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dragonlady7via http://ift.tt/2nyPktR
I took today off, because I was going to have to be late anyway so that I could Betray My Cat, and because there’s not much going on at work and so today’s a good day to take off and try to clean the house.
Ha ha ha. Ha. Anyway.
So I made myself a little list of what I should try to do, and then I made a separate list of Projects. See, most of my clutter is that i am a Projects person, I constantly want to make things into other things, and so I keep raw materials and discarded/repurposed things to help in this quest, and then it takes over my life. So if I can just take all the Things I Want To Make Into Other Things, and put them into labeled boxes of What I Want To Make Them Into, well then, most of my problems will be sorted, or at least I’ll be able to walk freely around my living room.
My other problem is that I am constantly thinking of new projects. And then of course, the main problem is that I never actually complete fucking any of these projects. So that’s all just, well, awful. (I did have a major victory last summer in that I finished a number of yurt quilts. I can’t even convey how much shit that got out of my house. Like, a literal car load of shit.)
So I figure, if I have only one day to try to tame the chaos of my house, I need to sort of focus, but throwing things wildly into boxes won’t do it. I need to make sure that I tidy the ingredients for a couple of these projects into a box where I can find them, so that I can then reward myself by doing a project. I don’t think I can convey how badly I need to Complete A Project so that I can remind myself that I don’t just crazy-hoard shit for no reason at all.
But. That’s kind of a lot. So. Sigh.
PRIORITIES:
1) Of course, collect all hoarded materials into boxes, label them clearly. Stack them either in the guest room or the porch. We’ll attack the basement later; there are already boxes like this in the basement, though they’re not project-focused.
Ideally, keep them on the porch and get the cutting mat and rotary cutter set up on the table out there, and then cut out pieces of things that will need sewing, and put them into Ziplock/grocery bags, labeled, with instructions printed out and set with them, and then number the projects, label the boxes, and make a list that has an index of those projects. This is a long-standing goal that we can make strides toward today.
2) the other major thing is that there are so many clothes in my bedroom that don’t fit me. I need to go through all of those, and pull out the ones I actually like and can/will wear, and then move the rest on either to donate, give to people I know, or refashion. Middle-Little could benefit a lot from this, as she’s close to my size currently. But I don’t want to burden her. Perhaps make a box, and then Skype her, since she was supposed to visit and probably won’t.
3) a fun thing, I’ve been wanting to do, and could do as a reward: measure the various rooms of the house and put them into Roomsketcher. There have been all these rumblings that we might buy this house; well, if we do, there are renovations that ought to be done, and it would be great to have such a good interface to brainstorm them. If I start this, I bet Dude will be pleased to get involved. It might help overcome the total inability we seem to have to discuss this. (I know where we’re at in maybe buying this house because sometimes I find the notes to himself he’s written. It’s kind of ridiculous.) So.
For funsies, here’s a list of projects I’ve brainstormed, that are things I’ve collected materials for. These have numbers as bullet points but are not in order in any way.
1) “Fuck Winter” quilt. I lost the original small hand-embroidery on salvaged penguin-print fabric, but it’s around somewhere; meanwhile I have a dozen machine embroideries on various surfaces, which I should continue to amass. I also have a blue flannel fitted sheet that developed a rip in it, which I’ve opted not to repair (I have two other sets of flannel sheets, people keep giving them to me) and can use as ground fabric instead. So I can use that as a substrate to crazy-quilt to, or maybe as the back.
2) denim boot uppers. I suffer from boots never fitting right, and I realized I could cut the uppers off a worn-out pair of shoes, and make my own boots, for shits and giggles. I have so much scrap denim, it would be absolutely hilarious to make myself a pair of quilted joots. I am absolutely going to do this. Someday.
3) medication holder: i take multivitamins that are so big they don’t fit in regular pill cases. I have hoarded film canisters and think that’d be just the ticket. A med holder with one film canister per day per however long I need it to be, such as the duration of a trip? Perfect. I need to make a fabric/elastic thing to hold the film canisters, though, or it won’t work as a pill case. /// this goes along with a project I’d brainstormed but haven’t quite nailed down, of making myself a better shoulder bag for daily use, which could have a number of specialty pockets to keep me from losing quite so many things in the bottom of my bag all the time. I wind up carrying fifty pounds’ worth of extra shit because I don’t know it’s in there and keep piling other stuff on top.
4) t-shirt dresses, with pockets. If I could get off my ass and make some more of these, I would never need to wear anything else. This would be ideal. I have so many goddamn t-shirts. And no time to do this.
5) shitpost jacket: I have a denim jacket that needs tailoring. I was starting to add a million pockets to it. But I also want to cover the entire exterior with embroidered patches of, basically, Internet shitposts. I need to get better at digitizing; mostly I just need to do the work. But I could start by tailoring the jacket so it actually fits.
6) battery pack holding pouch: I just bought one of those auxiliary power battery packs for my phone/USB devices, on a lightning deal on amazon. It’s heavy, and I want to make a zippered pouch to hold it plus the various cables. It’d be a great way to use up some scraps and embroider some stuff.
7) zippered pouches for big sister and farmsister: i already made zippered pouches for middle-little and my bestie, the other two people who bought me my embroidery machine. i meant to make a pouch for everyone who chipped in. So I need to do that, but that means i need to come up with designs and color schemes and embroider things onto the sizes. (Middle-Little got salvaged maroon corduroy with blaze orange “Die Mad About It” embroidery; bestie got salvaged green sweatsuit material with a pink metallic unicorn on one side, and salvaged pink material from a shirt with a teal “No Way Out But Through” motto on the other.) I have a huge collection of interfacing (salvaged from a bedskirt), lining materials, and cut-apart garments for outer fabric, enough to fill an entire box and then some. I also have a shitload of zippers.
8) a stitched cover for a blank book. If I make this right, I could have it be a place for notes, documents, and a Kyrgyz phrasebook.
9) ART QUILTS ugh I have so much stuff set aside for art quilts, and i need to learn how to quilt. *fuck winter is the first, separately enumerated. * a quilt that is a map of the farm, for farmsister: ideally, finish by 4/16, as that is her birthday. * a quilt of, maybe, birds? for mom? ideally, finish by 3/20, as that is *her* birthday. * a quilt to cover my yurt door, backed with waterproofed fabric– good use for the oilcloth I made that I don’t think I’ll use on my kitchen table– finish by May when the yurt goes up??
10) I still have two sheep’s fleeces in my basement. I need to glue down the handle of the second carder, and get back to carding. I still don’t know how to spin. Someday. Christ almighty.
11) I have been accumulating a combination of hand- and machine-embroidered Star Wars-themed patches and I really ought to put those onto something. A vest? A jacket? A bag? Something.
12) Tambour hook embroidery. Yes. I have a frame. I have to figure out how the fuck to actually do it. This would be useful in quilting if only I could figure out how the fuck to do it. Yes I’ve watched videos. No they don’t help. Fuck.
(Your picture was not posted)
I took today off, because I was going to have to be late anyway so that I could Betray My Cat, and because there’s not much going on at work and so today’s a good day to take off and try to clean the house.
Ha ha ha. Ha. Anyway.
So I made myself a little list of what I should try to do, and then I made a separate list of Projects. See, most of my clutter is that i am a Projects person, I constantly want to make things into other things, and so I keep raw materials and discarded/repurposed things to help in this quest, and then it takes over my life. So if I can just take all the Things I Want To Make Into Other Things, and put them into labeled boxes of What I Want To Make Them Into, well then, most of my problems will be sorted, or at least I’ll be able to walk freely around my living room.
My other problem is that I am constantly thinking of new projects. And then of course, the main problem is that I never actually complete fucking any of these projects. So that’s all just, well, awful. (I did have a major victory last summer in that I finished a number of yurt quilts. I can’t even convey how much shit that got out of my house. Like, a literal car load of shit.)
So I figure, if I have only one day to try to tame the chaos of my house, I need to sort of focus, but throwing things wildly into boxes won’t do it. I need to make sure that I tidy the ingredients for a couple of these projects into a box where I can find them, so that I can then reward myself by doing a project. I don’t think I can convey how badly I need to Complete A Project so that I can remind myself that I don’t just crazy-hoard shit for no reason at all.
But. That’s kind of a lot. So. Sigh.
PRIORITIES:
1) Of course, collect all hoarded materials into boxes, label them clearly. Stack them either in the guest room or the porch. We’ll attack the basement later; there are already boxes like this in the basement, though they’re not project-focused.
Ideally, keep them on the porch and get the cutting mat and rotary cutter set up on the table out there, and then cut out pieces of things that will need sewing, and put them into Ziplock/grocery bags, labeled, with instructions printed out and set with them, and then number the projects, label the boxes, and make a list that has an index of those projects. This is a long-standing goal that we can make strides toward today.
2) the other major thing is that there are so many clothes in my bedroom that don’t fit me. I need to go through all of those, and pull out the ones I actually like and can/will wear, and then move the rest on either to donate, give to people I know, or refashion. Middle-Little could benefit a lot from this, as she’s close to my size currently. But I don’t want to burden her. Perhaps make a box, and then Skype her, since she was supposed to visit and probably won’t.
