Tuesday, January 12, 2010

This Pile Stays-This Pile Goes

I am cleaning out today as instructed by the Lord a few months back. I have a PILE of material scraps that came from Grandma's house. A PILE.. I have visions of grandeur and those vision cause me so MUCH stress! I think that I am going to take those scraps and make a crazy quilt or sew each little piece together and make a nine patch!

YEAH right!

So today I am cleaning out the back closet with the quit items and sorting through them and throwing things away.

Here is what I have decided to do. I love the look of an old vintage YoYo quilt thrown across the bed so I am taking the pieces of fabric that is large enough to cut out a circle large enough to make a YoYo and throwing the smaller pieces away.



This is a picture of a YoYo quilt. It is actually not a quilt but more of a throw. No backing and the gathered side is the top side. They look very vintage when thrown over a lace white bedspread. I have grandmothers iron bed from the fire and I have had it sand blasted and painted antique white. I will put my YoYo quilt over that bed when finished. If we are still blogging when I finish I will share pictures with you.



One wonderful thing about sorting through the pieces is that many of them triggered wonderful memories of Grandmother. She was my friend and my mentor and my life coach. No matter how bad I would screw up my life she would just look at me though those dark charcoal eyes and say" Just put it behind you and move on with your life". She was a treasure to me.
There are pieces of fabric from when I was a pre-teen and most always they were pieces from an Easter dress or special occasion dress for school. A lot of them are feed sack material.

One thing that I realized while sorting into piles, I think of my grandmother in the present tense. THAT is a gift from the Father God. I have never thought of grandmother as being dead. Only as having moved somewhere better. I do not grieve over her, I miss her and I so look forward to one day peering into those dark charcoal eyes.


This is the keep pile.


This is the throw away pile.

I have two huge bags just like them to finish maybe tomorrow.

22 comments:

  1. You are SO GOOD to be sorting...Think I need about 4 of me so I can organize ( that BAD word ) I need to so bad..On my list for the new year! Still putting away Christmas in the shop. My Folks are coming for a weeks visit..Yea..they fly in from Washington State tonight.Lots on my plate right now... Blessings to you Girl !

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  2. You can put the "go' pile on freecycle and someone will come to your house and pick it up ...
    :)
    Love the quilt.

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  3. You are doing what I need to be doing. My "work room", which is what I call the room with my computer, two book cases, file cabinet, craft storage cabinets, containers of photos, two large boxes of books, and so much of this and that...is just a very, very small room...is so so cluttered. I so need to declutter and get rid of a lot. I will talk about it for a long time and then I will get started on it...but I find it hard to finish such a big task...but I shall try. Good luck with yours.

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  4. Sounds like a great plan. You can cut out the circles and have them and a needle and thread by your chair. You'll probably be surprised how many you can get done at a sitting. Let me know how this works out! Sounds like a good idea anyway.

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  5. I need to do something similar over here. I nearly fell over when I saw the throw away pile cause I just KNOW there's some useful stuff in there! LOL! Have you considered donating it to a retirement home or someplace where they might be able to use it for some quilting or sewing projects?

    Or you can just ignore me and throw it away. LOL! :D

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  6. I've got boxes of yarn that I need to do the same thing with...
    I also have 4 quilt tops my mom made that need to be quilted into a blanket...
    you gave me inspiration...
    thanks!

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  7. I did so much of that while we were in the process of moving...I hope I never have to go through that again.
    But good for you getting rid of that clutter. And the stuff you are saving....what fantastic memories. :)

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  8. I know that is hard to just looking at your piles...because of the memories and the hopes. I have 2 quilts that my mother and grandmother made that I treasure even though they are really showing their wear! Keep at it. You'll treasure what you decide to keep even moreso.

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  9. This was a wonderful post. I had a homemade ornament using yo-yos on my tree and I made a photo. If I ever get where I can up load them, I'll show you.
    Quilts were originally made out of leftover scraps from dress and shirt making plus the good parts of worn out clothes. There was none of this buying of expensive, matching fabrics like we do today for quilts. The quilt told a story as yours does. You could look at it years later and recall where the pieces came from.
    I'm so glad you are doing this. I know you will be blessed by it.
    Mama Bear

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  10. I love the yo-yo quilt...perfect for your iron bed and a nice way to enjoy a treasure from your grandma....hugs, Linda

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  11. Boy oh boy do I know what you mean.
    Every now and then I have to do that here too .... stuff can so overwhelm me. Too much STUFF in life. Yet, I keep draggin more home. They say the key is whenever you bring something home, give something away to keep a healthy balance.
    I'm thinkin of you today...
    Have a wonderful day!

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  12. I've been decluttering my house ever since I put away the Christmas decorations and I'm still not done. Have many bags and boxes to give away to the charity thrift shop and some of the better quality stuff I've kept to sell at a yard sale. It feels so good to finish up one room and know that it's completely organized and it only has what I really want to keep and is close to my heart:-)

    You're really doing a great job of sorting through those bags filled with material. I love it that each piece brings back memories of your grandmother, how precious that is. I love the idea of a Yo Yo quilt, I do hope you find time to do one, how special it would be:-) xoxo

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  13. What a wonderful post!:)I never knew any of my grandparents so love reading about those who did.:)Love~Sharon

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  14. That is so neat! I never saw that kind of quilt before. I love it. I was very touched reading about your grandmother. So glad you could have such a person grandmom to love you and to always be in your heart.

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  15. Wouldn't it be great if we could do that with our excess weight. Just sort through it and divide it into Keep and Throw Away Piles. :) LOL!

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  16. I wish not approve on it. I assume nice post. Specially the designation attracted me to be familiar with the unscathed story.

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  17. What wonderful memories, my friend. Please dont' throw those small pieces away. I suggest donating them to a quilter's guild or giving them to a local thrift shop to sell to quilters. Those women would love to have them, even the small pieces. Is there a quilter's guild in your area. I know Mom's guild makes quilts for the local women's shelter. They make great blankets for kids who have none.

    Just a suggestion. I do hope you make the YoYo. Love it.

    Maybe one Easter you and I will have a cup of tea from the Easter tea pot.

    Love and hugs,
    Mary

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  18. So glad you could have such a person grandmom to love you and to always be in your heart.

    forensic loan audit

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  19. I love quilts but am forced to buy mine since I am not a very crafty person! I have never seen a yo yo before and it is lovely!

    You got me thinking of the many projects I have yet to conquer!

    -Alisa Hope

    First Friday Fiction

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  20. What a job to sort all of that -- but what a blessing that it brought forth Grandmother memories!

    I'm new here to your blog, but I'll be back!

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  21. Love the quilt and the memories of your grandmother...also love the new profile pic!

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!-- gt;