Lost and Found . . . Again!

A few of the hexagon blocks I've prepared to sew together in the Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern. When I started working on completing more blocks a few weeks ago, after a long time of neglect, the blue-black fabric wasn't in the box with all the "flowers" I'd made. This wasn't the first time I had misplaced this particular fabric, either! I recall having to search for it in the past. I needed it and had no idea where I'd purchased it, even though I typically make a note on special fabrics about where and when I bought it, the name of the maker and the design. But that note, if I wrote it, wouldn't help me now since it was probably pinned to the fabric! My chances of finding it online or at a local quilt shop were slim. 

I know it's not a function of my age, because I've lost (and found) things all my life. So, I can't blame turning 70 on my last birthday for the problem I have for keeping track of things. Actually, I like to use the term "misplaced" instead of "lost". It might seem merely like semantics, but the word "lost" seems so final to me. The word "misplaced" feels less permanent and like the object will be found.

Akin to finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, this blue-black batik fabric was hidden beneath this nest of colorful pieces I'd used for my hexagon quilt project. While it was missing, I wasn't able to move forward because I needed it to surround all the hexis I'd pieced together to make the floral motif for my Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern. I prayed to God that he would lead my hands to it and when I opened a box of fabric I had put away in my sewing room, there it was! Pray first! 

Over the past year or so, I've been trying to train myself to pay more attention to my habit of dropping things in obscure places, thinking I'll remember later where I put them. It's working for things in the present. For other things that are still in hiding from a year or more ago, there's no method that'll work to find them other than good old methodical searching. It's time consuming and frustrating because it steals away the precious time I could be devoting to things I'd rather be doing.

Case in point. While writing this post, I took a break after I completed the paragraph above (⬆️). I decided to spend a few minutes cleaning my studio. It has become a vault for anything I claim to be mine, from tools and materials for making things to tins of seed pods collected in the fall from my flower garden, and a variety of found objects that are too cool to discard because they may one day find their way into something wonderful on my workbench! Well . . . as serendipitous as it may seem, just a few minutes after I began cleaning, I picked up a pile of neatly stacked tissue paper that I'd saved for a future project, only to discover my garden clippers that have been missing for over a year. In fact, the pair I purchased to replace them have been missing since mid-summer! How funny . . . that while taking a break from writing about losing things, I find my missing clippers! How they hid there for so long is amazing since I have walked past them almost every day for who knows how long.

My garden clippers were hidden underneath these clipboards and tissue paper. 

My garden clippers were hiding in my studio.
At least they were in good company with the mini album I made to keep tags and growing instructions for my perennial garden.

Yesterday, the search was on for my English Muffin Bread recipe. Of course, the obvious place to look was my recipe box. I looked in there and then I asked my husband to look, too. No dice. I checked my two bread cookbooks. I didn't see it listed in either book's index. I decided to  check my stack of recipe cards I purchased. They're much better than the chintzy 3" x 5" cards I've been using. Lo and behold, there it was. I guess I pulled it out of the box to transpose it onto a new card. And, guess what? It is from one of my two cookbooks! Somehow I missed it in the index. 🤓

Not lost . . . just misplaced. 
These nice recipe cards are glossy and the permanent ink doesn't bleed if they get wet.

One habit I've established is putting my keys in my purse when I get home. In the past, I'd be ready to go out the door only to discover my keys were missing. It made me crazy, not to mention late for appointments! It was a pretty easy thing to get used to and now it's second nature. Being more intentional about my thoughts and actions takes work, but I'm finding the payoff is worth it.

Having the methods in place that work for me is key. Pretty containers with pretty little labels is one I employ. I label things as if I have a staff that needs to know where things are  . . . but it's only for myself. I know where my hexi fabric is. It's all in two pretty boxes that I keep in the living room. I've been sewing in the early morning and sometimes at night while watching TV. Hopefully, I'll get my hexi project finished this year!

My hexis are tucked away in these pretty boxes with all the fabrics, needles and thread and notions I need.

Organizing my life and my possessions seems to be a life-long project for me, but once I manage to come up with a good solution, it works. I just need to keep paying attention to my habits and fine-tuning my methods! Do you misplace things? Have you devised ways to keep track of items? I'd like to hear from you. 

The snow and ice from last week is finally starting to melt and it has me itching to get outside and do some yard and garden clean up. When I can, my rediscovered clippers will come in handy. 🙂

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. You can click on any of the photos to enlarge them if you want a closer look. 👁👁 As always, your questions and comments are welcome here on my blog or on my Facebook post. Kindly add your name, initials or something that will identify you to me when you post comments on my blog. Blogger doesn't always recognize my friends and calls everyone "anonymous"! I love to read your comments and after I've read and approved them, they'll appear on my blog.

It is my sincere wish that you and those you love are happy and healthy. And until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Emmy