Clutter

My house is cluttered.  Not really dirty but just cluttered.  I have piles or boxes or bags with projects in them everywhere. A friend once came to my house and while looking around my living room, I said “Welcome to the Heartfully Cheryl Manufacturing Center”.  I wanted her to know there was a reason for all the clutter (and why she couldn’t sit on my couch) and it wasn’t that I wasn’t a good housekeeper. 

I am one of those people who have several different projects going on at once.  In fact behind me right now. laying across my sewing machine. is a pair of slacks I am about to finish but I also need to get this blog written.  Usually I don’t mind the clutter and I am able to move from project to project.  But once in a while, I just have to straighten up.

I read all these articles and blogs about how cleaning up the clutter helps calm the nerves and helps focus the mind.  I can see how that would be.  There are times when I am looking for a particular tool and can’t find it where it usually is because it is stored with a project where it is being used.  And I do spend (or maybe waste) time hunting for it.

I read in these articles that cleaning the clutter helps allow in new things.  Not sure I need anything new but I get the point.  So once in a while I go through my projects and supplies and see if there is anything I need to discard.

One of the things I do with my fabric is sort out the scraps.  To me that is anything smaller than a fat quarter(an 18 x 22 inch of fabric).  These scraps I cut into various sized squares; anything from 2” to 6”.  I then put them in boxes dedicated to the individual size square.  This has become useful when doing a project that requires a certain size. I have the squares cut and ready to use.  Or if I just need a scrap of some green for an appliquéd leaf I go to my box of squares and usually find what I need.  I don’t have to sort through yards of fabric.

Another thing I have started to do is dedicated a certain amount of time cleaning one area of my work room.  I can do anything for 15 or 30 minutes and it usually takes a big chunk out of my clutter. 

So you might be asking what I do with the clutter I am eliminating.  I usually see if someone else wants it.  At our Fiber Artist group we have a monthly raffle.  Bring something you are no longer going to use and put it on the table.  If someone wants it they will buy a raffle ticket and maybe win it.  The money goes into our general fund.  The one problem with that is while you are getting rid of your clutter, you might end up winning someone else’s clutter. 

Another thing I do is donate it.  Our guild has a section of our quilt show set aside for basically a garage sale.  You as a member donate fabric, books, tools, even some handmade items to the guild and they sell it during the show bringing in money to get the type of programs the members want.

Now if you don’t have a fiber artist raffle or quilt show garage sale, why not donate your clutter to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  The money from their thrift stores help run their programs.  Or if it is general crafts items, donate it to a school or day care for the children to use.  It helps their budget. 

See if a friend just starting out in crafts like quilting could use your scraps.  I gave some of my 6” squares to a friend who just wanted to make a scrap quilt but didn’t have a lot of money to buy yards of fabric.  Or maybe give it to a mother with young children who need some crafts to keep them busy during the summer.  When I started to do the kid’s crafts at the farmers market, I asked my quilt guild for empty thread spools for a project and the guild members not only gave me spools but any other craft supplies they had but didn’t want to help out with the crafts I was planning.  I didn’t have to buy anything that first year of crafts.

So whether you are cleaning out your clutter for peace of mind, to bring in new things or to keep your house off one of those hoarding television shows you see on cable TV, there are places to send your items other than the city dump.  And who knows maybe in cleaning out your work room (or your Manufacturing Center), you may find a special treasure you forgot you had under all that clutter (like a couch. haha). 

 

©2019,2023 - Cheryl Fillion

 

Clutter

My house is cluttered.  Not really dirty but just cluttered.  I have piles or boxes or bags with projects in them everywhere. A friend once came to my house and while looking around my living room, I said “Welcome to the Heartfully Cheryl Manufacturing Center”.  I wanted her to know there was a reason for all the clutter (and why she couldn’t sit on my couch) and it wasn’t that I wasn’t a good housekeeper.

I am one of those people who have several different projects going on at once.  In fact behind me right now. laying across my sewing machine. is a pair of slacks I am about to finish but I also need to get this blog written.  Usually I don’t mind the clutter and I am able to move from project to project.  But once in a while, I just have to straighten up.

I read all these articles and blogs about how cleaning up the clutter helps calm the nerves and helps focus the mind.  I can see how that would be.  There are times when I am looking for a particular tool and can’t find it where it usually is because it is stored with a project where it is being used.  And I do spend (or maybe waste) time hunting for it.

I read in these articles that cleaning the clutter helps allow in new things.  Not sure I need anything new but I get the point.  So once in a while I go through my projects and supplies and see if there is anything I need to discard.

