Ever Onward

...in the midst of everything, 

I've been tidying and/or escaping by reading novels.  

 

~ rare needlework instruction book, Dublin 1833 with samples of sewing, embroidery, knitting and miniature clothing ~

 

But I did finish going through all my clothes (which included tops, skirts, pants, dresses, jackets, coats, scarves, hats, gloves, socks, undies, pjs, shoes, boots and bags).  Oh my.

 

 

~ Guerra de la Paz ~

 

Let me give you the stats.  

I got rid of 32 big garbage bags (to Goodwill). It me took about 3 weeks to go through all the clothes, and then reorganize what I kept and put it in place.

 

I'll break it down by category: 

 

4 bags of tops to go, 4 big piles to stay, took 2 days  

3 bags of dresses/skirts to go, 3 big piles to stay, took 2 days 

6 bags of pants to go, 3 big piles to stay, took 1 days

3 bags of jackets/coats, 4 big piles to stay, took 2 days 

0 bags of hats/gloves/scarves to go, all stayed, took 1 day 

4 bags of socks/undies/pjs to go, 3 piles to stay, took 2 days 

8 bags of shoes/boots, ? to stay (just enough to fit in my available  space!), took 6 days 

4 bags of purses/totes, ? to stay (I stopped counting the keepers), took 2 days                                               

 

 

Then I went on to books...

                                            ...but that's another story.

    

I've Got Highlights for 2019!

Wow!

~ Sewcialists Top Highlights ~

Yeah, at first I thought "huh?"  But upon further consideration, I came up with some really good ones.

I officially retired this year, 
signing up for social security, medicare, etc.  And I also retired all my licensures, registrations, certifications, memberships and insurance for practicing as an Art Therapist and Clinical Counselor.  (phew is right)

Although I am still teaching a painting class at the local college (30+ years).

~ end of year class photo ~

That's me in the dress.

I finally organized some stuff this year, finally!  

And they're still organized!  That would be the junk room which I've completely cleared out.  Now all my gloves and scarves are organized by color in those clear hanging pouch-like things in the hall closet. Purses, bags and totes are arranged by size on shelves in the same hall closet.  Winter coats in there too, with light coats/ jackets in the spare room closet.  

I could go on and on here, but you get the idea.

Someone made me a quilt! 

It was completely unexpected and quite a thrill to receive.  Made out of fabric scraps from clothes I had made...and I still had no idea that it was going to happen.

~ Thanks Jackie, it's a nightly affair ~

I upped my exercise regime and monitored my nutrition intake in January 2019 for 3 months.  

And have kept off the weight and inches all year!  I've continued my regular exercise and eating program after the 3-month intensive and I'm at my lowest weight/inches in decades, decades, people.  Thanks to all the support from my coach, sister exercisers, friends and especially, my True Love.

~ I feel great! ~

And writing all this down has made me feel even better.  What a great idea Sewcialists!

I'll be linking up to Patti @ Not Dead Yet Style and Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like when they go live.  Come on by.

 

Mission Possible Position

Yes, it's one of those days.

Nevertheless, I didn't want to miss out on my big date with Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style.  Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

Moving onward and upward.  Here we have my hand-sewn, with primary colors variegated thread, a hunter green jersey knit Lotus duster.  The rest of the pix are so bad they can't be seen.  I've already redone the fastening device and plan to do so again soon.  Another story...

Actually I've been sewing like mad, a least a dozen or more lovely pieces, but no photos.  Bad at photos.  And now I was just working on a lousy pj top and scorched the ivory cotton a nice toasty brown.  grrrrr.  grrrrr.   So rather than go down that road, I thought I'd share a success with you all.
For myself, really.  But you can look if you want.

Now Is The Time

...for a massive-clean-up-your-mess-however-long-it-takes session(s). 

painting by Cassie Taggart

Enough with procrastination, work-a-rounds, and not paying attention.  Hear that?    I'm going to take the time it takes, i.e., stop sewing (!) and just do it.  yeah.  So this is probably enough talking about it and the moment for action.  woo-hoo!

