Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Not an April Fool’s joke at all – I’m cleaning up both sides of my studio today.

My cutting/ironing side was a disaster. I had emptied my batting scraps onto a chair so Pat could use the tote; I’ve had the tote back for awhile but it took until today to get those scraps back into it. I had scraps on my cutting table from my Easter projects and my latest birthday cards; I got those cut into bits and pieces and the larger scraps put back in their proper storage places.

I’ve been collecting things that I want to take to Calgary on top of my Tickle Trunk. The pile has grown considerably and I was concerned I wouldn’t have enough room in my suitcase for clothes. I perked up though when I realized I can take a suitcase plus a carry-on bag; I have a WestJet Rewards card that allows me a checked bag free of charge.

My sewing/computer side was even more of a disaster. First stop in the door was the portable table I set up to manage the cash from the quilt show. It was covered with scraps of paper, elastics, coin wrappers, plastic bags and any number of other things that didn’t make it any further into the room. I had bags of yarn that I brought upstairs the last time I cleaned beside my chair in the basement to put away; I had also emptied a tote of neutral colours onto a chair and I got them put back where they belong. The left-overs from my Boutique sales were under a pile of UFOs on another chair; that pile of UFO’s was recent as I went searching for a particular project that I wanted to use for a birthday card.

The top of my desk/table could barely be seen. I had quilt show papers, project papers, patterns and pattern books to sort through. While I was at that I worked a bit on another Easter project I’ll be taking to Calgary with me. I also cleared out a free binder I got from the Guild. Next up was my sewing table; it had bits of sewing “stuff” on it as well as office stuff (paper clips, receipts, etc.). My computer desk is cleaned off too although, because it is small, it doesn’t hold as much as my other surfaces and is easier to keep tidy.

While I was digging through some papers I found a coupon that was about to expire for one of the quilt stores that was at our show. So that it didn’t go to waste I used it to purchase a 10-degree wedge ruler; I just happened to have found the pattern I bought at the quilt show that needs this ruler.

But I’m not done yet. I still have some clean up to do on another surface; it is so littered with so many odds and ends it doesn’t even have a proper name!