MAGPIE'S MUMBLINGS

A blog about my interests, which include fabric landscapes and various and assorted other artsy pursuits and sometimes known to contain mumblings of a random nature.

Friday, January 05, 2024

Cleaning up - and out

 Yesterday was the day to take down the Christmas decorations and hopefully meet my goal of getting everything (but the tree) into one large Rubbermaid tote.  I managed to shoehorn everything but one Santa Claus into the box so I was happy.  Resident Chef solved the mystery of how to get the new tree back into the original box (no easy task because he forgot what it looked like when it first arrived).  It was nice while it lasted but I was more than ready to get it put away and get back to what passes for normal here at Chez Magpie.
Image from 'Threads'

Then I turned my attention to the not-so-large pile of Famiy Tree magazines I had.  Most of the content is of no real use to me so I'm biting the bullet and tearing out what I might want to reference and...gasp....recycling the rest.  Now I'm eyeing four large Rubbermaid totes that are chuck to overflowing with fabric fodder for landscapes.  When the lids won't go down it's time to cull a lot of it.  Still haven't figured out a way to sort it effectively but I'm thinking that maybe I could put 'sky' fabrics in one tote;  'land and water' fabrics in another; and fabrics suitable for buildings and vehicles in another.  Noble goal but will it happen?  Oh...look....squirrel......


- HERE is a somewhat different 'take' on the temperature projects.

- There's another quilt-along happening HERE.

- For those of you who want to do a little Valentine's project and want to play with your paper piecing skills, how about THIS?

- If you received a minky blanket for Christmas perhaps THESE instructions for washing them will be handy to have.

- There are some great tips HERE for fabric scraps storage solutions.

Today's quote..."When you're going through hard times and wonder where God is, remember the teacher is always quiet during a test"

22 comments:

  1. Yesterday I organized under the kitchen sink, got rid of a few things and then moved on to the coat closet where I found the button to fix my dress winter coat. Today I will get Christmas away upstairs and clean the mop/broom/plastics closet. I will remove Christmas downstairs tomorrow.

    God bless.

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    1. Yay for unearthing the button! Usually I manage to do that AFTER I've replaced all the buttons with new ones.

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  2. That's an interesting quotation, good thought. Tomorrow I put away my few and tiny decorations, to celebrate Twelfth Night. It will take all of five minutes!

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    1. If I had my way the only things I would put out at Christmas would be our nativity set I got when I worked as an Avon rep many years ago. Resident Chef, however, likes the tree and a few other things set out.

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  3. BoyOboy--getting all the Christmas stuff packed away is no small task!! Good for you--I ALWAYS find one thing I left out it seems..this year it was a mini bottlebrush wreath..I refuse to untape that box so it will go into one of my "whatever" drawers...
    heh heh...looks like we may get snow this weekend...hugs, Julierose

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    1. I always seem to find one thing I forgot to pack up too, but so far I haven't, so perhaps downsizing has been an additional bonus.

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  4. I find these days it takes me less amount of time to pack the Christmas decorations away than getting them all out and deciding the right spot for them. Though fitting them all in the same boxes can sometimes be a bit tricky. Your storage solution for your landscape fabrics sounds like a good solution. Happy sorting.

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    1. I find with our Christmas decorations they tend to end up in the same places every year. Living in a small area helps with that!
      As for the landscape fabric storage - I haven't managed to muster my courage to start.

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  5. Oh wow, that is a great quote.
    Christmas decorations put away creates a whole new world. Congratulations!
    Good links, scrap fabric organization is always a challenge.

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    1. Much of my fabric stash, particularly for landscapes, IS scraps so it is hard to come up with a good system for storage. I generally end up just dumping the totes out onto the floor and pawing through to find what I want to work with.

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  6. Anonymous10:14 PM

    Sherry of createology: I am already behind on my 2024 goal of purging more stuff. I cannot live long enough to use all my wonderful supplies. My 2024 word is Attentive. I want to enjoy everything I can and not miss out. Blessings Dear…

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    1. You're never behind when it comes to purging stuff - each little bit we get rid of is a step forward. I don't have a yearly word, but try to stick to my 'use up stash' resolve.

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  7. Thank you for the scrape storage ideas. You know I need that.

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    1. Anyone who is a crafter needs storage ideas!

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  8. I packed away part of Christmas yesterday. I'll do the Santa's and table quilts tomorrow. We bought a new tree too, and to my surprise it did fit into the box again! lol I love Christmas too, but it feels so good when all is packed away. My scraps are organized - mostly. I'll concentrate on UFOs, until I get tired of them!

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    1. It took some finagling to get the tree back in the box and hopefully next year we'll pay attention to how it fit so we can repeat it. Good luck with the UFO's!

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  9. I've been with you here for ages as I had to click on those links. Who knew there were so many QAL"s going on. What wonderful stuff. Ugh, I'm always decluttering and trying to organize scraps, etc. better. It can actually get me down in the sewing room if things are not tidy...why it gets like that so easily though. I don't think I am a messy person but....:D Good Luck and thanks for the enjoyable links as always.

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    1. There are a ton of QAL's out there and I'm sure I only linked to a very miniscule number. Certainly lots to choose from!
      As for sewing spaces being tidy, I can't tell you how often I clean mine and vow that THIS time I won't let it get that bad and that THIS time I will put things away when I'm done with them. Does that happen? Nope!

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  10. Bravo, MA! You're ahead of me (again). Our tree is still up, as we put it up only a few days before Christmas. It's always a chore bringing it up the steep basement stairs, but I love the ambiance it adds to our room once it's decorated and then I hate to take it down. I had to purchase plastic ornament totes this year as the mice attempted to invade the convenient cardboard ornament drawer unit we've had for decades. Ugh. So, into new digs for all our cherished ornaments when I finally disassemble the holiday display. Looking forward to seeing your upcoming "makes", my dear.
    Happy New Year!
    xoxo
    Donna

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    1. I must admit I'm always ready to put the Christmas decorations away on the 26th but Resident Chef likes them up until New Year's day. At least we don't have to wrestle anything up and down stairs but only into our bedroom closet.
      Happy New Year to you too!

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  11. I think that's a good plan for sorting your fabrics - you can always tweak it if you find it doesn't work. We have two boxes that have always housed our Christmas decorations but about eight years ago they no longer all fit so for the past two years I have been letting go of many of them and this year they all fit in the two boxes with a bit of room to spare - yay!

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    1. I was happy with our ornament downsizing efforts as well as getting a smaller tree, so a yay on my front too! Mustering my courage to tackle the fabric bins.

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Thank you so much for leaving comments! I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy life to talk to me. It's wonderful to know that someone is actually reading my mumblings and even more fun if I can connect with you and visit your blog.