Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

First, I wanted to tell you that I’ve officially given up on my capri pants and am now dejectedly wearing jeans.

Dang it.

But on a good note, I’ve never worn capri pants into November before, so that was certainly something unexpected!

Of course, the temperatures are falling, and snow is in the forecast for the end of the week. Yikes! In just one week, we’ve gone from sunshine and temperatures in the 70s down to the 20s and 30s with a side of snow!

Wait.

Oh, yeah.

This is Pennsylvania, where we can experience all four seasons in a single day…or, in this case, a week.

Sheesh!

Well, the weather isn’t the only thing that’s changed around here. After last week’s confessions, I discovered something rather surprising and equally amazing.

Apparently, Mount Cluttermore has relatives all over!

Your wonderful comments made me realize I’m definitely not alone in my fabric-related adventures. Thank goodness, what a relief!

So, are you ready for a few more confessions? Because I haven’t even scratched the surface of Mount Cluttermore yet!

In fact, I’m not entirely sure where it actually begins. Maybe in Tennessee? Or Arizona? Or maybe North Dakota? Huh, not sure at all (me shaking my head….).

PSST! If you missed last week’s post Confessions of a Fabric Collector: Welcome to Mount Cluttermore (Part 1), you can read it HERE.

Confession #4: Organization Is a Work in Progress

Once upon a time, Mount Cluttermore was a fairly organized place.

No, really! I’m not making this up!

Everything had a home. Once. Fabric was neatly folded and arranged by color. Notions were tucked into their designated containers. Books and patterns lived on shelves and stayed put.

It was beautiful.

And then something happened.

I’m not exactly sure what, but somewhere along the way in the last 30 years of quilting, the fabric started outnumbering the storage spaces.

And then the storage containers started multiplying, too!

Now I have containers filled with fabric, containers filled with notions, and containers filled with things I apparently thought were important enough to save but not important enough to label.

I suspect some of those containers haven’t been opened since the previous century.

I suppose I could start by organizing and labeling my storage containers, but…sigh…first I would have to find the container holding my organizational supplies.

At this point, I’m not organizing my studio anymore.

I’m conducting an archaeological expedition. And I might even be conducting very important scientific experiments. Or maybe not.

Sometimes I just have to use my imagination when looking around Mount Cluttermore because it is downright overwhelming at times. Can’t you picture me in my mountain-climbing gear, scaling the mountain, looking for my perpetually-lost scissors?

Oh, wait!

They were in my backpack the whole time!

Yup, that’s Mount Cluttermore for you.

Sooooo, where to begin?

Now, I don’t want you to think I have no idea how to organize things, because I actually LOVE it when everything has a home. That way, I know where things belong, and I can put them right back where I found them. It’s a system that works for me, and I can maintain it.

I suspect that philosophy comes from my years as a children’s librarian.

You see, books, just like people, have homes. Each book has its own special place on a library shelf, where it lives when it isn’t checked out and visiting someone else’s home.

That explanation always made perfect sense to the kiddos!

And for a long time, my sewing space worked the same way. Everything had a home, and everything knew where it belonged.

But now?

Mount Cluttermore is like a wild block party where the music is always blaring, everyone is break dancing, and nobody ever wants to go home!

I’m beginning to think my quilting supplies needs a curfew.

And speaking of things that refuse to stay where they belong, let’s talk about unfinished projects.

Because apparently, having more projects than I could possibly finish in one lifetime has never stopped me from starting another one!

Confession #5: There’s Always Room for One More Project!

Now, when I say there’s always room for one more project, I don’t necessarily mean there’s actual ROOM.

That’s an entirely different matter.

What I mean is that there’s always room in my imagination for another quilt, runner, pillow, or whatever else happens to catch my fancy.

After all, I have quilts waiting to be quilted, projects waiting to be finished, fabric waiting to be cut, and approximately 10,000 ideas waiting patiently (or perhaps not so patiently) for their turn.

So, what do I do?

Start something new, of course! LOL!

Because clearly, what Mount Cluttermore needs is ANOTHER project.

I have tried reasoning with myself. Really, I have.

“Finish what you’ve already started,” I tell myself.

“Use the fabric you already have.”

“Don’t even THINK about starting another quilt until you’ve finished at least three UFOs!”

But then I see a beautiful new fabric collection or imagine a fabulous new quilt pattern, and suddenly all those good intentions disappear faster than my scissors.

Sigh.

I suppose I should just accept that I’m a hopelessly optimistic quilter. I genuinely believe I can finish everything I’ve started AND make all the new projects I’m dreaming about. And it will happen as long as I live for another 357 years.

Apparently, my imagination and the calendar are not on speaking terms.

And speaking of new projects…

Guess what arrived just in time to tempt us all???

The brand-new November Villa Rosa Designs patterns!

Yes, I know. I just finished confessing that I have too many projects and not enough time, and now I’m about to show you a whole new collection of patterns you’re absolutely going to want to make.

See? I’m not helping the situation one little bit!

But before you look, I feel obligated to issue a warning.

CAUTION: Viewing these patterns may result in additional fabric purchases, spontaneous project planning, and an unexplained increase in quilts.

Mount Cluttermore assumes no responsibility.

Now, let’s take a peek!

New November VRD Patterns: Seven More Reasons to Start Something!

Here is the set of 5 cards, all ready to inspire you!

Get your set of 5 print patterns HERE

Divinity is one of Heidi’s two new November patterns. It’s an awesome quick panel pattern for 24″ wide panels and your favorite fat quarters! My kind of pattern. Quick and satisfying. Oh my!

