Where, oh where, has the creativity gone?

So, last week I finally reached the end of my rope. My sewing room, yes I am VERY lucky to have one, was a certifiable disaster! I have holiday placeholders ready to hand sew the bindings by Thanksgiving; a fall round robin pinned and ready to quilt by September; a batik kit by Judy Niemeyer partially sewn but lacking inspiration in my color choices; several stacks of purples & greens that I got on a field trip to Fabric Depot in Portland; some New Zealand fabrics sent by my daughter's in-laws; a purple/sage quilt top for my granddaughter, Suzie (above); and a challenge quilt top that my friend Cindy designed the pattern for (above in orange). While I'm sharing my quilting habits, I must also share another secret. I am an addicted knitter as well (socks below) so part of the room has been sectioned off for yarns of all colors & textures. Now let's get real. The room's not that large!!! But it has a door which has likely led to my inclination to spread out.

Last week I was trying to find something interesting that I could sub-contract to my little granddaughters, Suzie (7) and Angela (9), that could qualify for payment with "daily dollars". Daily dollars are real (fake) dollars that the girls get for doing chores, being helpers on one of my projects, or for being utterly fantastic during a day. My daily dollar challenge this past weekend was to clean up the sewing room. That meant unbagging long-held treasures that made it from the store, into the house but not to the shelf, folding up the mish-mash of fabrics that had to be spread out because they were the 'inspiration' for my next project, organizing the threads that had found alternate homes rather than in the drawer, picking up all the scrap that were scattered about. You know the look....I know you do!

Well, here I am on a 4th of July weekend ready to devote my day to sewing. But the room is too clean! I don't know where to start. I've got two tops ready to pin but I've found myself going into the room and just sitting there. I can't find my inspiration! So, I've been to Jazzercise already this morning, had two cups of coffee with one more in the wings and will post my photos to my blog. Then I am going to slip into that sterile room and gently pull out a few fabrics that I love and place them around the room to get me back in the mood! Then I am going to run to the fabric store to get the quilting threads for the two tops. I think I'll leave them in the bags for just a little while before placing them in their prescribed spot. Then, I think I can sew again!