In a cleaning frenzy!

My friend Joannie comes over to sew with me on Monday nights. I am fortunate to have a large quilting studio over my garage with enough room for at least three people to sew comfortably. Last night Joannie was working on her third Jungle Monkey plain patch/4 patch and I got bitten by the cleaning bug. Actually I was inspired by a new quilt blog I'm reading called "Fabric Therapy" http://fabrictherapy.blogspot.com/ . (Silent cheer: Yeah! I just added my first link!). Teresa is uber-organized, and her blog posts just resonated with me. Note: I will NEVER be as organized as Teresa.

Anyway, first I started by going through all 18 cubbies in my new craft table and making a numbered diagram and a list of all their contents. Surprisingly, about 4 or 5 were empty (I remedied that!) and I found a number of projects that I'm inspired to go back to. I also brought in a large zebra bin that I started throwing all the leftover pieces in. Eventually my plan is to pick out a couple of scrap quilts to work on and to work from the bin. In the meantime, I have plenty of UFOs to work from, so the bin contents are safe for now! I also made a bag of batting scraps and flannel scraps. And, as I emptied old, finished projects (I tend to keep the leftover pieces forever), I made a pile of empty ziploc bags for new projects!

Next I attacked the plastic bag mountain and threw away the nasty old dog beds that someone had "re-gifted" me. Although I had washed them a million times, they were still gross. Plus, the puggies have new zebra dog beds to match the new decor in the studio. There is still more cleaning and organizing to be done, but I feel exhilarated!

Tomorrow I'm going to the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Worcester http://www.sewingexpo.com/  I'm taking a class on "sweater dream coats" made from a bunch of different sweaters. Since I'm addicted to the sweaters by Jill2Day on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/jill2day?ref=ss_profile, I thought I'd try making one of my own. Although I fear that I'll start haunting Goodwill and Savers and start collecting sweaters! I'm going back on Friday night with my friend Marion. We're taking a Friday night class, sleeping over and then a couple of classes on Saturday. Naturally, we'll hit the vendor mall. As usual, Marion will spend nothing, and I'll break the bank. Oh well! It's great to have girlfriends to play with!

Next blog post, I will try to add photos!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy