Too much stuff!

I've been in a strange slump lately. I have a whole host of things to do, and I"m not in the mood to do any of them. It's rainy, and I'd really rather just curl up on the couch and read. And read. And read.

It may be that I've suddenly overwhelmed by the clutter around me. I had a big fabric dyeing binge (which was wonderfully, excitement-making fun) but then I found myself overwhelmed by the piles of fabric that I'd dyed. Where to put it all?

I've also had a large, ongoing legal project...So one side of my tiny office is piled with papers and my file drawers are full...On the other side of the room, my sewing table is heaped with fabric.

I've made inroads... I've folded piles, sorted and reorganized to make room for more. But the truth is, I just have TOO MUCH STUFF. And that includes too much fabric. (Now, I know there is really no such thing as too much fabric, but I mean too much fabric for the storage space I have.) Trust me...there is fabric under the bed, fabric in my office closet, fabric in the drawers in the hall... I have no need to buy fabric for a long, long time. And for those of you out there who shop with me from time to time, REMIND ME OF THAT next time you see me pick up a piece to buy, would you please? It's time for "catch and release" shopping, as my friend Rita calls it. Pick up the bolt, admire it, stroke it, and then put it back on the shelf.

I've also sorted the unfinished projects I've got around here, filling two of the six hefty baskets in my basket/shelf storage system. Most are scrappy things I started to use up scraps with the plan of donating them to the children's shelter. They're fun to work on, mindless sewing for tv watching or child accompaniement. So over the next few weeks I'm going to work on finishing those.

AND there are the quilt tops I have finished, which are sitting here unquilted. Two are Halloween ones I did for fun, two are more ambitious projects that will take some time to decide what to do. So those are also on the to-do list.

See? No wonder I'm overwhelmed. But I think I'm going to work on getting some of this STUFF out of the way, and I'll feel better. Next week is spring vacation for Caroline and Roger. We're staying here, so we can see our good friends Silvia and Paulo who will visit from Guatemala, so Roger can make some big inroads on his soon-to-be-finished textbook, and so Caroline can do pony camp. That'll be a good time to make some progress on these projects.

Today I'm off to the Pointless Sisters meeting, a gathering of our art quilt group. Maybe that will inspire me.