I seem to be needing to do a lot of sorting lately, donated fabrics that need sorted out as to what I can use them for, what needs gifted/donated and what’s just trash. And my yarns need some sorting and put into more tidy order.
But mostly I need to work on sorting out my life and my head, my priorities, my finances and my future direction and what I want/need as my life moves on. And life does that, it moves on, even when we don’t want it to or just aren’t ready for changes or decisions.
I did have my list for vacation scheduling so that went fast and easy at the plant this week, it’s a March thing every year and our vacation cycles are set by our hire date, not by the actual calendar or plant vacation scheduling deadlines. So, my first eligible day for the new ‘year’ is April 1, and all my vacation time must be taken by the last day of March. And as I will have 19 years in this plant at the end of this month I do understand that rhythm and make it work for my life, or make my life work with that schedule stuff.
My attic studio space is not working well for me, I have a lot of floor space but those slanted areas mean I don’t actually have a lot of cubic space, my actual walls are the north wall with 2 windows and that’s also where my pegboards and thread racks live, and I need them and don’t have a better place to locate them, I sure can’t hang them on that slanted ceiling/wall stuff. The south wall backs that currant storage space that might someday become an upstairs bathroom, and it’s my books, almost all sewing/knitting and such and I don’t have a better place for them and want them easily accessed and yes, where I can glance and see what I actually have so I don’t buy duplicates.
That long built in ‘desk’ area worked great but I need more/different. The fabric storage underneath is not easy to see what I have or to get fabrics out. There is not enough space on the desk area for sewing on big projects, or machine quilting. The cutting table is often a piled up mess and that’s totally my doing and a problem I need to work on, organizing is NOT my strength and it might be just something I rebel against.
Raising the east ceiling is an awesome thought but it’s not going to happen. If I had that sort of $$ to play with I would be tearing off the old front porch and it’s roof and adding a Four Seasons addition that I could keep warm enough to winter the plants and where I could now and then get some sun on a winter’s day. But if that roof was the same elevation as the dormer I would have a lot more usable space… it’s not going to happen so I need to work on what I do have and how I can design/use it better and without adding a lot of cost.
I do now have a 6 foot folding table so I can set it up to work bigger projects and it will fold and store in that future bathroom space and I have sure put it to good use recently, it was well worth the $55 I paid for it. But I really don’t have a good space/location to set it up and use it, I made it work but as I look at long term, I want/need something more workable. And where I am not rapping my head on that darn slanted ceiling stuff.
The thought of winters retired and not having a really usable studio to work/play in has me wanting to not retire anytime in the next century, I can see me going insane fast and beating my old head against walls/ceiling in frustration while trying to set up the layers of a full sized or larger quilt and get it ready to be quilted. So, while I am working and making good $$ is the time to look to the future and what I can change, how it can be changed and no, moving my bedroom upstairs and turning the living room and my downstairs bedroom into my studio area is NOT workable, it seems to become a Vespa/Piaggio garage during the winter or at least it has been this past winter. The Liberty moved out and even took me to work last Saturday and then winter came back, the new Primavera is still backed up against the front door. And yes, there’s still 2 scooters in the shop building so yes, I do have my share of scooters and yes, I also have your share too.
And I also have a new Baby Lock embroidery/sewing machine coming the end of this week, and NO, I am not getting rid of the 2 Bernina machines or the Viking. Or the rarely used surger or a loom or spinning wheel…yes, I have managed to collect a lot of ‘toys’ and yes I earned the $ that paid for all of them too.
But that doesn’t solve my organization and space issues, I will end up with graph paper, tape measures, rulers and looking for ideas and seeing what would really work, if there’s anything I would part with or that could be kept somewhere different. And yes, I do realize my life is rich and blessed and has stability and comfort and safety that far too many women never have. But I still want a more usable studio space so I can create and make and craft and enjoy what I have worked so hard to provide for myself.
