Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Spring is for Tidying

There are things that are necessary when moving between the seasons. A good sort of the closets, a deep-clean of items that usually get a regular clean, a new project, and a kick-ass playlist for aiding all of the above.

A proper playlist for a solid Spring Tidy includes anything upbeat enough to make elbow grease seem effortless, booty-shaking inevitable, and a healthy dose of classic rock. It's amazing how shiny and dust-free a living room will become when you're singing your heart out to an appropriate song... I recommend "When the Going Gets Tough" from the Easy Virtue soundtrack, some cheesy pop music I wouldn't play in any moment I actually wanted to think but has a beat to it, and Boston's "Peace of Mind" (though "More than a Feeling" will do, in a pinch.)
I volunteered to make some blocks for a woman giving back to the hospital where her son was born and had a rough time of it. (More of that story as the blocks progress.) I went rifling through my stash to find the perfect fabrics and discovered that a)my stash was a mess and b)almost all my non-project specific yardage was unwashed. So, I washed and dried and started one of the most soothing activities of tidying - Ironing. I love ironing. Not clothes, mind you, just large fabric swaths - expanses of wrinkles smoothed away, the smell of hot cotton drifting towards me, and the satisfying shhhhtt of the spray-bottle full of water. And when you get to do that in the sunshine...!!! (JOY.) Then folding and stacking and putting away in stacks so neat, they're almost precious. The best part of Spring Cleaning is that mental calm that comes with it. I'm a believer in the literal affecting the metaphorical... I get the same way with new journals, unused crayons, and perfect rows of the same item over and over again. Visual order - inner peace. (At least for a moment or two. ;-)

Chaos can be fun, too, though. The annoying bit of washing un-hemmed fabrics is all the ravel-ly bits that need trimming away. But roll them all into a lump and it seems so very pretty.

I'm going to name it Norman.

8 comments:

  1. What is this tidying you speak of? I do not comprehend. I wish I'd get round to putting my fabrics in order...
    I like to name things too. My husband thinks it's odd. He really should've realised this before he said 'I do'.

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  2. I am so excited to start spring cleaning! I just have to wait a few more weeks until I'm finished with school. It must feel so good to have all of your fabric cleaned, ironed and tidied!

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  3. Thank you again for your donation of blocks to the Quilts for Babes project, I appreciate it more than anyone will ever know, I am humbled! I too, get great joys from small things, for me, folding fabric neatly and then looking at it all tidy and nice! We sewing/crafting enthusiasts are a breed of our own, aren't we?!

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  4. Cleaning is on the agenda tomorrow. And I'm already dreading it.

    I adore Norman. :D

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  5. Ooh, you've inspired me to make a Spring Tidy playlist. I got my daughter and her friend excited about walking home today with a playlist I made of their favorite songs to sing and dance along to.

    Norman is very cute. The other day I had some beautiful blue-violet dryer lint (purple fleece coat and a blue blanket in the same load) that was so pretty I put it outside for the birds instead of throwing it away.

    Thank you very much for the kind comment on my latest post. Things are starting to look up (husband has a phone interview Monday, whoo hoo!) but I was feeling emotionally worn out this week.

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  6. I just recently did a serious washing and sorting of fabrics too. I decided a fabric was not going to be put in my stash until it had been pre-washed in future, but I had to get "caught up," so I threw them all in the wash. It's very satisfying to get it all cleaned up, isn't it?

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  7. I think Norman is the perfect name.

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  8. Oh I am so with you on the ironing of fabric but not clothes!

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