Ending the Year with a Clean Slate

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

9 Responses

  1. Allison says:

    Bless you Leah! I really admire you going through all those containers and drawers, and using it as an opportunity to organise your thoughts as well as your things. Happy crafting! Allison

  2. Sue K says:

    I am the same way. I love all of my crafts but get hung up on using my stashes. What if I mess up? What if I find a pattern that is even more perfect for that fabric,yarn, beads ,etc.? And I find the less I do, the more I buy. Seems counter-intuitive but somehow, I rationalize it as if I'm still "crafting". Crazy, huh?

    I reorganized my sewing space today, also. I hoping the decluttered space will also declutter my brain. Good luck to both of us!!!

  3. Jo Cypher says:

    This must be the time for organizing. Yesterday I cleaned my fabric room.(I have my mom's 1953 Pfaff in a cabinet there) Today I cleaned more and found patterns I thought I had lost or whatever. I had a blast going through my fabric and oh and awe over it, but also realized that except for batting and needed notions I need to go No Buy 2018.

  4. I just finished my last project for 2017 and promptly took my machine to the sewing center to have it serviced. Will now work on organizing my space while it is gone and out of my eye sight. I, too am easily distracted and need to focus on getting UFO's done and delivered to those loved one's that I am making them for. Here's to 2018!!!

  5. I have been going through my crafting, sewing, knitting, weaving and embroidery things also for the last 3 months. I am at an age where I am downsizing. We have also repainted the hall and complete kitchen. So all my kitchen is spread in my living room and sewing room. The carpets and flooring are stripped. New flooring is acclimating and we will be taking a vacation till the middle of January then finish and do the living room and main bath. Then we will start on our oldest son's home getting it ready to rent. His widow moved to another state so we got the house back. Hopefully in the spring we can build a building to store my fabric and I will be off sewing again. Here is to a wonderful 2018 and lots of projects finished.

  6. Nancy says:

    I am so impressed with your efforts and share the need to dig through the "stuff" and put it in order. End of year/beginning of year is a great time to regroup with sewing and craft things. I'm on it!

  7. Pastor_Ruth says:

    UGH!!! I so totally empathize with you. I, like you, have many interests but sadly I had a stroke in 2011 AND I, like you again, finish my year making sure my "house" is in order to start fresh. Sadly I realize with my limitations I REALLY will never be able to do some of those things again. A dear friend who shared my tears as we discussed the fact that almost 7 years after the stroke the odds are I will not ever be able to do them again. So she suggested I look for a 4H or Girl Scout group to donate them to and maybe she could even help me teach a class on some of them. It takes two hands to crochet, knit, and because it was on the left side of my brain it impacted my dominate side and left me with a tremor. Even doing hot fix crystals has become a side line because I haven't found a work around for it. I loved the fact that I had a youth ministry for girls and this was a way I could still help. So maybe if you find yourself selecting a few things you like and deciding to not pursue others you too might give some girls a hand up that might not be able to find materials or afford them. It instills such confidence with them when they learn to hand embroider (something else I have had to set aside), or needle punch, or perhaps even work with tin. BUT THANKS TO YOU I will be able to continue my beloved charitable quilting!!! I will not be able to hand quilt but I have learned how to machine quilt BECAUSE OF YOU!!! You taught me to give myself permission to not be perfect (yes I was like that once upon a time) and now that imperfection in my quilting simply makes it unique. Since "reverse sewing" is difficult for me as well – it was a breath of fresh air to be able to say "oops" and keep going forward. I thank you for that. May God bless you, your family and your business! I have followed you almost from the start of your journey. THANK YOU for what you have created that has helped not just me but I am sure many others.

  8. I believe this is a common thread (no pun intended) of us creative's? I find myself in the same predicament….more of everything than I can possibly ever use and such a diverse range of ideas, knitting, jewelry, rug hooking, embroidery, wools, paint, need I go on? You've inspired me Leah, I'm going to narrow it down & focus. NO new purchases….Oh wait, that might be too extreme ?

  9. Lori Hamrick says:

    It's nice to meet someone else that has so many hobbies. I knit, crochet, sew, quilt, bead and do some leather work. My husband has been know to give me a hard time about that. He doesn't understand why I don't just stick to one thing. We never know how much time GOD will give us on this earth. I want to try as many projects as I can. Good job on all that cleaning!

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