3) a fun thing, I’ve been wanting to do, and could do as a reward: measure the various rooms of the house and put them into Roomsketcher. There have been all these rumblings that we might buy this house; well, if we do, there are renovations that ought to be done, and it would be great to have such a good interface to brainstorm them. If I start this, I bet Dude will be pleased to get involved. It might help overcome the total inability we seem to have to discuss this. (I know where we’re at in maybe buying this house because sometimes I find the notes to himself he’s written. It’s kind of ridiculous.) So.
For funsies, here’s a list of projects I’ve brainstormed, that are things I’ve collected materials for. These have numbers as bullet points but are not in order in any way.
1) “Fuck Winter” quilt. I lost the original small hand-embroidery on salvaged penguin-print fabric, but it’s around somewhere; meanwhile I have a dozen machine embroideries on various surfaces, which I should continue to amass. I also have a blue flannel fitted sheet that developed a rip in it, which I’ve opted not to repair (I have two other sets of flannel sheets, people keep giving them to me) and can use as ground fabric instead. So I can use that as a substrate to crazy-quilt to, or maybe as the back.
2) denim boot uppers. I suffer from boots never fitting right, and I realized I could cut the uppers off a worn-out pair of shoes, and make my own boots, for shits and giggles. I have so much scrap denim, it would be absolutely hilarious to make myself a pair of quilted joots. I am absolutely going to do this. Someday.
3) medication holder: i take multivitamins that are so big they don’t fit in regular pill cases. I have hoarded film canisters and think that’d be just the ticket. A med holder with one film canister per day per however long I need it to be, such as the duration of a trip? Perfect. I need to make a fabric/elastic thing to hold the film canisters, though, or it won’t work as a pill case. /// this goes along with a project I’d brainstormed but haven’t quite nailed down, of making myself a better shoulder bag for daily use, which could have a number of specialty pockets to keep me from losing quite so many things in the bottom of my bag all the time. I wind up carrying fifty pounds’ worth of extra shit because I don’t know it’s in there and keep piling other stuff on top.
4) t-shirt dresses, with pockets. If I could get off my ass and make some more of these, I would never need to wear anything else. This would be ideal. I have so many goddamn t-shirts. And no time to do this.
5) shitpost jacket: I have a denim jacket that needs tailoring. I was starting to add a million pockets to it. But I also want to cover the entire exterior with embroidered patches of, basically, Internet shitposts. I need to get better at digitizing; mostly I just need to do the work. But I could start by tailoring the jacket so it actually fits.
6) battery pack holding pouch: I just bought one of those auxiliary power battery packs for my phone/USB devices, on a lightning deal on amazon. It’s heavy, and I want to make a zippered pouch to hold it plus the various cables. It’d be a great way to use up some scraps and embroider some stuff.
7) zippered pouches for big sister and farmsister: i already made zippered pouches for middle-little and my bestie, the other two people who bought me my embroidery machine. i meant to make a pouch for everyone who chipped in. So I need to do that, but that means i need to come up with designs and color schemes and embroider things onto the sizes. (Middle-Little got salvaged maroon corduroy with blaze orange “Die Mad About It” embroidery; bestie got salvaged green sweatsuit material with a pink metallic unicorn on one side, and salvaged pink material from a shirt with a teal “No Way Out But Through” motto on the other.) I have a huge collection of interfacing (salvaged from a bedskirt), lining materials, and cut-apart garments for outer fabric, enough to fill an entire box and then some. I also have a shitload of zippers.
8) a stitched cover for a blank book. If I make this right, I could have it be a place for notes, documents, and a Kyrgyz phrasebook.
9) ART QUILTS ugh I have so much stuff set aside for art quilts, and i need to learn how to quilt. *fuck winter is the first, separately enumerated. * a quilt that is a map of the farm, for farmsister: ideally, finish by 4/16, as that is her birthday. * a quilt of, maybe, birds? for mom? ideally, finish by 3/20, as that is *her* birthday. * a quilt to cover my yurt door, backed with waterproofed fabric– good use for the oilcloth I made that I don’t think I’ll use on my kitchen table– finish by May when the yurt goes up??
10) I still have two sheep’s fleeces in my basement. I need to glue down the handle of the second carder, and get back to carding. I still don’t know how to spin. Someday. Christ almighty.
11) I have been accumulating a combination of hand- and machine-embroidered Star Wars-themed patches and I really ought to put those onto something. A vest? A jacket? A bag? Something.
12) Tambour hook embroidery. Yes. I have a frame. I have to figure out how the fuck to actually do it. This would be useful in quilting if only I could figure out how the fuck to do it. Yes I’ve watched videos. No they don’t help. Fuck.
(Your picture was not posted)
