I had a little trouble focusing on work yesterday so I turned my attention to tidying up some spaces in the house that were starting to bother me.

It probably doesn’t look too bad here, but this armoire had become a catch-all for the stuff I didn’t want to put away. There are quilts folded on the top shelf that I hadn’t rolled and put up yet. There is the Elanor’s Picnic fabric that I’ve been using, and a variety of other “stuff”. The bottom drawer has yarn and knitting needles and the top drawer has toys and stuffed animals for the Elanor and Jack.

Here is 1/2 of the closet on the other side of the room. This is where I put fabric that is not off-the-bolt like silks, hand-dyes, 1930s scraps, and more. There’s a 3-drawer bin with quilting thread, and another bin with more yarn. You can see some quilt tops hanging above my suitcases.

The top shelf has clothes that I had hoped to fit into again some day. I decided to quit imagining that that day would ever come – I decided to pass them on to a friend of my daughter-in-law.  

Here is the armoire after tidying. This is better! The folded quilts are now rolled and put up on the top shelf of the closet. All the yarn is in bins, and the quilting thread is here now too. The stack on the right side of the middle shelf is where I keep some of my class “stuff” between trips. The bottom drawer is now Jack’s and the top drawer is Elanor’s. I’ll have to reorganize if/when I have more grandkids. 

The bottom shelf of the armoire has some baskets on it, but it’s uncommitted space. I like having room to grow.

The closet doesn’t look that much different, but it is. I cleaned out 2 bags of fabric for my daughter-in-law’s garage sale. The fabric on the shelves is not all mixed up together anymore – the silks are on one shelf, the hand-dyes on another, etc. You can see the quilts on the top shelf. The quilt tops and the suitcases are staying put where they are. 

In the photo below you can see the fabric on the other side of the closet. It’s still tidy from the last time I cleaned it out not that long ago.  

During all this closet tidying, I found some blocks that I have appliqued for different classes over the years. I’ve got to talk to Linda about it, but I think we might do some more blog door prizes with some of these blocks as prizes. What do you all think about that?

I just got an email from Kim Snipes, also at AC, who is coordinating Austin College’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October). The principle fundraiser, benefiting both the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the American Cancer Society, will be a raffle in which the grand prize (see photos) was donated by her cousin, Jack Johnson – an autographed ukulele, songbook and cd. I had to check with her and, yes, her cousin really is THAT Jack Johnson! How did I not know that?

There is also a cd autographed by all the members of Asleep At The Wheel (Wayne, Kim’s husband, went to high school with the drummer) and a bunch of other prizes donated by local merchants. ANYONE can buy $1 raffle tickets. All you need to enter is to send a check made out to Austin College (write cancer raffle on memo line) to:

Cancer Raffle/Kim Snipes

Austin College

900 N Grand Ave Ste. 61541

Sherman TX 75090. 

Kim says she’ll be happy to fill out the raffle tickets for you and mail the prize to you should your ticket win. I can vouch for Kim – she’s not going to take your money on a shopping spree… she’s a breast cancer survivor who is doing her best to fund research. The drawing is October 30. I know I’m going to buy some tickets. How cool would it be to have a Jack Johnson ukelele!

Update, October 3 – Click here to go to the page on the Austin College site. The raffle is near the bottom, by the October 27 date.

I’m just back from LaGrange, TX, which is a small town in near Austin. It’s a part of Texas I had not visited before. I’m happy to report that it is a lovely place with rolling hills and tall trees. The weather was nice – neither hot nor humid – which is not always the case this time of year. 

The winner of our blog hop door prize is…. 

Pat Sloan is hosting a Virtual Retreat this weekend, Sept 26 to 28 at her blog. She invited us to be part of the fun so we are giving away a blog prize (which is like a door prize, except there’s no door)! Just visit OUR blog on Friday, Sept 26, and leave a comment on this post. Then on Saturday we’ll announce a RANDOM winner of our prize – a copy of our book Piecing the Piece O’ Cake Way!