Ironing and folding, ironing and folding . . . repeat and fade

During August, in my (foolish?) desire to reorganize my fiber studio, I decided I should store my quilting cottons in file boxes. So I pulled all of the quilting cottons out of the big armoire. The fabric had been washed and loosely folded, but not ironed. In a burst of enthusiasm for my new scheme, I thought I should iron the fabric before I folded it into the new configuration and put it in boxes. So, since August, I have spent about one full day each week ironing and folding fabric. Each piece got ironed, folded in half and half again (selvage to selvage), then folded around an acrylic ruler to create a 14" X 12" folded square (more or less). These were placed, end up, in file boxes, by color or theme. Anything smaller than 1/2 a yard was folded around a smaller ruler and put in smaller boxes. Scraps were placed in yet different boxes.

The exciting news is that I'm almost done! I have a few more pieces to iron and fold, and some more scraps and smaller pieces to deal with when I go through the big plastic bins that held scraps before, but I can see the end in sight. I cannot believe that I have ironed every piece of quilting cotton fabric in my stash. This is the accumulation of many years of purchasing fabric, and I ironed it all.

Now I need to tackle the garment fabric. That's a big job, but at least not everything will need to be ironed.

In the continuing saga of my obsessive nature, I also got back to working on the beaded belt I started several years ago. It's black velvet with silver beadwork, and I'm doing all the beading by hand (no appliques). So far, it looks gorgeous, and I can't wait to get the rest of it done. I have been using all kinds of flashy beads and crystals, and it just glows under the light. Pictures to come soon.

Now, back to grading papers, which almost seems restful after all the ironing!

Computer coma and recovery, gearing up and digging out

So my new computer was running fine for about a week, and then it started crashing (everything froze and I had to shut it down manually). Then it wouldn't boot up at all -- just black screen. Poor computer went into a coma. But luckily, Q suggested having it built in a local shop, so I could take it back there for repair. They had to replace the power supply, and now the computer is back up and lively again! Yippee!

I am still in the process of "digging out," as one book calls it -- I am in the midst of my semi-annual clear out the clutter phase. I have almost finished my office at work (which looks remarkably and almost frighteningly neat), and I am almost finished with my study at home (although we have visions of some new furniture configurations which might require an additional pass at a later date). I am partly through with my art studio area, although it never seems to really get straightened up -- I think I need to finish a lot of projects before that area can look really organized. I finished a book on organizing for the creative-minded person, and although I found some aspects of it annoying, I learned two things. One, I really do want things out in plain sight, so I should figure out ways to have them organized, but not out of sight. Two, it would probably help if I spent a little time every day or so putting things away, filing, etc. This semi-annual process feels very rewarding to me, but it takes a long time and I would probably be better served by dealing with things more regularly. However, I truly dislike filing and clearing-up, so I'm simply not sure how that will work.

Classes start on Monday, and I want everything in order before then -- but I still need to finish revising my syllabi and setting up the course websites. Ack! Where did the summer go?

I did a bit of yoga the other day for the first time (one of the workouts on the DVD Yoga for Inflexible People), and it was surprisingly relaxing. It was somewhat physically challenging at times, but I did feel very relaxed, sleepy and at-peace at the end. Of course, the computer crashed after that, so my peace was short-lived, but I think I'll try it again soon. I had no idea what the narrator was talking about sometimes, though -- she talked about bringing your thighs up and back...what? There were a bunch of physical descriptions that I just couldn't figure out. Oh, well, as long as I don't injure myself, it should be fine.

Now I'm off to pick up the stuff that came from my grandparents' house in Wisconsin -- my brother has been storing it in a storage unit, and we are going to move it all out today. Oh no, more stuff!