Organized Chaos

I look around and wish I could be more organized. Hm. That's not really correct...I AM organized. I know where everything is and most of it has a place, I'm just not a neat worker. The midst of a sewing binge will find my sewing table, my cutting area and my ironing board all piled with various colorful bits and pieces of at least one project...and often more than one.

Currently I'm piecing two quilts and quilting two quilts. My flying geese are in the neat stage. I have a stack that is finished and one that is ready for goose number two, which is pinned on and ready to sew.

Then I have the scrappy strips. They are only slightly less chaotic shooting out of the back of the machine than they were in the box from whence they came.

For all the neatness of the shelf of boxes lined up neatly in my sewing room with their handy little labels, above them is another shelf, with boxes and baskets of various sizes that looks decidedly less neat. While my cutting area has been redone and organized...the area to the left of it is pictured below. I plan to make an oversized pressing area that will stand in front of this, so this piece will have several uses. It will block the messiness of that area of my sewing room, I can use it as a design board and I can lay it on my sewing table when I need a large pressing surface.

I know these summer weeks will slip quickly by. While my plan is always to 'sew my brains out' during the less scheduled (so less chaotic) weeks of summer, this is the first one in some time that wasn't thwarted by various obstacles. The biggest 'obstacle' of the last few years is 2 1/2 now, loves to be outside and is pretty good at keeping herself occupied, so this summer (at least so far) has a been a dream summer for me. Evenings spent sewing by the fire, days spent working on various projects while the older kids come and go and the younger ones enjoy the summer days and nearly unlimited time outside.


While there are times that I focus on one project and run with it, this is not one of those times. With four projects in the works, and all of them calling my name, I know each will likely get a little attention today. I feel the urge to make some progress on the quilt in the frame, so am planning to finish the inner section today...one more block and some of the rope in the border around the inner section will complete this area. This evening the quilt in the hoop will likely get some attention and bits and pieces of time in between there will find me at my machine. It's hot and humid here today, so a day of quilting in the air conditioning is just the ticket.

So today will be just like everything else in my life seems to be...organized chaos. While someone looking in may find my days (and my life) disjointed and frenetic, it all makes perfect sense to me.

And now, I quilt.