It’s time! We’re starting tomorrow!

It’s the final few days of 2023 — how did that happen so fast? — and I’m going to be offering up a few Organizing challenges over the next few days, mainly to help give myself a fresh start on the new year. Will you join me?

Over this past year, my organizing took a more drastic turn as we are getting ready to move, and in order to do that, I must downsize a lot. The construction delays have afforded me time to practice patience on a grand scale, and to keep working on the downsizing of my studio before having to move anything.

The move is forcing me to examine every item I have, determine if I will use it, and if so, decide how and where I will store it, and if not, to get rid of it. It’s showing me what I have too much of, what I don’t use or will never use, and what I need to pare down. It’s an eye-opener, even tho I’ve been at this organizing thing for 15 years!

In last year’s announcement post, I listed out a few things I’ve learned over the years of doing this. Here’s a few things I did this past year to help myself along:

• • I didn’t start as many new projects this year as I have in previous years. Digging through the UFOs was a lot like starting new projects, simply because they’ve been languishing so long that they seemed new to me again! I DID start several new ones, but each one had a specific reason for being started, and it wasn’t nearly as many as I usually allow myself to start. And I finished quite a few! My UFO number stayed exactly the same this year, which now gives me hope that I can turn it around and start making it smaller from here on out.
• • I didn’t buy much fabric. Almost all of the fabric I bought was to put into quilts I have started that needed a little something more in order to get finished, or it was backing. I bought a LOT of quilt backings this past year. There was one exception, and it’s something I hardly ever do: I bought a kit! But I already have it all cut up and ready to sew, so it’s not gonna be hanging around unfinished for long.
• • I tried to finish as many quick-to-finish projects as I could in order to be able to give them away so they will be gone and I won’t have to move them or store them. I gifted several quilts, donated several to our guild for Comfort Quilts, and sold a few. This will continue.
• • I began working my way through the UFO pile — again — to see what it’s gonna take to finish them, or if I even want to finish them. Some will get downsized, some will get finished (maybe differently than originally intended), some will get ditched altogether, but it’s good to have a plan. A lot of them only need to be quilted and bound, which I tried to concentrate on this past year as well. I started the year with 58 quilts in my to-be-quilted pile. In spite of finishing several tops into quilts, I now have 59 on that list, and the extra one is a top I found the other day that wasn’t on the list already. And one of them is a wholecloth piece I bought that I want to turn into a finished quilt, so if it weren’t for those two, the list would actually be smaller.

And there are still many “moving projects” on my list — things that I hope to finish before it’s time to move, so that I’ll be organized right from the start in my new studio. And there’s always the day-to-day ongoing organizing that needs to happen in any sewing room, just to keep it a nice, calm, fun place to work in, right?

So I think The Final Countdown will help with that, and I’m glad it’s rolled around again.

If you’ve joined in on the The Final Countdown before, I’ll be thrilled to have you join in again!

If you’re new here, welcome! I hope you’ll join in this time to try and get a fresh start on 2024 with me.

Here’s how it works . . .

• • Beginning tomorrow, I’ll post a task for us to do each day for three days in a row; a different task each day.
• • Your job is to do the task, if you so desire (totally optional). If it’s not a task you need to do, then you can pick any task you feel fits your situation better, and do that one instead. You can look back at previous year’s tasks HERE.
• • After you’ve done the task, leave a comment on the post that you did it, and how it went for you. If you want to write a blog post of your own and link back to it, that’s great — we all love stories, and I love those random peeks into other people’s sewing spaces! If you’re already so organized that you don’t even need to do the task, you can still leave a comment to be eligible for the prizes.
• • I’m offering up a prize for each task, so be sure and leave a comment for each task that you complete. You’re only eligible for the prize for that task if you did the task and left your comment (or left a comment that you already had it done or didn’t need to do it). I try to make the prizes something that will help you with organizing, or things that you can use up, so as to not cause you more clutter or disorganization. If you do all three tasks, you’ll have three chances to win. How many you choose to do is completely up to you. Easy!

I’m giving us till January 8th to complete all the tasks and leave comments. I’ll draw for the three winners late in the day on the 8th. That should give us plenty of time to work on all three tasks.

So once again — simple rules, and prizes!

I’ll post our first task tomorrow, so be sure to check back in. Or if you’re not subscribed already, you can subscribe to the “News From the Ranch” using the form at top right, so you’ll automatically be notified when the tasks are posted.

Are you ready for The Final Countdown?