Catching Up

Many years ago we had a plant employee who came in and said he was resigning. When asked why, he said he didn't like manufacturing, that the work was "too tensible." While I thought that phrase was hilarious at the time, I'm starting to think it might be a good phrase to describe my life right now!! :)

This year will be an interesting one, to say the least. I feel like a big puddle of mush when I get home at night. I need to make lists, something I've never felt the need to do before. Just sitting here at the computer desk, I looked around and a couple of things caught my eye immediately.

I've wanted one of these for years and finally ordered it:



It's still sitting in the box because I want it to go here in my sewing room:



Can you see where I'm going with this?

So the first thing I pulled off the shelf was this:



The strips for this were cut, what, two years ago? All I need to do is the subcutting and then can get to stitching. I love the Bento Box pattern, but the fabric is not me at all. It would make a darling charity quilt. I need to maybe put a plastic tub in my sewing room and fill it with these kinds of things - have them handy and yet all in one place.

So then I go out into the garage to get a plastic tub. Yes, I have a stash of those out there, too! I have stashes of everything in this joint. (Did you notice all the cutter dies that haven't even been opened in that picture?)

The garage .... what can I say? I'm paralyzed every time I go out there. I tried to start throwing things away last weekend, but didn't get very far. The majority of the things I want to keep for when I retire and get a house again. But some of them can go now. I took some pictures to get a grip on what all's out there. Here is just a tiny glimpse into the netherlands of my garage:





What a mess! That Singer sewing machine is going to Goodwill. Someone gave it to me, and I plugged it in, turned it on - yep, it works - and then stuck it out there. A blue dumbbell from the physical therapy exercises after my shoulder surgery. Pictionary? There's my oriental rug! China, yep, it's still there. I have no clue what is in those other boxes. There's another row of huge boxes behind and under the rug. A couple of antique tables. Curtain rods? Golf clubs just out of the picture. Several of those big white boxes - Christmas and other holiday wreaths. I don't even know where to start in this section. Not pictured, a bedroom set, chairs to a kitchen table. The list goes on and on.



Plastic tubs of BOMs, a box of stuffed animals, all sitting on an old hope chest filled with more china, crystal and silver. That red bag I found all alone in a box last weekend. In it is something my father gave me as a joke shortly before he died - a pair of carpenter's overalls because I was painting at the time. I never put them on. They're brand-new but I can't get rid of them. To put all of this in perspective - Dad will be gone 37 years in May. A long time to hold onto something that will never be used, but I just can't toss it. All of this right next to the freezer. Don't worry, there's breathing room between it and the chest.



An old kitchen table stacked over and under with more tubs of fabric kits and backings. Even some finished quilts. That Grace frame - never used. It was given to me as a gift during the period when my shoulder was shattered and not healing, so I never even set it up. Might have to rethink getting rid of it, but it's just in the way now.

There are lots more sections like this, but the QuiltMobile was in the way and I couldn't get good pictures. It does help, I think, to have photos so I can look them over and perhaps list out what's going and what's staying. I've got a 2+ vehicle wide garage, but only have room right in the middle for one.

Would I qualify for that hoarder's show? I hope not....... just joking here, folks, seriously!

It's rainy this weekend. It might be a good time to come up with a game plan, even though I won't be able to move much of this stuff without some help. Yeah, that's a good idea!

So if you don't hear from me for a while, send out Search & Rescue! Or an intervention team! Or better yet, movers!!