Organizing 2008 - what went wrong?

No finished quilt today. I got all the way to the end of the double wedding ring quilt and decided it needed stitch in the ditch around the rings.

While working on that quilt I started asking myself 'what happened'? How did my house get this way? I'm normally a very organized person. Before I can prevent this from happening again I need to understand where I went wrong. In other words, 'what's not working'?


This is the problem. The fabric fairies, my time management, and a love of books!



The fabric fairies visit at their convenience dropping off all the good stuff they can't use anymore. When it's dropped off I don't always have TIME for sorting and distributing it to other people or places. So it gets piled up somewhere in the house until I find more time.

I've also had a rash of 'not quilt fabric' being brought to me lately. That picture is of a bag and box full of drapery fabric scraps. Very nice fabric scraps but not really good for making quilts. The lady that dropped it off believed it was quilt fabrics. She was clearing out her mother's sewing room after the mother passed away. I can't really use it and no charity group is going to want it. Maybe I can use some of it for making rugs?

So how can I fix this problem?

Stop accepting donations - I can be more specific when accepting donations so it will be something a charity would want or stop accepting them all together.

Store it somewhere else - Since I don't have a garage, basement, or storage shed; there really isn't anywhere else to put donations until I can go through them. This also leaves me open to the possibility of bringing in little creatures I don't want in the house.

I've decided to eliminate this problem completely. I won't take any more fabric donations. I will also put into my budget to save for a storage shed. Not for storing donated fabric...just for storing other things I would like to get out of the house. Empty canning jars, Christmas decorations, garden tools, and that sort of stuff.

So I make myself a note to start checking the prices of storage sheds. I can't afford one right now but I can put it into the budget to save for one.


I thought I should also explain; I'm a tightwad, skinflint, penny pincher, greenie, or whatever you want to call someone who believes in making use of throw away objects. You will see more of my tightwad ways as I show more of my organized life.