Final Countdown Task 3

The Final Countdown is on over at Prairie Moon Quilts.  The third and final challenge is to Pick a New Habit to Start (and keep).

But what to pick?  Don’t start a new quilt until one of the UFOs is finished is less habit than resolution. The same is true of don’t pile stuff on the cutting board (an interesting proposition as it is the 1st flat surface when we enter the house) treadle machine (2nd) or ironing board (3rd).  Also, those surfaces get cleared off when they are needed.

I guess the biggest issue I  have is scraps. Not so much those that I generate myself such as these from the current project

as soon as I get the quilt bound, labeled, a pillowcase made and both washed, I’ll deal with these.

It’s those scraps which come into the house in large quantities via friends and scavenging for them off of Craiglist.

The top box is more of a “stirring box” — I think those the scraps I haven’t put back up from pulling fabrics from the Star-A-Day project.  Those bottom two boxes though…

If I put everything on hold, I could work through these scraps over the course of a few weeks. But I have a graduation quilt to start,  BOMs to catch up on , UFOs to work on, etc. So, I think the new habit is going to be to spend 30 minutes a week working on my scraps until  I get them under control, and then weekly as needed.  Going forward, I’ll add a comment on my Sunday Stash Report post of how much time I worked on my scraps.

As for tasks #1 and #2, I’m happy to report that I have them completed.

Task 1 Before:

Task 1 After:

Task 2 Before:

Task 2 After – The longarm box:

Task 2 After – The retreat box:

Task 2 After – The Star-A-Day bag:

Both the long-arm box and the retreat box get stuff added to them on a case by case basis, but they contain the basics.  The long-arm box is in the bag I  haul my quilt in, along with the 2 pantographs I own. Once I find the second set of zippers they’ll go in the bag as well.  The retreat box, is under the rolling cart under my sewing desk as I can’t easily get to my sewing machine bag due to where it is stored.  The Star-A-Day bag is on the end table in the living room. Perhaps I should get working on them again as that is star # 65 which should have been completed on the November 4th.