Okay, Let's DO IT!

You bloggers out there never fail to inspire me! Carol (of Carol's Crafty Creations) has posted a couple times recently about using what she has in her stash and not buying more for right now. She also recently had a scrap giveaway--what a great idea! So I looked around the Sweat Shop, and I got to thinking.

What IS this place?

How did it GET this way?

WHAT can be done?

That quilt rack in the photo above? Okay, I KNOW you can't actually SEE the quilt rack very well, but trust me--it's there under all that stuff. Well, that's pretty much where I stack things that are in progress. Quite a lot of things and not much progress, huh?!

So the FIRST thing I decided is to devote as much of August as I can to finishing things up. I'll keep a list in my sidebar of "finished" projects. Would you like to join me in getting things finished this month? I'll also keep a blog list in my sidebar of those of you who are determined to get a few of those UFOs finished during August.

And here's what I'm defining "finished" as: For smaller projects (i.e., table runners, bags, pillows, etc.), "finished" means all the way completed--done and ready to enjoy. For larger projects such as large wall hangings and quilts, "finished" may just mean the top is done, although you may not have gotten it quilted yet. Or, if you already have a top that's done, "finished" would be getting it quilted and bound. Make sense?

So, I'll count my hexagon quilt top as "finished" for this purpose. Now I'll roll it up and put it in my basket for quilting later.

I don't want to make this post too long, so I'll tell you in another post what else I have that I'd like to "finish" in August. I'll also tell you about a little contest idea I have for those of you who join in--a little incentive, because we ALL need incentive, right?! So stay tuned!

The SECOND part of what I want to do this month is get rid of some things I won't use or have already used. What do I mean by that?

Each Sunday, I'll gather together some things I'd like to move OUT of the Sweat Shop and give you an opportunity to win/claim them for yourself. This week, I've cleaned out my patterns and I have four giveaways. Here they are:

I've tried to group these according to interest/ability to some extent. For instance, Giveaway 1 and Giveaway 3 would be great for those of you who are interested in applique. If any of these pattern lots look like something you'd like, leave a comment. And while I have no objection if you want more than one pattern lot, you'll have to leave a separate comment for each giveaway you want because I'll move your comments from my e-mailbox into a folder for each giveaway.

I will likely do the same type of thing later this month with books and scraps, so check back. I'll leave the pattern giveaway open until Tuesday night when I'll pick winners and announce them on Wednesday's blog post. Please note--YOU MUST COME BACK TO MY BLOG TO SEE IF YOU'VE WON and then email me your mailing address to claim your patterns if you're a winner. If I do not hear from you by Friday, I'll pick a second place winner, okay? [CONTEST CLOSED--WINNERS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED ON WEDNESDAY'S BLOG POST.]

Now, if you want to do the same thing--clean out your unused and unwanted quilting things via giveaways--let me know and I'll mention your blog on mine. No sense holding onto stuff we aren't using when there may be other quilters out there who would just love to have them, especially with the economy the way it is.

I hope by the end of the month to have a leaner, meaner Sweat Shop, and what isn't yet finished, can come with me to quilt camp in September. After that, I know I'm going to start getting busy with holiday crafting and quilting, so I want to get ready NOW! How about you?