Learn from my mistake.

Do you ever watch Clean House?

Or any of the other "I'm a slob/hoarder please help me get rid of this stuff" shows? I like them because they make me feel like I'm not too far gone. But after finding what I found this evening, I'm thinking I should re-evaluate that.

Our house isn't huge. It was supposed to be our "starter" house at 1150 square feet. Within 18 months of moving in, SoCA real estate had appreciated so much that we couldn't even have qualified for our own little house, much less anything bigger, so we settled in. Eight years later we were expecting our second child in our three bedroom house (I had already given up my sewing room and now DH was having to give up his office, a tough move for a college teacher). We decided a solution would be to add on a huge family room (almost 300 sq. ft), the best thing we ever did. DH got to keep his office and I moved my craft supplies into a corner of the family room.

Over the years we moved things around and moved things around as the kids grew. When son one left home for college, I moved my sewing stuff into his old room. It's the smallest room in the house at 10 x 10. I kept his bed in there for when he would come home for visits, which didn't leave a whole lot of room for me. Then, a few years ago DH was complaining (continually) that my snoring was keeping him awake. (We won't talk about his snoring waking me at 4:30 every morning.) He asked if it would be all right, if he couldn't sleep, if he went into my room and slept in my son's bed. I said I didn't think that would work because I still teach - he is retired - and I am up on the computer every morning at 5:30. That night I moved into this little room to sleep.

I couldn't believe how refreshed and - well - happy I was when I woke up the next morning. It took me a couple of days to figure it out but I did. My husband is addicted to crime and forensics shows, and every night I was falling to sleep to tales of blood and abuse and sadness. I figured out that my mind was spinning that information all night so that I woke up depressed every day. Once I was falling asleep to peace and quiet I slept better and woke happier. I've been here ever since.

I sleep fine, but it sure is crowded. I just haven't been able to find any arrangement of furniture in this little room that gives me space to even get dressed in the mornings, much less work on any of my beloved crafts. So, I thought all this year about how I would set this place up if I started from scratch. I saved my "extra" money and was looking forward to finally pulling together a room that was everything I wanted it to be.

And then I got put on the criminal grand jury, now up to three days a week.

And then the dog broke two of his legs and has required nearly constant attention in one form or another since June.

This project that I have looked forward to for so long has become something I do in short pieces of time, and so it has gone very, very slowly.
For several years my stitchery has lived in tote bags under my roll-top desk in the family room. However, when the puppy joined the family in March, those totes were quickly moved up on top of the desk, where they have been ever since. The project I had been working on at the time of this move had lived on a chart stand next to my chair, but the dog kept knocking it over so I picked it up, stacked it on the rack and set it on the rolltop, too. I have had NO time for any stitchery.

So what's the point? What's my mistake?

My organization project is to the point where I'm ready to bring my stitchery from the family room into my "new" room. I just about cried when I picked up the project I had been working on when the bottom fell out of my life.

Several years ago I attended a CATS vendor show in Burbank and found this gorgeous linen. It's hard to see in this picture but it was a yummy blue opalescent that screamed winter to me. I brought it home and saved it for just the right piece. A couple of years ago one of the British cross stitch magazines had a chart that I thought would be perfect for this fabric, and I got a good start on it.

Do you see what happened? Did I mention that my rolltop desk sits under a skylight? The blue that you can see in this picture is what was hidden under the q-snap clips. The rest of it was in a plastic craft bag but clearly not protected from the bright light and has faded away.

I'm not going to finish this. The company from whom I bought the fabric is still in business (I hope) and I'll send them a piece of this and ask if they can send me a replacement.


I quickly inventoried everything else (my heart stopped when I wondered where my Firefly Faeries were) but it appears it's all OK. Lesson learned. Nothing lives under the skylight if I care whether it fades or not.