One of the things I do with my fabric is sort out the scraps.  To me that is anything smaller than a fat quarter(an 18 x 22 inch of fabric).  These scraps I cut into various sized squares; anything from 2” to 6”.  I then put them in boxes dedicated to the individual size square.  This has become useful when doing a project that requires a certain size. I have the squares cut and ready to use.  Or if I just need a scrap of some green for an appliquéd leaf I go to my box of squares and usually find what I need.  I don’t have to sort through yards of fabric.

Another thing I have started to do is dedicated a certain amount of time cleaning one area of my work room.  I can do anything for 15 or 30 minutes and it usually takes a big chunk out of my clutter. 

So you might be asking what I do with the clutter I am eliminating.  I usually see if someone else wants it.  At our Fiber Artist group we have a monthly raffle.  Bring something you are no longer going to use and put it on the table.  If someone wants it they will buy a raffle ticket and maybe win it.  The money goes into our general fund.  The one problem with that is while you are getting rid of your clutter, you might end up winning someone else’s clutter. 

Another thing I do is donate it.  Our guild has a section of our quilt show set aside for basically a garage sale.  You as a member donate fabric, books, tools, even some handmade items to the guild and they sell it during the show bringing in money to get the type of programs the members want.

Now if you don’t have a fiber artist raffle or quilt show garage sale, why not donate your clutter to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  The money from their thrift stores help run their programs.  Or if it is general crafts items, donate it to a school or day care for the children to use.  It helps their budget. 

See if a friend just starting out in crafts like quilting could use your scraps.  I gave some of my 6” squares to a friend who just wanted to make a scrap quilt but didn’t have a lot of money to buy yards of fabric.  Or maybe give it to a mother with young children who need some crafts to keep them busy during the summer.  When I started to do the kid’s crafts at the farmers market, I asked my quilt guild for empty thread spools for a project and the guild members not only gave me spools but any other craft supplies they had but didn’t want to help out with the crafts I was planning.  I didn’t have to buy anything that first year of crafts.

So whether you are cleaning out your clutter for peace of mind, to bring in new things or to keep your house off one of those hoarding television shows you see on cable TV, there are places to send your items other than the city dump.  And who knows maybe in cleaning out your work room (or your Manufacturing Center), you may find a special treasure you forgot you had under all that clutter (like a couch. haha). 

©2019 - Cheryl Fillion

 

I Live in Clutter and I Love It

My house is cluttered.  Not really dirty (a bit dusty maybe.  We had a neighbor growing up whose philosophy was “If people are going to come in my house and look for dust, I am going to leave some.  I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”  I have adopted her philosophy.)  But my house is cluttered.  I have boxes and baskets and yes piles of projects and craft supplies.  I usually have multiple projects going on at once.  I never know when the mood will strike me to change what I am doing so I want everything close by (and I actually know where things are in my clutter.  I have found that if I “put it away”, I don’t remember where I put it.).

But it does drives my visitors and landlord crazy.  One friend stopped by recently and looked around at my living room frowning at my clutter and I said “Welcome to the Heartfully Cheryl Manufacturing Center”.  It was a way of letting her know there was a purpose to my “mess”. But I will admit after recent events, my clutter can be difficult.

A few weeks ago, my refrigerator decided to stop cooling.  It apparently decided on a career change.  And so we had to get a new one.  The best way to get anything out of my house is through the front door, which meant moving furniture, a sewing machine and much of my clutter.

It was challenging I had things in places I don’t normally have things like the bathroom and the front porch.  But it worked out and I now have cold and frozen food again.  But I wasn’t allowed to get everything back in place (which turned out to be good) when my washing machine decided to go to the big Laundromat in the sky.  Again everything needed to be moved (and even more things from the hallway between the kitchen and laundry room) to get the old machine out and the new one in.

This time I decided to clean out some things.  Two items I had to move were 2 drawer file cabinets I use to store teaching notes and exams and in them I found all kinds of things for classes I no longer teach.  So off to the recycling center those items went.  I cleaned out fabric and yarn to go to various friends and charities.  I found a new spot for my paid bills to go and also for my card stock.  And I hate to admit it I found some projects I had forgotten about but now will get finished.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with clutter.  I like having my projects around me to work on. My moods and energy level often decide what I am going to do at the moment.

But there is something to say about clearing out the old that you really don’t need anymore (and cleaning up the dust too.)  If you don’t mind the clutter, don’t change because others don’t like it.  But every once in a while, go through it and see what you still need and what you really don’t need.

 

©2018- Cheryl Fillion