Design Wall Monday - December 23, 2019

Penny Lane shows me how to chill out.

l should have written this on the first Monday of December, instead of now, but it’s here to remind us to forgive ourselves for all the things we wanted to get done and didn’t......I’m calling it “Finding Calm”

Finding calm in December:
(1)  
Work on a project I know.  This season is not the time to learn a complicated new project.  I pull out a familiar project and it brings me peace to move it further along.
(2)
Make space to work.  I don’t have to have the whole quilt room clean and tidy  but I need to have the sewing machine area clear, and the ironing board empty and ready for pressing my seams.  If this is not possible, I find some hand stitching to relax me.
(3)
Choose my moments.  Some times in the day are not the best times for me to sew, but I try to seek out a half hour or an hour to sew because I know it feeds my soul.  Easier to do on some days than others.
(4)
Remember that quilting pleasure is about the process....not perfection.  There is so much self-imposed stress in December that it’s best for me to take a deep breath, relax and lose myself in the process of piecing, pressing, cutting, binding  my projects.  It helps me to work on something that has absolutely no time schedule for finishing.  For example, today I’m hand stitching the binding on a baby quilt for a future great grandchild.....to be born years from now.  How’s that for no pressure?

The Holiday Favorites Blog Hop has just finished and if you’d like to get in on the give-away I offered, there is still time. Just comment on my last Thursday’s blog post and you will be in the drawing.  (Here)  It closes next week on the 29th, and the winner will be announced on Dec. 30th.

I’m looking forward to your link and seeing what you are doing this Christmas week.  And have you have given any thought to goals for 2020?  Please provide a link back to this particular blog post from somewhere within your current post.  Thank you.  And MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Design Wall Monday - December 4, 2017

Reality has me wanting to clean up the quit room for a fresh start.  I posted some pictures of my quilt room on my blog two years ago......(Here) .... if you care to see what it looks like when it's clean.  But allow me to show you some pictures of the sad state of the room right now:

Ironing board:

Floor right now.....it appears someone dumped a basket to look for something specific in it......who would have done that?  Yes, it was me.  

Plus, I have projects spread out on a table outside the quilt room, in the family room.  Overflow....?

Also, the family room bar counter space has been taken over by my quilting projects.  This is a drinks bar, not a library.....These two areas are not part of my quilt room.

What to do....what to do....How to fix this mess?  As we all know, tackle it a little at a time, each day this week.  I am setting the timer for 15 minutes daily and will put things away until the bell rings.   I will report back to you with pictures next week to show you the results.  Anyone with me on daily 15 minute cleanups in our quilt rooms?

I hope your week will be productive.  What's on your design wall this week?  My design wall is empty right now, but I will be sewing my Jane Stickle columns and rows together soon, and it will be going up on the design wall.

An InLinkz Link-up

18 Ways To Motivate Yourself in Quilting

First, here's my work so far on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, Clue #2:

One chevron piece made, 243 to go!

I get emails from Pastor Rick Warren (of Purpose Driven Life fame) and read a recent article he wrote about 18 ways to Motivate Yourself in Ministry.  I thought his list could be easily adapted to quilters, and here's his list, shamelessly plagiarized and adapted for quilters by me:

1. Put your plans on paper (or screen).  If you write it down, it becomes clear, and not so vague.  Make a list of what your projects are and plan how you are going to complete them. 

2.  Break big tasks into smaller tasks to remove excuses for not starting.  Can you imagine how many of us would do Bonnie Hunter's quilts if she gave us all the instructions at once?  Remember, eating an elephant is done one bite at a time.  And Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts are done one clue at a time!

3.  Decide how you want to start.  Decide what your simple first step will be.  When I break a quilt down into simple steps, it becomes more real to me.

4.  Establish checkpoints in your progress.  Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts are so much fun because she has checkpoints built in for us with the Monday link ups.  It motivates me to get something done, so I can join in with the linkup.

5.  Know the difference between "I can't" and "I don't want to."  Most of what's done in the world is done by people who don't feel like doing what they're doing, but they do it anyway.  A lot of quilters don't like part of the process, be it finishing the binding, or cutting the fabric.  Successful quilters have developed the habit of doing things unsuccessful quilters don't feel like doing.

6.  Remind yourself of the benefits of completing the job.  There is nothing like the joyful happy dance I feel like doing when a quilt is completely finished!  It helps sometimes to remind myself of what I will feel like when the quilt is done.

7.  Do a small part of it right now.  Even if you don't want to start it, just give it five minutes.  Often the "just five minutes" turns into a good amount of a project completed, as I lose track of time, and become immersed in a quilt.  Sometime if you don't feel like starting, you just have to start, and the momentum will happen.  I have an old sand timer that I turn over, and often quilt for just the time it takes for the sand to run through it, but often look up and the sand has long been settled into the bottom end, and I'm still going strong.

