I've been alternating between sewing and tidying, trying to do an equal amount of both.If I sew for half an hour, I have to tidy for half and hour.  I can see results, so it's worthwhile, but the tidying is bringing to light some bad habits of my mine.  Such as my overcutting problem, which has been well doucmented in the past. 

Instead of looking for things I know I've already cut, I'm just as likely to grab  new fabric and cut more pieces.  This works fine for me at the time, as I figure I've saved the time I would have spent trying to ferret out the old pieces from wherever I've hidden them.  But when I do the Big Clean, all is revealed.

Oh I thought, that's nice, I have a few 1" four-patches stockpiled.

There was another bigger box of them.

And some 1" HSTs too apparently.

And some more.

And then I unearthed the 2" cache;

and some more.

 I can't sew along with Judy's Quiltathon this weekend, as I have other chores that have to be done, but I've decided to sew all these bits into borders for two scrap quilts that have had me stumped for over a year. I'll have little scraps of time between my other work, and this sort of sewing is easy to pick up or leave at a moment's notice.   The boxes will be empty, the quilts will be finished, and I will have a whole lot more space in the sewing room. 

I guess it's pointless to say I'll never let the little bits mount up this way again, because I know I will do it.  But in future I should have a single place to put them, not scattered about the sewing room in 9 separate containers.  None of them labelled.  Mereth despairs of me sometimes......