See you on the other side...

Animals and Angels

~ artwork by Emile Morel ~

...were just pouring out of me in the jewelery-making scene.  But that's it for awhile.  I've cleared off the table in my studio and am ready for a sewing bout again.  Meanwhile all the jewels-to-be are now organized to the max which delights me to no end.

Without further ado, here's my latest playthings (after the break)...

Hanging Up Your Clothes - DIY

Jean (of Dross into Gold) mentioned something about getting a spare bedroom/ dressing room into shape that didn't have enough closet space...
 

~ photograph by Aline Smithson ~

Since I was still in an organizing mood, I tidied mine up a bit and shot some pictures.  My true love and I had made a wooden shelving device for clothes and shoes several years ago to accommodate a spare room in our house.  It was inexpensive and easy to make.  And it's sectional so when we decided to relocated it to a different spare room, there was no problem fitting it in.

Here's some pictures...

I Don't Donate and I Don't Thrift

~ painting by Alice Neel ~

...anymore.  Let me show you why.  I spent today cleaning up and sorting through my fabric stash, et. al.  It felt very virtuous.  So I took some pictures to remind myself it can be done or rather, that I can do it.  Wanna see?  I can get pretty obessive with my organizational skills...Okay, here they come after the break.

Keep those doggies movin'

ahhha...

artwork by Nick Scalfittura.

Another day well spent.  After a morning of my task and nap routine, I was able to sustain the task aspect for the rest of the afternoon.  Accomplished much more than expected - even though there's much more still to do.  Man-o-man.  Note to self:  just keep at it, rather than dwelling on what to do or how to do it, etc., etc. and

Just Move It!

I'm doing it, moving it.  With much help from my true love, of course, who got me started this morning.  yea.  

painting by Eric Budovitch.

All the driftwood has been boxed and taken to the garage (it's a long story).  The enclosed porch has been swept, all the shelving cleaned - still some empty boxes to get rid of though.

Moved all the not fitting jeans back there from the dressing room.  Next to go are all the T-shirts I don't wear.  Put all the shoes away for now and started sorting out the wearables from the non's so they can make the trip to the porch too.  Woo-hoo!  Soon I'll only have the items I like to wear and that fit me - all in one place.  Imagine that!  The possibilities for outfitting are too exciting...

Well, gotta go and get back to it!

To Be and To Have

Okay, I declare the studio and art supply room are done and done.  The studio is really cleaned and completely re-organized to my satisfaction and the supply room is good enough to move on.  That took 2 weeks to do with intervening naps when overwhelmingness over came me.

artwork by Alli Arnold.

That leaves the enclosed back porch (if I really need more space) and the dressing room as the next target areas.   I just can't bring myself to deal with that disaster area - aka my dressing room - right now.  awwkk!  It is filled with all the clothes unearthed from ___________ (fill in the blank).

It was about this time last year when I started Project Minima and decided to do something about my accumulation of things, especially clothes.  What I had decided to do was remake whatever didn't fit, I didn't like, or wear. So now I have all this unwearable stuff that has become my fabric stash, so to speak.

What's Going On?

I found myself in the supply room spontaneously doing some artwork at the little table by the window.  It used to hold my sewing machine.  With all the re-organizing, a lot of my art supplies are now lying around in boxes on the floor, but still organized within them.

painting by Leslie Lee.

It happened because creativity has got to come out somewhere I think - and I've banned myself from sewing until I get the studio, supply room, and dressing room sorted out.  Anyway, it was fun, low-key, satisfying - in the midst of everything going on - or not going on.

Well, I'm going to have to lift that ban soon if I don't get moving with the tasks at hand.

You know, you just can't block the creative spirit.  (thank goodness!)

Some Heavy Lifting Involved

painting by Eric Budovitch.

