Motivational Tips - One Every Month

Every time I walk into my quilt room, I mentally say "you should put that away.....you should do this.....you should do that.....yada, yada, yada.  Do you talk to yourself like this too?  Well, I'm now beginning to motivate myself (and maybe others) by offering a monthly tip to keep us on track.  My goal:  completing more quilts and keeping my quilting areas tidy.  I work better when I am not mentally talking to myself about other things while I'm trying to quilt!

Today I worked on my cutting table:

Here's what happened:  I set the timer for 5 minutes, and put away as many things as I could before the timer rang.  

Here's a before and after picture with the timer setting routine:

Before:

After:

I do confess it was 2 bouts with the 5 minute drill, but only 2!  After 10 minutes, doesn't that look better?  Just 10 minutes!   Let me know if you set the timer and played fast pickup at your house.

Now I can look up from my sewing machine and admire my clean work area.  Yes I can keep my room clean, Mom!

FYI, The two framed samplers are first embroidery attempts.  The one on the right was done by me when I was eleven years old, and the one on the left was done by my daughter when she was ten.  Here's a closer look at them.  These make me smile whenever I walk up to my cutting area.

These are "primitive" before primitives were fashionable.  LOL