) niece 

Sewing - binding, lots of binding, and hanging sleeves.

Knitting - nothing...I did a little crochet work on a COWL that I have been working on, but only a little bit.

Listening - To QuiltCam, and Pennies Into Pearls on YouTube. 

Wearing - my standard uniform of jeans and a tshirt.

Needing - nothing, all is good in my world!

Planning - Q2 details, and Q3 overviews for the business, and meals for the month of April.

 
Trying - new thread. I got some new 100ct machine piecing thread that I am trying out...so far it's 50/50. It's thin, but not strong....I still have some more testing to do before I decide it's final disposition, but for now, I'd say it is project dependent. 

and that sums up the happenings around here lately. As you can see, it hasn't been all that interesting lately.

And February Few By

I can't believe that we are approaching the end of March and I am just getting back to the blog. It has been incredibly busy couple of months around here, with an 8 weeks span without a day off, it's just been a little more overwhelming than I expected. But I've now had a whole entire weekend off, and am starting to feel a bit more like myself....

I finished this bad boy just in time for Bakersfield at the end of the February. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun this one was, or how amazing the quilting is. It will be a few months before I get it back in my possession for photography, so for now, I've stolen Jeremy's photo.

Quiltworx University Bakersfield was amazing, we had so much fun, and met so many people!!! The quilts were fantastic, and I can't wait to see them all finished!!!! We had 70 ladies at the week long retreat, and no duplicates, which was pretty amazing. The quilt was made up of a series of mixers, so each "round" had multiple options, so the number of different quilts available was insane! In case you are wondering, my quilt is made up of the following rounds : Moon Star, Moon Flower, Strippy Border, and Flying Geese Queen extension. Each round had at least 3 options (queen extension), and several had 9 options, so you could literally design 1000+ quilts from the mixer!

Now that all of the craziness of QU and all the preparations for it are all in the past, it's time to get ready for Q2! What?? Q2 starts next week!!! I can't quite believe it, it seemed so far away just a few days ago, and now, here it is hot on our heels. We have a lot of fun stuff planned for next quarter. A QAL, a special project, some new patterns, and a trip to Montana to enjoy a few days with Judy while learning all about the new TOM (Technique of the Month). The patterns won't be released until early next year, but we get our first sneak peak during the first week of June. So Excited!!!!

But until then, we have a couple of lingering projects to work on (do you have those?). First up -- Twinkle Star -- I made the corner blocks earlier this week, just need to do a little strip piecing for the center star, and then its assembly time. The great thing about this one is it has NO Y SEAMS! Zip, nada, the big zero. which means it goes together super easy!

Once that one is finished, its time to move on to this bad boy.....Amazon Star. This one has been in process for forever......I think I started it 4 years ago. I hit a snag with a fabric that I didn't realize was directional until all of the units were made, and some go one way, and some go the other, and it bothered me. So, I put it in time out. And then promptly forgot about it. I found it when I rearranged the sewing room over Christmas break, and put it on the priority list for 2018. And since I have been doing the 1 new, 1 old since the new year and it seems to be working, I'm hoping this is my new 1 old. I may have to make it into 2 olds, depending upon exactly how much replacing i need to do and to ensure that it doesn't end up back in time out.

Realistically, if I get all of that done before the end of April I will have made some major headway!!!! and have a large quilting bill!!! So, wish me luck!!! and I'll see you next time!

Cat 

January Summary

I can't believe how fast this year is moving. Seriously, we are now well into the second week of February, and I feel like it was New Year's just last weekend. And then I look at my phone and realize that it really was a jam packed month. After a fairly lazy late December, in which I did a lot of cooking and a lot of cleaning, and much less sewing than I would have liked, January came in with a bang....new projects arrived, new fabrics arrived, a full class schedule was on the books, and as a result the month literally flew by....

I worked on a couple new projects..... including this one for the upcoming Bakersfield retreat...

It's part of the new Cattails collection, and I am in love with it!!!!

I'm not QUITE done, but will finish it this week.

I also did a ton of teaching this month, at Cotton and Chocolate in Thousand Oaks (CA), the Orange Quilt Bee in Orange (CA), in Palm Desert (CA) at Monica's Quilt and Bead, in Glendora (CA) at the SewnSew, and finally we closed the month with a three day retreat at Sewing Machines Plus here in Escondido, right down the block from work. It was really nice to "teach at home" with a 5 minute commute to the store, and a lovely group of locals. 

I missed out on a majority of Road to California, as I was teaching, and it just really didn't work to get there during the work day, I did get to see the quilts that had been entered by a couple of my students as part of the preview night activities, which was really fun. It was great to see 5 Quiltworx quilts hanging at Road, a real tribute to how a single designer has influenced so many people and their art. 

That's about all of my January 2018. It was great, and I am super happy with how it fit into the years goals and plans! Do you have Quilty Goals for 2018?

What have you been up to?

As you know, i've been super busy working on some super secret sewing for a week long retreat in Bakersfield at the end of February....as a result, I've been busy sewing almost every night trying to finish it up. As many of you know, I love audio books and tv shows as background noise when I sew...needless to say, I've been binging.....

Watching - Colony on Netflix. SO GOOD! Do not start watching it! It's obsessive.

Craving - brownies. Josh has made brownies almost every night the last week or so, and I don't know what he puts in them, but oh my, they are awesome.

Doing - lots of sewing. Lots and lots of sewing.

Obsessing - over Emily Ley's new book, Simplified Life. I've tried to work on something every day, from cleaning out the closets to organizing the pantry. 

Loving - all of the Quiltville Mystery quilts "On Ringo Lake" that are getting finished. They are so pretty!

Reading - Grace not Perfection by Emily Ley (her first book) and The Total Money Makeover (yes, I read it every January to remind myself why I budget and what my goals are)

Wanting - a vacation -- preferably somewhere with a large body of water and a hammock. and an umbrella drink or 3.

Pinning - lots of recipes for my new instapot. I have yet to use it, but soon I will get up the nerve.

Dreaming - of painting the living room -- I wonder if I can convince the landlord to let me......

Writing - not much. I always have good intentions, but it's always crazy.

Crafting - does decorating count? because I have been doing lots of decorating....hanging curtains, hanging quilts, hanging pictures, hanging signs, etc.

Sewing - a super secret project, and not much else. 

Knitting - not a thing....not a single stitch.

Listening - to Harry Potter on Audible, and Pennies to Pearls on Youtube.

Wearing - my uniform of jeans and 3/4 sleeve t-shirts.

Needing - that vacation (see above).

Planning - my next sewing project

Trying - a couple of new recipes .... this week crock pot orange chicken and lemon pepper tilapia

Week 3 : January 15 - January 21

Well, it is week 3 of 2018 already. I can't believe it's already almost Road the California. Crazy!

We've been crazy at work, and busy sewing over the holidays, and busy getting ready for retreat in Bakersfield in late February. And my sewing room is atrocious. And the whole thing is driving me bonkers. I've always been one that could work in and through the chaos, but lately I've had this need to organize, simplify and clear all the things out. Starting with this disaster of a sewing room....

My sewing space is full of leftover Christmas stuff, quilts that are tops, but need backs, and miscellaneous half done projects. 

You see that last photo...that table has 2 leftover blocks from a quilt I finished on New Year's Day, 8 geese blocks that belong to my Bakersfield project, and a box of parts and pieces for my On Ringo Lake mystery quilt. I really need figure out how to single task and get these things done, so expect to see those items in upcoming Work in Process Wednesday posts.