Oh my goodness, this week has turned out to be so busy! The weather has been nice, and I have taken advantage of it to start sorting out our garage, where things seem to get out of hand fairly regularly. That is a job that can’t be done in a day, but I do try to spend some time each day working on it.
Inside the house, I have begun to sort out my clothes closet. I typically clean out my closet twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. The Vernal Equinox is this week, today in fact, so it’s a great time to spring clean.
My semi-annual closet clean out is actually pretty exhausting. I remove everything from the clothes racks and try on almost everything. Things I haven’t worn, are stained, or don’t fit right are tossed or donated. There are some things that may feel a bit snug; I will store them elsewhere for a while and revisit if I lose a few pounds. All this trying on is physically demanding, believe it or not. It takes quite a while.
Then the big switcheroo happens. Fall and winter clothes get put in the guest room closet, and spring and summer clothes are transferred into the main closet in my bedroom. That means umpteen trips back and forth carrying hangers full of clothes. Why do I have so many clothes? I don’t know. I ask myself that twice a year.
I love the feeling, though, when everything is organized, and I have a good idea of what I actually own. I certainly must have thought I needed a lot of white jeans last year. I definitely let a couple of pairs go to a better home. I think this year I have a grip on what is in the closet and have accepted the fact that I do not need one more article of clothing. Perhaps ever.
On the sewing front, in the earlier part of the week, I did get my Bliss blocks sewn together. I still need to make 48 red and white flying geese for the border. That will be a good weekend project. I know several of you suggested that I place the red center blocks on the four corners, but I didn’t do that. The setting as is, was what drew me to the pattern, so I left it alone and put it together as the designer intended.
I also made one or two more Swoon blocks. I am finding them just a bit tedious, so I may put this project away for a while. Ultimately, they will make a beautiful quilt that will look great in my bedroom with its sage-green walls.
I do hope you all are having a good week. I heard that certain areas of the country got some more unwelcome snow. You must feel that Spring has stood you up.
17 Responses
Bliss blocks are coming on a treat. It always amazes me how different fabric positioning can make the same block look so different. Hope you manage to make a big dent in the spring cleaning. Such a relief when you can strike items off the list!
I was feeling like I have taken on a few too many quilting projects just now!
Both those quilts are just gorgeous! How many more swoon blocks do you need to make? Will you put it away for a long time?
Enjoy the house cleaning process. We just finished. I love getting rid of stuff we no longer want. Hubby holds his breath every year. He made the cut again! 😉
Swoon 16 calls for 10 more blocks than I have made. Each one takes me the better part of a day. I love the look of the blocks, but I just need a break from them for a while. I have an awful lot of projects going on at the moment, plus some major house chores. I think Swoon will take a rest for a few months. I’d like to tick a few more things off the list before I get back to it.
You’ve had a busy week! Closet cleaning is a job, but good when finished. I think Bliss is beautiful, a perfect summer quilt. I’ve made ‘Swoon’, I love it but the huge blocks are tedious. I’m going to make Swoon 16, even though it’s more blocks, the block size is a little better. My preferred block size seems to be 4”, 6”, and 10”, at least for now. 😊 Have a great weekend!
I agree with you on your preferred block sizes. I like those too.
I’ve been working on a different quilt from Camille for years and found the same thing, it gets so tedious after awhile! With directions for one block at a time and having to be careful with fabric placement I’ve found that her quilts are just not for me. Once I get my sewing room moved from the basement to the attic (far too many times up and down the steps!) I want to get that one done!
Swoon will be a beautiful quilt and I do want to finish it, but I think I need to take the pressure off myself for now.
Congrats on the big closet project! I was at my sister’s for a couple of weeks. While I was gone my husband went through his closet & purged, sorted & rearranged! Guess we know what’s next for me…
I once made one large Swoon block, used it as a medallion with borders & donated it. I was over it from the get-go! Have a nice weekend!
I am glad you are home safe and hope your trip was wonderful. How amazing that your husband took it upon himself to clear out his closet! Mine needs to be hand held through a job like that!
I’m pretty sure that he was bored at that point! 🤣
Both of those quilts in progress look wonderful and cheery!
I’m impressed with your organized approach to getting the closets cleaned out and then switched into the appropriate place. During our recent move (5 months ago) I was reminded that I have NOT done that in a very long time. The donation center received TONS of stuff from me and my husband!
The catharsis of clearing out a bunch of stuff you no longer need is wonderful. Now I just need to keep it the way it is and not bring anything else into the house!
You’ll be so glad to have this finished for another 6 months!
DH and I have talked about things we seldom use but keep because of possibly needing those items and that we might just already have a lifetime supply! I don’t recall my parents or in-laws musing about purchases being a lifetime supply. We both turn 75 next month. Yikes!
Hugs!
Closet cleaning! Ugh! We live in a much smaller house now so I have only two bags of clothing to switch out for seasonal clothing. In the last few months I have been pulling out many things to donate. My body got much warmer after a hysterectomy so I wasn’t wearing my turtlenecks at all. Why should I keep them? I found several items left from my teaching career. I so did not need them! Into the donation bags. I could almost hear the closet rods sighing with relief. This was so much fun I soon began on the kitchen drawers. By the time this was through, those drawers were lighter to open and close. I have done the linen closet and the bathroom cupboards, too. I wonder if somehow genes got mutated during the Depression to my parents and I inherited them. Maybe this has caused me to keep things way too long! I really am aiming to be lighter in what we own and cherish.
Your bliss and swoon blocks are looking good! I hate cleaning but have to do some major purging, with my closet at the top of my list! Any tips on hanging clothed or storing things would be helpful!
I am lucky to have a big guest room closet where I can store my out-of-season clothing. I put cashmere sweaters in garment bags with cedar to keep moths away. I also have some metal shelving in my garage, where I can store bins of clothing that I am on the fence about. Jeans that are a size too big or small that I don’t want to donate yet, blouses or sweaters I haven’t worn in a year, but still like. After a year has gone by, 99% of the time I have forgotten about the items or decided I don’t care about them anymore.