Parting Ways

I'm parting ways with some of my possessions.  Not exactly because of a challenge, more like, "Do you want to do this game with me this month?"  My daughter was referring to the Minimalism Game.  She knows my penchant for collecting (fabric and thread and paper and sewing supplies, small cards with beautiful images, lace, seed pods, multiples of almost anything that catch my eye, and so much more) and how hard it is for me to let things go.  But this seemed both sensible and doable--giving up one item on the 1st day of the month, 2 things on the 2nd day, 3 things on the 3rd day, etc., through the whole month.  "Sure," I told her, "I can do that with you."  I didn't realize how much time it would take to decide which 12 things to pass out of my life in one day, and which 13 things the next.  I have no idea how it will be on the 31st!  (It was easy choosing 1, 2, 3, even 8 things, but at 10 it began to take time to sort and decide.)  Anyway, that's one of the things I'm doing this month.  (Or should I say 31 of the things I'm doing.)

A few weeks ago we moved an overstuffed chair-in-need-of-reupholstering from the room where I sew, which gave a clear view to a very large bag of thrift store clothing and fabric, a box of already cut-apart shirts and crochet cotton, and a stack or two of shirts that had been hidden behind it.  The view was too dismal so I pulled all the shirts out and began sorting them, in-progress, above.  I bought some of them before I had a good idea which fabrics are better for quilting and which are not.  (Some shirts are either too thick, too stiff, or just plain not friendly to a quilting needle.)  But still, what to save, what to pass on? 

The stack under the chair is going and probably a few more of the uncut shirts.  Some of them I've already cut apart and they're ready to be cut for blocks and sewn into a quilt.  The ones below are no longer shirts (except the reds on the left), but fabric, stacked in the closet.  Will I use them all?  Who knows.  

I've sorted through the clothing/fabric that was behind the chair, but there's more upstairs, and downstairs, and on the bookshelf.  I can't sew fast enough.  

So far I've passed on or thrown out uncut shirts and other clothing; some toiletries that have been sitting in the bathroom cupboard for too long--that cupboard's really deep, and I sorted only one shelf; some outdated canned goods; some plastic hangers; some papers; some toys that haven't been used for a while....  I honestly don't want to do a deep clean of all my closets but I may get to that point by the 25th or 26th.  Of course, I could always go through magazines, but maybe not books.  Or I could go through the stacks of genealogy notes and papers sitting near the computer.

We've lived in this house 21 years.  It's bigger than the one we lived in before.  How did this one get so full when we had just enough in our old house?  It seems I fill the space that's available.  Of course, I wasn't quilting when we lived there.

Every day I'm quilting Autumn Maples and I'm stitching the angel for Baskets of Plenty.  I also cut out triangles for trial hourglass blocks for another quilt, and now I'm wondering what I was thinking.  Sometimes I make quick decisions before getting the full effect of quilt blocks.  I see four hourglasses together when I really need to see two dozen to get a better idea. 

I had been thinking about making another quilt for my granddaughter.  I will be making a quilt for a granddaughter, but not the granddaughter I already have.  There's a new granddaughter coming along in a few months.  Exciting news!

I hope all is well in your world.

--Nancy.