An Antique Vignette

I am not a clutter person. I know a lot of people who are very creative with lots of "stuff" around them. They draw inspiration from being surrounded by colors, shapes, and objects. I am just the opposite. When I am cooking, I have out only the ingredients and tools necessary for that recipe. And I put it all away before I begin the next food. That doesn't mean that I can't have something simmering on the stove, something baking in the oven and be tossing a salad at the same time. I can multi-task as well as the next woman-I just like a neat, clean work area.

I am the same way in my quilt room. I may have 4 projects going at one time, but when I am working on a quilt, only that fabric is spread around the room. The other blocks, fabrics, patterns, etc, are neatly stacked out of the way, awaiting their turns. 

I had a notion once to be a scrapbooker. I tried really, really hard to make scrapbooks for each of my children. So far, they each have three (maybe four) finished pages. I bought magazines for inspiration, hundreds of pages of scrapbook paper, die cuts, stickers, embellishments, glues, scissors.......I could go on and on, but I think you are getting the picture. It filled shelves in my quilt room and was taking up a LOT of space. So, I decided to declutter. I moved all the scrapbook supplies to the closet (shelves and all) and now  that space is a reminder of days gone by. Days when our grandmothers and great grandmothers cooked over a wood burning stove and sewed everything that was needed for the family. Quilts were a necessary cover for warmth, not a decorative design element in the room. When I glance up from my sewing machine now, instead of scrapbook clutter, I am inspired by this.