8.  Be optimistic.  The old saying is so true:  The person who says "I can't" and the person who says "I can" are both correct.

9.  Establish an action environment.  If you work better in a tidy quilt room, clean it up before and after your quilting session.  I work better in a "nesting" environment, with a lot of fabric and books around me, and it is best if I leave the work area just as I like it, and close the door behind me when I leave it.  

10.  Avoid places where distractions occur. I can't quilt while watching TV, so I have a radio and CD player, and a stack of old CDs to listen to.  When I go to a retreat, I take a simple project with little chances of error, because I am an "accountant type", who likes to concentrate on the work at hand.  This last retreat I attended, I worked on nine patches, and that was plenty for my little brain.  

11.  Know your energy patterns and take advantage of your peak times.  I'm a morning person generally, but occasionally I'll come home from an evening event where I've had too much caffeine, and I will have a late night sewing session.  You know when you are most productive, and it helps to quilt when the energy and brain are functioning best.

12.  Use the stimulation of good news to do extra work.  Sometimes someone will comment on my blog, or say something to me in person that will make me think in a new way about a project, and it stimulates me even more.  I try to give comments on other people's blogs when I see their work because I want to see more great things from them.

13.  Recognize when indecision is causing inertia. A lot of procrastination is not really procrastination - it's indecision.  Pastor Rick Warren is so right on this one!  He says identify your choices and choose one.  Don't let it sit around.  In quilting, I have to remember to make a fabric choice decision and move on.  

14.  Use visible reminders. I'm a very visual person, and my design wall motivates me to finish the project I'm working on.   If you are a visual person, put a note up in your quilt room to help you forge on to the finish line.  Here's a sticker I got from Brenda Padadikus, which is going up in my quilt room:

15.  Give yourself room to make mistakes.  Perfectionism produces procrastination.  Pastor Rick Warren says, If it's worth doing, do it!  As the Dear Jane motto above says, "Finished is Better than Perfect."  I fight perfectionism constantly.

16.  Don't set goals you don't expect to reach.  That's because there's no motivation in them.  This is one that I'm pondering.  I need to analyze at the start of a quilt (at purchase point in the store) whether there is really motivation within me to complete it.  

17.  Enlist a partner. The Dear Jane group I just joined in Virginia is a great motivator for me.  I complete some squares each month before we meet again.  It is fun to meet with the group and see what the other's squares look like, and talk with them about the problems we encounter on the journey.

18.  Keep reading to increase your skill.  This is one that really motivates me.  I read and study quilt books and look online at blogs to increase my skill set.  I love to learn new quilting skills, and I thank everyone that blogs for sharing their knowledge with me.

Does this list help you?  I am going to concentrate on 13, 15 and 16.  I printed out the entire list, and have it pinned up in my quilt room. 

I'm linking up with Design Wall Mondays over at Patchwork Times, Judy Laquidara's blog, (Here) and the Week 2 linkup over at Bonnie Hunter's blog for the Celtic Solstice mystery (Here)  I will be taking breaks from quilting today to look at everyone's pictures of their progress this week.  Happy quilting ladies!

Time to Plan and Dream

2012........ Almost gone!                                              2013.....  A new year!

My quilt room tip this month is:  Look for tools that make your quilt room fun!  This sand timer measures about one hour, and is fun to use.  I bought it from T.J.Maxx.  When little kids visit my quilt room, they love to turn it over and watch it.  Today I'm working with the timer in the quilt room, organizing and planning for 2013.  

One quilt I'm interested in making is a Philadelphia Pavement quilt.  It's a postage stamp squares quilt in a variation of a trip around the world.  Fons and Porter have a free pattern for one here:  Philadelphia Pavement Quilt  Wouldn't a Philadelphia Pavement doll quilt be cute?

Today I refolded and sorted all of my solid fabrics in preparation for starting.  Here is the now orderly stash of solids:

Also, in cleaning, I found some half square triangle blocks, and put them on the design wall.  Since I am trying to finish started projects, I will sew these blocks together, and finish the rest of the half-prepped blocks.  I'm sure there are other ways to combine these blocks too, so this may change.  Here's a picture:

What are your plans for 2013?  I've been looking at quilt room ideas on Pinterest and one of my goals is to have a place for everything (and then put everything in it's place).  Another goal is to choose an antique doll quilt each month and try to duplicate it.  I really enjoy planning.  No gliches happen in the planning stage.  Execution stage is another matter.  But also fun to problem solve in that stage.

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