Last weekend when I started Maggie’s coasters, I decided to wash all the fabric that I had in my craft closet. I usually prep things as I go for a project, but now that I live in a house and I have an actual studio (with a 2nd floor laundry room right across the hall!) I suddenly decided I would be proactive and wash and press all my fabrics as I buy them. That way I can open my closet and grab stuff that’s ready to work with. So I shoved everything in the washing machine and sat down to look over Denyse Schmidt’s book.

Now, this is an example of how I get into trouble by not reading directions and following patterns. This is what the pile of fabric looked like out of the dryer (actually, this is after I’d ironed about half of it):

It wasn’t until it was in the dryer that I read the helpful tip of cutting the edges with pinking shears to prevent Mangled Edge Syndrome. My mother, a fellow librarian with an undergraduate degree in Home Economics, has told me this on one of her many attempts to teach me to sew properly over the years. But I followed my usual habit of just jumping in, and I ended up with a lot of this:

So what could have taken me a couple of hours has actually been an ongoing project since Saturday (it is now Wednesday) because of all the detangling I’ve had to do. My philosophy of “just push buttons till it works/just drill a bigger hole/just cut more of it/just add more salt/just mark it with a Sharpie” strikes again. This kind of thing is why, being married to a Major Gadget Guy, I’m typically not supposed to touch anything with a plug at my house. But this morning, I finally finished, and now I have a wonderfully neat and tidy looking pile of ready-to-go fabric:

Now I just have to think of something to make. Blank Canvas Syndrome.