I’ve been spending considerable time in my sewing room, thinning and sorting and deciding what things I can part with (that means things I won’t get to before I exit this life).  Tonight I parted with 8-10 boxes of fabric, notions, unfinished projects, and other quilt-related treasures.  It’s not easy being realistic.  I simply won’t live long enough, and I know there are others who will, so I am passing on the joy.  It makes me sad and happy at the same time, sending my treasures to new homes.

Here is a quilt I started more than 20 years ago called Spinning Spools with enough fabric to probably make a 2nd one.  I hope someone will enjoy finishing it.

I’ve also thinned my boxes and boxes of scraps, saving only those big enough to put into my Chopped Snakes scrap quilts.  This was hard.  The truth is, when I need a piece, I don’t often dig through the bags of scraps to find what I need.  I’ve got plenty of new fabrics to slice off of. 

I also figured if I haven’t used a notion in the last 10 or more years, I probably won’t use it in the next 10 years.  

The beautiful framed Hmong embroidery (quilting) hung in my apartment before I was married.  It’s been sitting unhung ever since.  It’s time for a new home.

I once thought I’d work with wool in my quilts.  It hasn’t happened.  I’m sending my whole collection of wool to friends who will fondle and drool over it.

You’d think that emptying all of this out of my little sewing room would be noticeable.  It hardly made a dent.  What is has done is relieve a little bit of pressure–the pressure I feel to finish it all before I die, to leave no projects unfinished.  I know that’s not realistic, but it’s my dream.