That's the key question posed by author Marie Kondo in her best-selling book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up." Perhaps there's no group more aware of the need for tidying up than quilters and crafters! And the supplies found in a sewing room surely spark joy. But there were 44 people ahead of me on the waiting list to borrow this book from the library, so it looks as if tidy is something lots of us aspire to. Anyhow, the answer to sparking joy is yes when it comes to small journal quilts. I love taking bits and pieces of fabrics and trims and combining them to create whatever comes out of my imagination at the moment. So with the inspiration challenge of "orange" put out by the Fiber Arts Bee I belong to, this little doodle-style flower is the result. One thing I like about journal quilts is the opportunity to try out new methods on a small scale. I tried a beaded edge on this one. I'm unlikely to bead the edge of a large quilt, but this was a small enough investment of time to make me willing to give it a try.
I've been following some of the ideas in the tidying up book when it comes to discarding unnecessary items that just take up space. Case in point is this giant binder containing notes, handouts, and samples from the instructional workshop for my once-new machine. But why, oh why, would I still need this? If I haven't figured out how to use the machine by now, I'm in trouble. The author suggests that it's quite easy to look up online how to use or care for pretty much any item. And really, when I consider the last time I looked at this... why, I can't recall when that was. So out it went. However....
Inside that giant binder were a few pretty fiber tidbits that I just couldn't part with yet. So I added some more tidbits I'm fond of, and made another small journal quilt. It commemorates the machine with samples of stitches, and gave me a chance to try out some heavy-weight thread. This is waaaay smaller to store than the binder, and sparks more joy, too!
Even the back of the quilt is a scrap of some decorator fabric I picked up on the freebie table at guild. And speaking of tidbits, I found a repurposing store that had some of the glittery bits shown above for just pennies. The good news is that, after some tidying up, I donated more items than I purchased! So I'm making progress, especially in the sewing room. There's a lot of good advice in that book.
5 comments:
I love your new quilt; it's so happy. I definitely need to read this book as the closets in my studio are full of stuff I am having a hard time parting with. I always think I'll need that later but I don't even know what's in some of the boxes on the top shelf. That's sad. I just had my machine serviced so I need a project. I may just try one of your journal quilts as they don't take the time a larger quilt will take.....
I had to laugh because I keep saying that organizing is not something you do all at once, then stop, but instead, make it an ongoing affair. In order to stay on top of a well organized place, it's important to have a plan and, like you did, get rid of a few things. Sadly, I have a sewing machine that does NOTHING. No fancy stitches, no free motion work, NOTHING. And I still have to consult the book every time I clean or oil it. Of course, my small book came with the machine and is a bare bones entry level instruction book, like the name of parts, where to oil the machine, and how to change the feet and needles, something I always seem to get wrong each time I need to change one.
Love BOTH those art quilts. Very impressive use of scraps, too.
Fabulous Journal Quilt and I love the beaded edging. How fun to experiment on small venues. Tidying up is exactly what I am trying to accomplish in my studio. I like your method and will try to be more in tune with what is available online instead of old school binders...which I have many. Creative Beaded Bliss...
Nicely done on the journal quilt! The beaded edge is so nice...and really doesn't take that much time, now does it! HA
I'll have to look that book up...once I get home!
Beautiful, beautiful journal quilts, Nancy. Especially love the first one, but then you know me and 'red'. What a great way to tidy up. With such a long waiting list for the book ... ha ha ... sort of says a lot about where we are at doesn't it. Thanks for dropping by my blog. Lovely of you to visit and always enjoy your comments. hugs, Donna
Post a Comment