The ROOM OF SHAME...

Dear Friends,

Yesterday and today, I've been locked inside the "sewing room". Only God knows why it's called that...I don't sew in there. Neither do I cross stitch, quilt, crochet, knit, felt, needlepoint or do anything at all related to sewing in there. Mostly I throw stuff in there on the floor. Sometimes there's room on the table where the sewing machine is and it will make it there. If there were room on the bookshelf and it were a needlework book it would make it there. But room on the bookshelf ran out eons ago. So instead there's a pile of charts and books on the floor. So that is what my post is about today. The ROOM OF SHAME...

Let me take you on a little tour of my room. When it started out it was really lovely. (I SWEAR!) My husband saw it as a wonderful place (woman cave) for me to go and - um - I don't know WHAT he was thinking. You know, men have their room with all their tools and stuff? And they build things there? (I guess that's what they do.) I think he thought I would do the same. Well that's boring. How can I talk with him if I'm up there? So I just haul out my current project and plant my behind in my chair and talk or watch t.v. with him, right?

Back to the room. It has a HUGE Sauder armoire (one of those put it together yourself things) to the right when you walk in the door. In there I put all my quilting stuff. Yes, I used to quilt. I used to collect fat quarters. I think I thought I would make something of them. My favorite thing to do was applique quilt. Big surprise there, huh? Hand stitching has always been my favorite. I loved the quilting part. If it was machine piecing, forget it. My points never matched up. Somebody once told me it all comes out in the quilting. They lied. The bad thing about the armoire is that it's kind of dark in there so I can't see the fabrics. That's just as well though. I do NOT want to know what's in there any more. But soon I'll be clearing it out. I can't stand it. I have too much fabric. I started bringing it to work a while back and giving it to people to use for ornament and stand up backings. But that didn't make much of a dent.

To the right of that is a short black 2 drawer file cabinet. Hey when they're cheap you don't worry about matchy-matchy. I got it for free so that's cheap! In there are loads of old Brighton EGA newsletters - which I should probably toss, and personal writings - which I should probably toss! But I haven't in case I ever write my memoirs. HA HA, that's a huge joke. Well it is for me.

Next in the corner is an "antique" sewing machine. I bought it at an auction. It's in a cabinet. I'm ready to sell it because my mother-in-law gave me hers which is MUCH better looking and she actually used it! Then to the left of that and underneath the window is one of those 8 foot tables. My sewing machine actually DOES sit on this and I have been known to run a few seams on it. But it's been easier to bring in downstairs to the kitchen table because that's not filled up with "crap!" The 8" foot table seems to catch everything. The unfinished projects. The things I need to do something else on. The stuff I haven't put back yet - the floss, the beads, the tool somebody borrowed, the button box, the ribbon box, the perle cotton box, the box of fun threads, the spool of thread I didn't need, the Elizabeth Bradley kit I was working on, the punchneedle piece I meant to do for my sister last year...you know the stuff I mean, right?

Then on the left wall is a tall (white) cabinet with doors (thank God) where all the inactive cross stitch projects are hiding. One year I weeded out everything except those I'm really going to do. Ha. To the left of that is the tall bookshelf which surprisingly hasn't crashed to the floor yet. To the left of that is another white (hey this side of the room is matchy-matchy) doored cabinet hiding my shameful stash of yarn!

And on the fourth wall in the far corner is a closet which I cleaned out today (after I reached it, that is). I had NO IDEA I had stashed yarn in there too. Good thing Threadbear has a yarn garage sale yearly. Phew. What was I thinking? Of course it was about 10 years ago. You know, back when I had time to knit. :-) I found some cool things too though, like my Girl Scout sash with those badges you earned for completing something. I can't remember what they were for now but it looks pretty cool! And my elementary school stuff. And my high school stuff. And my 10 year high school reunion. We never had a 20 year. Or a 30 year. I guess I'm not the only Queen of Unfinished Projects. :-) Or they're all really afraid to see what everybody looks like. :-) Oh and my wedding stuff was in there too! So it's pretty much the "historical closet.

Then continuing down the left wall, we have a tiny 2 drawer dresser that has more quilting stuff in it - square blocks that haven't been made into quilts of course!

The reason I started this whole mess is because the Homestead Needle Arts Garage Sale is coming up and I thought I was going to put in some stuff this year. Well, I still am. I just didn't realize how much stuff I have that IS NOT needlepoint. What a shame. And that is why it's a Room of Shame...let alone all those unstarted and unfinished projects!