Activities

First I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post with great suggestions about what to do with my smocking supplies and other unique items. I followed through on everything you suggested and then some. So far, nothing is working out, but I'll continue to look.

Even though the smocking supplies haven't found a home, I'm feeling positive about where we are, in general, with purging and organizing:

• As of February 1, I unstuck and scanned 2,249 photos from 13 photo albums dating from 1972 through 2007! That was opening and closing the lid of our printer 2,249 times! All the photos at 600 dpi fit on one CD which I burned four times - for us, our kids, and safe-keeping.
• I sold two boxes of quilting books, quilting patterns, embroidery hoops, yarn, crochet hooks, knitting needles, a dress ham, quilt basting spray and a garment steamer to Fabric Recycles in Overland Park, Kansas. While I made back only about ten percent of the purchase price, it was something.
• I sorted and reduced four Kodak slide carousels to two and they're in Overland Park being digitized at Truth on Tape. Why Overland Park? Because their price was less than half of what I would have been charged here in Des Moines.
• A huge box of denim I'd been saving to make a quilt (ha), was donated to Goodwill. That was 39 pairs of jeans, 12 skirts and shorts, a vest and a jacket!
• A wonderful friend from church has listed on her Ebay store some of my inherited depression glassware, and a sheepskin/rabbit fur coat. 

The things we're going through have been accumulating for the past 22-1/2 years, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprise that we've spent six weeks on this and progress seems slow. The timing of deciding to get rid of stuff, and me taking the Beth Moore Bible study, "James: Mercy Triumphs," are too coincidental to be other than of God. James 5:3 addresses consumerism.

This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment.

I will continue to simplify! Watch me!

Last week, a garbage bag of quilt batting pieces was my target. First, I had to identify all the types of batting. It wasn't too difficult. There was Hobbs 80/20; Cream/White Rose which is my absolute favorite go-to batting; the less affordable but superior quality Quilter's Dream; and Warm 'n Natural/White, which I seldom use anymore because I don't care for its thick stiffness. Wool and flannel are the most easy to recognize. 

Then, after assessing whether pieces were even large enough to keep, I measured them, noting the type of batting and dimensions on a piece of paper. 

It really didn't take all that long to roll up each piece with it's note.

Just two large bins full - not an outrageous amount. The batting pieces that were not worth keeping are going to a friend who uses them to sew "belly bands," a type of pet underwear... if you will. 

One more small task accomplished. Yay!

Two weekends ago I was involved with a Quilt-a-Thon hosted by my church quilting group, Hope Quilters. It was a two-day sewing event to make blocks to sew into quilts for Mercy Children's Center here in Des Moines. The weather didn't cooperate on Saturday - six inches of snow fell throughout the day - so our turnout was smaller than we expected. Last week I sewed a quilt top and back from my stash.

Using leftover fabric chunks -  3-1/2" X 6-1/2" rectangles called loaves - here's my "Stairs to Heaven" loaf quilt top for Mercy. It measures 48" X 48".

48" X 48" Stairs to Heaven quilt top.

You can see that I pulled quite a few pieces from my stash, but these work fine for a 58" X 58" back. The quilts will be longarm quilted, so this backing is larger than I would normally make if I was quilting it myself.

Last week I also made the January Blogger's BOM designed by Quilt Dad. He calls it "Sands of Time." I like picturing a whole quilt of these blocks, alternating vertically and horizontally. The February block will be available at Canton Village Quilt Works on February 25.

This past weekend we were in Kansas City. I took my Featherweight sewing machine along with me for servicing at Missouri Sewing Machine Center. It was well worth the effort to take it there to be tuned-up when compared to a quote I received here in Des Moines. 

Of course time in KC was spent with family. Though it's been only six weeks since we've seen these guys, they are changing too quickly.

Tay, 28 months; Aesa 15 months

And they're sooo busy! It's "Ring Around the Rosie" and "Watch this, Nana!"

This week, getting rid of continues with several furnishings going onto Craigslist. The work doesn't seem to end. Linda