Pat Findlay's Studio Time

  Yesterday was spent in the basement, as Friday's are laundry days.  Faced with more purging, I came to a realization--I had forgotten about my not worrying about anything more than a week away.  My worry about being ready to move by early spring had taken over and I was turning into a Whirling Dervish-again.  Time to slow down and try to take it one day at a time-again.  Or maybe I need to go back to the routine I used during my last "big purge"-- an hour a day of purging and then back to the current stitching project. Yesterday I had decided to include the wonderful quilt, found in a drawer, into my donation quilt pile.  However wonderful the piece was I really had no use for it, and there are two pieces ahead of it in line to be "kept because I love it".  DH had mentioned some loose threads on the piece, so I attacked it with a pair of fine scissors.  What a mess!  Yes, this quilt is not the treasure I had thought it was.  I'm not ev...

We have been working non-stop over the past few days.  Even the area under the bar, that David didn't realize was so full is now empty of everything except fabric dye.  I've been accumulating things for the "De-stash" sale I mentioned before, and have enough bags and boxes to cover the top of my fancy chest (not the cedar chest Dad made).  We hope to get it into the car today, and to deliver it tomorrow.  Gail is supposed to drop in today to pick up our folding table to use at a sale in Swift Currant over the weekend. Our friend Laurie is going with her and will be selling the old silver chests that she re-finishes so beautifully, and that needs some extra table space. When checking out drawers and such in the studio area, I found a beautiful quilt that I must have made in the dark distant past.  It is mainly hand painted fabric scraps, exquisitely FMQ'd.  It seems like a treasure now, newly discovered.  I don't want to part with it.  It is t...

  My DH has started work on our purge a little early.  I'm thinking that maybe he has wanted to "purge" my studio for a long time and jumped on the opportunity.  In any case, most of the late afternoon and evening was spent dealing with a portion of the completed hangings that were in the studio, either hanging on the walls or part of a very small number of pieces hidden in trunks or behind other hanging pieces.  Most of these were cut up into pieces and thrown in the garbage.  We considered cutting off any beads so they could be saved, but then decided that the chance of them being re-used was too little to be given any consideration. One really has to be in the right mood for this sort of purging, and I don't think I was suitably prepared for the task.  I found it very emotionally draining--to the point of tears. Finally he brought a piece that has been hanging in our bedroom for years--five thread painted juncos on a hand painted background, heavily mach...

  Last year my challenge was 100 days of slowly purging my studio with a minimum of 1 hour per day of solid work on the purge, no matter how long I worked or played in the studio.  This year I'm aiming at 90 days, as I believe ( and hope) there is much less to purge.  At the same time, I'm actively going to search out art-related donation sites, where my supplies will be understood and appreciated--not thrift stores. We've lived in this house for 24 years.  In that time, my studio has grown from a corner of the basement, to take in all of the finished area of the basement, including a bathroom and an extra bedroom.  I have two full large wooden chests, and the walls are covered with my finished work.  This all has to be dealt with in some way.  Thank Goodness the two large floor to ceiling bookcases were purged last time.  However, there is still stuff to deal with there, albeit a small amount.  But, there are two large floor to ceiling ...

  The ladies of my Wednesday group have been encouraging me to make some pot holders or placemats in preparation for the fall craft show.  Initially my reaction was horror, as that's the way I started entering sales and shows almost 30 years ago.  But on further thought I figured "why not"? I have fabric, I have experience and some skill, and there is no need for me to fill more than the corner of a table in order to be able to become part of the event. So I started some pot holders, buying some Insil-Brite to provide some insulation from heat, and choosing some colour-matched fabric to work on.  I agonized over what size to make and settled on 7" square.  Got everything cut and started cutting, then some simple machine quilting and sewed the first thing together.  A nice thick, firm pot holder.  Too bad my sewing machine started to complain when I tried to add binding.  Just not going to work. So back to the planning stage.  I read the instr...