On a Roll and Ready to Go

I often have many projects going at one time (WIP....work in progress).  I keep knitting or hand work near the couch for when I'm watching a movie with my family, I have several quilts waiting to be quilted on my longarm machine, I have a few quilts that I am repairing for people, a couple of custom ordered quilts to finish and several projects of my own (UFO....unfinished objects).  I am bound and determined to finish a greater number of projects this year and I've decided that if I can become even more organized I will be able to achieve this goal.

A couple of my friends each gave me another bag of their garbage (AKA bags of fabric scraps).  I love getting these bags.  I take these treasures  to my studio, dump them out on my cutting table and start sorting.  I press them and sort them into several different groups.......pieces large enough to cut specific quilt pieces from, strips large enough to get squares or triangles from, odd pieces to be used in a crazy quilt  and narrow strips (at least ¾ inches wide) to use in a string quilt.   I enjoy this whole precess and love adding all of these new pieces to my collection.   I absolutely love scrap quilts and, in my opinion, the more variety the better.  When these scraps are added to my own scraps, the mixture of prints and colors is awesome.

When I am busy working, I tend to quickly clutter up my studio.  I have to spend some time every so often to clean up and reorganize so I can start all over again and be most productive.  I have been working on this.

My scraps are sorted and organized.  My studio is cleaned up and my WIP's are in containers with the supplies and fabric needed to complete them.  My Christmas decorations are all put away  ( I know, not exactly quilt related but really halps me feel better and be able to move on to a quilting project). 

I have been trying to get all of the laundry and cleaning finished so I don't have it to do this weekend.  This is a three-day weekend and I am planning to spend some serious time sewing, quilting, finishing projects and if the weather cooperates......I have a group coming over for a sewing day.  I love sewing days and we have not had one in a while.

On a sewing day we gather together and eat, talk, laugh and sometimes even sew!!!  Actually, we sew quite a bit while we talk, eat and laugh (alot).  We usually each bring a project of our own to work on but our gathering achieves much of the same result  as a quilting bee would achieve.  We laugh, we talk, we help each other with our projects, our lives, our families, our jobs and in one afternoon we can solve the problems of the world!!!

As long as we have the 3 F's (food,  fabric and fun) our afternoon is a success!

Happy Quilting,
Laurel