You can find 2 different kits for Divinity:

Kit 1 features Effie’s Woods cuddle fabric (as seen on the pattern front) – find the kit HERE

Kit 2 features fabric from the Guess How Much I Love You Christmas collection (yes, from the wonderful picture book, Guess How Much I Love You, one of my all time favorite children’s books) – find the kit HERE

Gladewater is Pat’s latest pattern offering. Grab your favorite fat quarter collection for this fast to make quilt! You can find a kit in Celestial Garden fabrics HERE.

Gracie is Catherine of Running Doe’s newest design featuring a cut apart panel or your favorite novelty fabric. You can find a kit featuring the same Wellspring fabric as the cover HERE.

Ornamental is Melissa’s most recent pattern. I just love the strippy ornaments, don’t you? And did you spot the hidden stars yet? If not, look a little closer…… Sadly, no kit.

Poynette is Rachel’s new mod pattern for November and is also fat quarter friendly. I just love the different shades of blue and purple on the white background – that’s right up my alley. Grab a kit featuring fabric from the Moody Blues collection HERE.

Wait! Don’t go yet – there are 2 more patterns to share with you!

Mulled Cider is Heidi’s new table runner pattern for this month. What’s really cool about this one is that you can use a border print for the blocks….or not. Completely up to you!

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Happily, there are kits still available for Mulled Cider. You can find them HERE.

Snowglobe is our 11th seasonal quilted pillow pattern this year – only one more to go until we have an entire year’s worth of seasonal 18″ pillow designs. What fun! I’m really looking forward to enjoying each and every one on my chair in my living room for every month in 2027!

Don’t you just love Bailly’s adorable little smile (Shih Tzus are famous for their underbites) and how she has her cute little furry front paws folded just so in front of her? Yes, Bailly is a real dog. And yes, she really is that fuzzy – all 12 pounds of her, but she really does need a long visit with her groomer (ummm, that would be moi).

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Yay! There are 3 different kit options available for Snowglobe:

Kit 1 in Tula fabric HERE

Kit 2 in Kaffe fabric HERE

Kit 3 in tonals fabric HERE

WOW! Seven new patterns for November! That’s A LOT of new inspiration for all of us!

Heaven help us!

New patterns…new fabrics…new notions…

And the beat goes on…

Meanwhile, somewhere in Mount Cluttermore, my unfinished projects are quietly shaking their heads.

I really can’t blame them.

Confession #6: Sometimes My Stuff Gets in the Way of My Sewing!

Now, that’s something I never thought I’d admit.

Nowadays, it’s like I have so much quilting stuff that it actually gets in the way of…quilting!

I know! Crazy, right?

Picture this. I have a couple of hours to myself, and I’m all excited to sit down at my sewing machine and make something awesome.

But first, I have to clear a space.

There’s fabric on my cutting table, patterns on my ironing board, and a suspicious pile of something-or-other sitting beside my sewing machine.

So, I move the fabric from the cutting table to the ironing board. Then I move the patterns from the ironing board to a chair. And then I move the pile from the sewing machine to…well, somewhere.

Now, where did my ruler go? And my scissors? Did anyone see my seam ripper, Jack?

Twenty minutes later, I’ve found three fat quarters I’ve never seen before, two patterns I’ve been looking for, a spool of thread in a color I don’t remember buying, and a project I apparently started during the previous decade.

But no ruler. No scissors. No Jack.

Eventually, I find them. They were all hiding under the fabric I moved in the first place and they were all laughing at me when I found them. I swear my tools and notions have minds of their own.

So by the time I finally sit down at my sewing machine, half my sewing time is gone! Does this sound familiar to anyone else? I can’t be the only one.

And here’s the really ridiculous part. I love all this stuff! I really do! The fabrics, the patterns, the books, the notions, the unfinished quilts – I love them all! They represent years of creativity, inspiration, and wonderful future possibilities.

But somewhere along the way, I’ve accumulated so many possibilities that they’re beginning to crowd out the actual creating.

Huh.

That’s a rather disturbing realization.

Because as much as I love collecting beautiful fabrics, patterns, notions, rulers, and tools – what I really really want to do is to sit down and actually make things with them.

So maybe it’s time I found a way to give myself a little more room to do exactly that.

Of course, I still need to find somewhere to put all those fat quarters.

And the ruler.

And my scissors.

Oh, dear.

Speaking of scissors. They really do keep disappearing on me. So I buy another pair. Then I can’t find those ones. So I buy two pairs of scissors this time. And this crazy cycle keeps going on and on.

Where in the heck do all my scissors go?

I suspect that somewhere in Mount Cluttermore, there’s an entire secret community of scissors hiding out.

And I just hope they aren’t multiplying in there, too!

Because the last thing I need is to discover that my fabric scissors have been raising a family of embroidery scissors behind my fabric cubes.

Although, come to think of it, that might explain where all those little scissors keep coming from…LOL!

Oh, boy…I think Mount Cluttermore has another population problem!

And so, dear Quilty Friends, my confessions continue, and Mount Cluttermore still stands tall. But change may finally be on the horizon! I’ve called in professional reinforcements, someone brave enough to tackle the mountain of fabric, forgotten projects, and mysterious sewing supplies alongside me. Will we conquer Mount Cluttermore? Will I finally uncover my cutting table? Will my missing scissors emerge from hiding? Will that crate of precuts finally be free?

Only time will tell!

One thing is certain: this adventure is far from over.

Stay tuned, because our next expedition might just be the biggest one yet!

Until next time…

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD