At my Wits End

This past week (a couple of days ago) we were going to have some company come and stay overnight. However I had a problem.

One room - the room that holds fabric in it - that was ok. I was able to put away the extra fabric sitting around - most of it anyway - and get the bed out and make it for the expected company.

However, the second room - which also has a queen sized bed—was completely covered with quilts and fabric pieces and an ironing board.

All kinds of things.

Then there was the doorway which I couldn’t get through.

I was overwhelmed. Completely and totally.

NO PHOTO

A hoarder’s room.

Boxes and bags of fabric pieces. Unfinished but cut pillowcase pieces, sorted fabrics that look good together, parts of quilt backings that need to be saved out for sewing together with other pieces.

Most of the quilts lining the way couldn’t be accessed. Actually I couldn’t get into the room. I don’t know if I can find a picture. It’s too embarrassing. I tried to not take any pictures for months of that part of the house.

I needed to get to the bed so I could make it up and I had to make the room able to be used by someone to sleep in there. No one is going to ‘stay’ in there for any length of time but they needed a safe place to be where I could put on clean sheets, a fresh clean quilt and be able to vacuum the floor.

What could I do?

I had to get to work.

Actually I started last week for a bit every day. I knew I had to go through stuff. I’ve watched my share of Hoarder shows and they are awful. It is especially difficult to watch when the stuff is good stuff - other people come in there and just toss. (If it is just full of garbage - then that’s absolutely fine with me!)

I was so afraid of someone coming into my house and starting to just throw out fabric - perfectly good fabric pieces or quilts.

However…the quilts weren’t doing me any good being in there, all covered up or piled up.

Anyway, up until now I’ve not wanted to let go of a lot of my nicer quilts (my 2” and 2.5” series, esp., and my Upcycled Blues). Each of these quilts may have taken the better part of a week (plus design time) and I’ve been unwilling to give them to random strangers who I have no idea if they appreciate patchwork at all.

But, as my husband said, “You have the ability to produce faster than you can give them away.”

I have been trying to finish up the ones I’ve wanted to for this year early in the year (remember my goal of 50 or get caught up?) so besides the ones in the room I couldn’t get into, I’ve had the ones I recently finished just sitting outside the door of that room - because I couldn’t get them in the room - about 35 quilts!

Sigh. What to do.

Panic. Breathe deeply.

I worked my way into the room, moving out and going through things until I could get to the back wall. I pulled down most of the quilts piled against the wall there and brought them to the living room if I was willing to let them go. In the process of doing that I became okay with it. I had to actively make a decision, “Is this a quilt that I care about ENOUGH to find a place in my house to keep it, or can it find a different home?” When phrased that way, I decided that MOST had to go.

I pulled out the fabrics pieces that were in cardboard boxes and bags, said goodbye and packed them to give away. At some point I have to admit that my ambition is greater than my time.

I asked my husband to help me because he could get the quilts I wanted to keep piled up along the back wall more easily than I.

We put back in that room the quilts that I am not willing to get rid of for now (Up Greens, some series I am particularly wanting to keep such as all my Mosaic ones in various sizes, some special ones, etc.) and everything else that was random came out. Everything.

(Oh, I still have plastic bins full of upcycled fabrics in there. They are blocking the door to the closet and some along the wall. I will know I have conquered when I can get into the closet again.)

There is still quite a bit of STUFF in that room - and I may tackle it an hour a week until I get it cleaned up - just to the right of these boxes of fabric pieces.

 

The pile of quilts to let go is now in my living room as I type this.

I wrote several of my friends on Facebook who I know like quilts and asked them if they wanted one or two or three - all queen sized. Most have said yes. I packed up 6 of them to go to Ukraine with a van that came through yesterday. I made them into sets with a pillow/pillowcases and a microfiber blanket. I had one friend take 5 quilts and another take 5. Another is going to take 3. I still have quite a few sitting in my living room.

When the van for Ukraine is coming back next week, I’ll have another 6 ready for them to take back and give away to couples there. But I still have more. I am planning on taking another 5 or 7 on Sunday to church to see if anyone else wants another one.

Can you tell I’ve reached my crisis point? I should have come to this point years ago. However, I guess I was just hoping somehow it would just disappear, I guess. Or maybe someone else would do it. Silly me.

My house has become simply too full. I cannot keep up the pace of production and have a place to live and enjoy.

So, hopefully in the next or week and a half, I will manage to move on the rest of these quilts. In the end, the ones that people don’t want (people I know) I will probably put a label on and make them into charity quilts. I’d rather not do that - but I cannot put them back in my second guest room.

I really need to start working on whittling down the plastic bins with upcycled fabrics in them (again) and I can’t do that if there are quilts all over.

So…I’ve been having a crisis this past week. It’s not been fun. It’s been very sad to say goodbye to so many of my quilt friends. Oh, it is very silly - and I see that as I write this. I am aware in my head that they aren’t doing anyone any good while sitting in a pile in my guest room. I mean, piles and PILES.


I’m finally over it.

The only thing that has been wonderful is seeing my friends pick out quilts they do like and will enjoy. That is the biggest fun. And that is why I can now let them go. I think I reached my crisis point on Monday where I finally became willing to just “let them go”. Almost all of them.

So, what have I learned from this?

Don’t make so many quilts? I don’t think so.

Don’t let the quilts pile up and make chaos in my house? I think so.

I guess I won’t know what I’ve actually learned from this until time goes by and I begin to accumulate too many finished quilts again. Then we’ll see what I’ve learned. Will I deal with them before it brings on another crisis and will I keep the numbers at bay? Will I learn?

I hope so.

This has not been a fun week.

I have been embarrassed at my mess.

The amount of work in dealing with it all is overwhelming.

The decisions are mind-numbing.

As you can see - it’s not been a fun week for me. But hopefully the worst is behind me. The thing I still need to do is find more homes for my beloved quilts! Homes that are here in Poland, preferably!

But thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey! I do appreciate you!

Have a great day wherever you are reading this!

And those guests?

They were the ones from Ukraine and arrived at 7 am on Thursday and left again at 11 am never setting foot into either bedroom! They met their friends who arrived from the USA and drove away with them (and 6 of my quilt sets I packed up), returning to Ukraine.

Yes, it’s true. The rooms were unused!

But now the rooms are ready when our American company comes back from Ukraine in a week! I don’t even have to change the sheets!

I just want to get those quilts in the living room new homes! :)

Becky Petersen25 Comments