Moved some shelving units around today, from the supply room to the studio.  Inch by inch, but I did it, yea!  And started putting some of the sewing stuff on shelves.  Not sure what goes where yet, but I'm starting to get excited about possibilities.  And it doesn't seem too crowded yet.   Still lots to do.

A Studio of Our Own X 2

Rolling up two layers of linoleum covering the hardwood floor was the studio task for today.  It wasn't glued down since I originally put it there to protect the flooring in the first place from my messy art-making materials and processes.  After finishing, the Mr. and I just sat there and enjoyed the view.  smile. 

painting by Sopio Chkhikvadze.

I also brought up the subject of his closet (which he has to access through my studio...ahem).  I mentioned, wouldn't it be nice for him to have a bigger closet that he could enter from the hallway or...  Anyway, we were able to calmly discuss the possibility of expanding his closet through the adjoining wall of an unused office closet in the next room,

Taking Care of Business...Everyday

I found myself casually dropping in and out of the studio today doing bit by little bit - with no trauma, dread, or hesitation...at all!!!!

installation by J. Morgan Puett.

Now I have all the art supplies in the supply room and only the sewing stuff in the studio.  The floor is cleared of obstacles and new light bulbs are in the fixtures.  One by one, it all adds up.


And there's still plenty more a-waiting my attention.

Break On Through...

Yea!  With a little help from the dearest one, that is.  Thank goodness he was off today to give me shots of encouragement as needed.  Spent much more than 15 minutes this morning digging in and doing the things that must be done.

painting by Ray Caesar.

It's all still a mess, but it's more of a controlled mess now - at least in one of the rooms.  Everything is off the floor in the studio and only sewing stuff is in there now - no art supplies (sorta).  Most of the art materials are in the supply room and need to be organized, but there's still lots of sewing stuff in there too, so

An Attempt At Sorting It

okay, okay, I put in my 15 minutes today.  30 minutes actually until I became over-whelmed.  Still.  Maybe I'll go back in and do more...

artwork by Simon Evans.

My true love had said "just pick up the garbage" so I armed myself with a trash bag and went in.  I immediately got side-tracked with sorting my scrap fabric by color!  That was fun. Then I emptied one of many tote bags full of

This is My Studio in Chaos

painting by Joaquin Mateo.

May Day, May Day.  This is the state of my studio, dressing room, supply area... I have decided this last month of my year long commitment called Project Minima shall be ___________!  I'm at a loss for words.

Cleaning, organizing, sorting it out, re-organizing, re-structuring, re-thinking, re-planning, making it work, etc., etc., etc.  I can't continue to ignore

Art of the Kimono

Sculpture by Janet Pines Bender

Decided to move the few items of summer clothing that actually fit (and that I like) to their own area so I can readily find them. They had been interspersed with everything else, yikes! There's just a handful of items, but that's cool.

Anyway, I found an old kimono-type outfit I had made awhile ago and tried it on to figure how I might alter it. Turned out that if I just let it fall naturally without wrapping and tying it, it looked really lovely. So I just took off the ties and sewed on some snaps, and voila. I was on a kimono-esque kick for a long time, so hopefully the others I made will be amenable to adjustment too.  We'll see.

More and More

~ Painting by Lori Field ~

Yesterday I made several forays into the dressing room/closet to gather clothes together.  Sorting like things with like - just like in the thrift stores.  All tops together by color, etc.  Moving winter stuff into the back and summer into the forefront.  Not trying anything on, just sorting by season, type, and color.  Absolutely shocking how much of everything I have and in every color too!

Evolution of the Concept

"Emergence of the Ganga on the Earth," Hindu Painting.

Had the thought, after looking at some of the "sites of inspiration" listed, that perhaps my framework might be to use only what I already have in reforming my wardrobe.  Originally I was thinking to ultimately have everything working/going together with everything else, as well as being minimal.

Now perhaps, it's more me, more reasonable to start from where I'm at - that is use what I have to get to where I want to be.  The same plan would be involved, but I would not buy anything for this year of the project, not even fabric to make something.  It would be about using