This Child Has Some Cleaning UP to Do!!!

You know how when you clean one small spot......The Hub said "You know if we move that bench in front of the window of your sewing room, we could move the sewing machine closer to the window for better light and you'd have more room on that side of your worktable." I was like running back and forth; trying to take a shower, watch a television program, get dressed and leave for work. Like this AAA battery operated handheld video game the kids had. "Falling Babies". These babies were falling from the sky and the Fireman (my projection) ran back and forth and tried to catch the babies. If he missed they hit the ground and splatted. Even back then, in the Caveman Era of video games--there was so much violence and death. I digress.

As I sprinted past the sewing room, glanced at the bench--said okay move it and made a grab for the Bernina and got it safely to the other side of the room. I said to the Hub--only move stuff here. Touch anything else and I go upstairs to your work shop and sort through your drill bits. And what a tale that is--for another time.

Later, I returned home to find my five dollar garage sale sewing cabinet 8 inches from the window. Next to it, and under the hinged apron, two small IKEA cabinets with drawers. The Hub, like a friendly car salesman, was showing me the "details". He had used double sided tape (!) to stick the legs of the wiggly table to one side of cabinet A and then more tape to stick cabinet A to cabinet B. Then he had taped a cut 2 by 4 to the underside of the apron so it was level--making a neat little covered shelf for "storage". Cabinet A had been in the room, but elsewhere, and cabinet B had been in the garage for a while. He hadn't cleaned it off. Men never do. The Hub had also installed the Bernina in said sewing cabinet and somehow got my light attached to the table. The wiggle was gone--only momentarily. Once I rev up the machine that table will wiggle again. I digress.

All the stuff from the bench was now piled up in the southwest corner of the room. The northeast corner was all perfect. Little table taped to cabinets, sewing machine, chair, light. Vaccumed carpet. Just there, no where else.

I started on the first wicker basket. Those organizer shows always mention storage containers like wicker boxes and baskets as "perfect places to use as storage". Lies! The first basket contained a mix of unfolded animal prints and batiks. I refolded and separated the batiks---I tried (in the past) mixing them in to the general fabric population in the closet--but it just didn't work out. So I keep them across the room. It's a texture/thread count issue. Then I folded and stacked the animal prints and piled them up on the back-up Bernina. I realized I needed big plastic bags. One labeled "Give to a New Quilter" and one labeled "Give to the Garbage Man". The next wicker basket contained "The Land of Blocks Begun But Never Enough To Make Anything And Now I Have Forgotten What I Was Making" All that went into the New Quilter bag. New quilters have so much positive vibe. They love UFO's. So did the cut strips, half square triangles and assorted fabrics I no longer even want in the house. The rest went in the Garbage Bag.

I got close enough to the bookcase to work on those wicker baskets. At one time I was in love with Crazy Quilting. I was going to make an Amelia Peabody Victorian Crazy Quilt. Nine blocks. A portrait of Amelia in the center, parasol over her head and belt of accruetrimond (phonetics is good) around her hips. Emerson would be in the upper right corner, sapphirine eyes flashing. Ramses in the upper left; Nefret lower left with some mention of Isis and I was trying to decide between Sethos and Abdullah for the lower right. But since Sethos looks so much like you know who, I chose Abdullah. The other blocks would have scenes from Egypt: pyramids, the Nile, mummies and of course "dead bodies". Elizabeth Peters, upon hearing of this wonderful quilt, would offer me a great quantity of money and I would never be hungry again. Oops, that's the Gone with The Wind Quilt. Also a Victorian Crazy Quilt except Scarlett is in the center square and Rhett, Ashley, Melanie and Mammy fill the corners. Lots of reds. Atlanta burning. I digress.

All the accruetrimond for crazy quilting called for my special two gallon Hefty ziplock bags (Target). One bag each for satins, velvets, silks, #5 Perle cottons, #8 perle cotton, Yarns for couching. All bags standing on end in the large flat wicker basket. Tucked along side--the old New York Times I use to stablize fabric when topstitching and the doctor's exam paper I ask for every time I visit the doctor--they only let me have 3 or 4 feet. Great as a stablizer. Buckram for ribbon flowers. My bead box. Really a fishing tackle box.

Next shelf. The wicker basket with the handle. Hefty two gallon bags filled with on going UFP's. The pink girl's quilt in case someone has a baby girl. The Macaws in applique. The Crow Quilt. The Road Trip Quilt. So many projects--so short an attention span.

Next shelf. My Longaberger basket filled with patterns I paid good money for and will NEVER use. My Mickey Mouse lightbox. The big bag filled with my Master Gardener textbooks and important garden related papers.

Next shelf. Buttons. Sorted by age and color. Old red buttons being my favorite. Thread. Maderia Polyneon being my favorite-especially the Neon colors. The neon lime green rocks.

And that's as far as I've gotten. I filled one huge garbage bag with garbage and one very large bag for the New Quilter. After breakfast---opps it's almost lunch time--I'll get right in there and work on the African stuff, the floral stuff and sort the stuff in the Sterlite bins once more before taking them up into the attic for long-term cold storage.

Aren't you happy you're not me? I still can't see the carpet in my room but the bookcase looks fine. The sewing table looks fine. I found about a dozen straight pins I could use.

In a completely different vein---several quilting friends have stated that in 2006 they are going to use what they already own and not purchase any more stuff. Is this going to affect the economy???? The end of civilization as we know it???? I love the hunt. Without the hunt for supplies--what is the meaning of life?