Studio Organizing, Week 23

Posted on June 6, 2016 by prairiemoonquilts in Studio Organizing Challenge

Wow! My blog has been booooring lately!

That’s what happens when I get too busy. No time for anything extra, just nose to the grindstone — I’m ready for a break, but it won’t happen just yet.

You may notice I skipped posting an organizing task for Week 22? Last Monday was a holiday, so I decided to at least take a little break from organizing. One less thing for me to worry about.

And did I mention I traveled a lot over the last month? I only landed long enough to meet the next set of deadlines in a rush, then was off again.

Yesterday, I wandered around the mess that is my studio, and decided that I am so overwhelmed by it, I don’t even know where to start.

I have more deadlines, lots of projects to do, projects to finish for upcoming events/classes, customer stuff, paperwork, and too many other things to mention. My to-do list is very very loooooong. And depressing.

So while yesterday I wanted to sit down with my head in my hands and cry about it, I gave myself a good talking to at bedtime about my general attitude, hoping that today would be better.

And so far, it is.

The fact that the sun is shining helps immensely. I’m always more productive on sunny days.

I’ve done a lot of paperwork, caught up on filling orders, washed the dishes, and taken care of the mail.

The bills are paid, my desk is cleaned off, My Cowboy has been sent off to town with a grocery list, and I’m just about ready to sit down at the sewing machine.

And tonight, after chores, I’m going to a drawing group for the first time. I’m taking a little time for myself!

And for this week’s task, to help me overcome the overwhelm, I’m tackling this mess:

island

That’s our task for this week:

Clean off your main work surface

Or any other pile that really has you in a tizz. Clean up something major that will make you feel better. Ya gotta start somewhere!

Here’s a little straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back story to illustrate why I need to do this task this week:

I entered a quilt in our local show that started last Friday. As usual, I don’t get much time to work on my own projects, so I was at the last minute trying to finish it up. (I should just learn to not enter things I don’t have finished, but that’s not my style — I’m always over-confident that I can get them done on time!)

I finished piecing the top on Wednesday, quilted the quilt on Thursday, and was planning to put the binding on it Thursday evening.

I make most of my quilt bindings when I make the tops, and I have a bin that I keep them all in, labeled nicely for the quilt that they belong to when the time comes. I’m at least organized on that front.

So I went to the Binding Bin to get the binding for this quilt, and it wasn’t there. Evidence of how UN-organized I’ve been recently! But where is it? WHY did I not put it in the bin this time?

I searched for almost an hour for the binding that I know I have already made. Having spent most of the time it would have taken me to bind the quilt simply looking for the binding, I got seriously frustrated, and gave up. I was too exhausted to care. I withdrew the quilt from the show — for lack of binding — because I’m too disorganized and too overwhelmed.

Maybe I’ll find the binding when I clean up my cutting table — that’s my task this week!

How about you? Have you ever sunk this low? Or is it just me?

11 responses to “Studio Organizing, Week 23”

  1. Krista says:

    Shelly, don’t be so hard on yourself. You are doing great with all of your creative activities. Your new book is simply marvelous! Probably the best things to do is slow down. Don’t over commit, spend some time for yourself everyday, breath in and out slowly. You are well loved by many, well respected by many and admired by way more.

  2. Leah G. says:

    Well it was not something I entered, but I can’t find a stack of cut pieces that I made for a quilt top. Cut more pieces to finish the top. Hope they turn up.They could have been pitched when I tossed some papers. I hope not!!!!

  3. Wendy says:

    There must be a reason for not being able to find the binding. That quilt is obviously meant to go somewhere else! No worries — it’ll turn up!

  4. Kari says:

    Ahhh, Shelly you must live at my house some time! I have spent hours looking for something in my sewing room that I know I put a away in a place I would never forget, or for scissors, cutters or seam rippers! I finally got so frustrated that I out a small container at my cutting table, my sewing machine and my ironing statio with duplicates of tools that I frequently lose in the chaos!
    And don’t get me started on organizing. I have organized my room so many times in a way that at the time seems to make logical sense ( so I will always be able to find that specific something ….yes, like binding) only to find that on the day I need that item, my brain doesn’t work in the same logical way it did when I organized the room….LOL.

  5. Lin says:

    What a shame that after all that hard work you had to withdraw from the show. I’m with Krista – maybe you need to slow down a bit – take your time over sorting that table, you never know what you might find! I hope you have a good week. xx

  6. Marlene C says:

    Funny you should mention clearing off your working area! My sewing/embroidery machine just returned home from it’s yearly “day at the spa” and I’m ready to put it where it belongs. Guess what! Can’t for the pile of stuff that accumulated while it was gone (less than 5 days) (sigh). I took it as a great excuse to actually clean off the entire workspace, find a place to put stuff that didn’t have a home and put stuff that did have a home where it belongs. Am 3/4ths of the way there. Forcing myself to clean up, put up, toss out everything before I set up the sewing machine I really, really need is a great incentive!

  7. Rose Marie says:

    I am the close friend who remembers buying a pattern from you the first of June a year ago and can’t find it. I have looked and looked and looked. My style for organizing is to have everything put away. Doesn’t mean it is put away where I can find it.

  8. Barbara G says:

    Oh Thank you for your sharing. I can’t seem to get ahead of deadlines and finding things. In addition to completing samples for classes I teach, I have a terminally ill husband that I care for. Finally made the decision to call in hospice. He is the love of my life and know that the precious time we spend together is better than an organized well kept home and horizontal surfaces that just collect things on their own. Later I will have time to put things in their proper places and have a well organized work space. I’m thankful for what I have now.

  9. Meloney says:

    I did ok with the last challenge, and can use the current one. I’ll tackle the cutting table and the pressing table.
    http://melsquiltingblog.blogspot.com/2016/06/prairie-moon.html

  10. Jocelyn says:

    I’ve got to get my sewing room under control. My married son wants to set up a nursery in their condo, and needs to bring a queen bed for me to store until they get a larger place. So one of the things that has to go is the work table where I lay out my patterns and tools. Sigh, it ‘s only short term, but yes I must clear off the work surface.

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