It's like unearthing treasure

I spent an hour yesterday in the garage again, going through some boxes. I think this was one of the ones I put down there when B came to visit, because there was a hodge-podge of books, magazines and charts in there, so I separated them out, as well as the contents of a little box that I had been putting stuff in that I brought from Mom's. If nothing else, this exercise is teaching me that my filing system of "whatever is closest" is not working.

I did find a magazine that I have been searching for since I moved, because I started a project from it, and then the magazine got separated from the project. It's a beehive purse, and I had thought about frogging what I had started and using the supplies elsewhere, but now I don't have to do that. Yay for me! I rounded up a couple other MIA magazines, and am putting the magazines with the supplies, so that this doesn't happen again. My UFO pile is getting bigger but at least it's together.

After work, I rounded up all the fabric I have and put it all together, in a storage drawer. I read a while ago that people who are chronically disorganized have a tendency to repurchase items they can not find, and this adds to the problem instead of alleviating it; now we have two of the same item, and possibly credit card debt on top. One of the reasons I started this project was that I had no idea where my colored fabric was (it was in another drawer, where I never look, and I don't remember putting it in there), and it was making me heartsick and frantic. What I could find was random, stuck in boxes and bags all over the place, with no semblance of order. This bothered me a lot; the clutter is controlling me, not the other way around. Fortunately, I did figure out where I'd put all that fabric last week, and so I put all of it together last night. Now I have it all within 3 feet (there are three bags of neutral aida that didn't fit in the drawer, they're in a tote bag on the closet door, it was the best I could do). I felt delectably "rich" looking at every piece of fabric, picturing what could go on it, how I could use the tiny scraps for freebies. I am spoiled for choice, and will now be able to really ask myself if I really "need" fabric before spending money on it. I think this will be a good thing. It's a spiritual cleansing and organization, not just a physical cleansing. But this was the easy part; the hard part will come from seeing whether or not I will be able to keep it up. I think I can, if I can just find good storage pieces. The bookshelf I really loved at Lowe's, that would have held my sewing machine, and my patriotic sheep lamp, as well as stitching supplies, is not available anywhere nearby. BOOOOOGEEEEEEER. Oh, well, I will find something soon. I'm on a mission now.

In other news, my exchange partner emailed that she got her bookmark, and book. I ended up getting a Maryland ghost story book for her. She said she was looking forward to reading it. Thank you all for your help in picking that. I will try to post photos of what I sent and received in the next few days. It was a great exchange and a fun new experience stitching a bookmark. I see more of them in my future.