Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Year of the PIGS - 4/6

Our question this week is brought to use by Libby. Libby is having a tough time getting motivated to sew and asked, "What do you do when you have no desire to sew? Do you ever get bored with your fabric and look for a different direction?" on this post last week.

I thought that this was a pretty good question and figured that if we could answer the question for Libby, it would be very timely for her as well.

For me, if my sewing area is messy and I have no desire to sit at my table, cleaning and putting things in order is what usually helps me to snap out of it. It also helps me make sure that everything is in order for whatever projects are out. And if I have finished a project, whatever was being used for it goes back into the stash room so it gets out of my way. For some reason, having things organized tends to really help!

Another thing that I do it write lists. Heck, I wrote ginormous lists and post them here so that I can be held accountable for the things that I need to do. I even break projects down into separate tasks so that I can feel like I am accomplishing something even if all I have done is sewn a row on. Usually, when I want to finish a quilt, I will break it down into the following tasks - cut, make blocks, sew blocks, final press of blocks, lay out quilt, assemble center, attach borders, quilt, trim quilt, attach binding and stitch down binding. It may sound silly, but when you are in a time crunch to finish something, it makes me feel a little better to know that I have crosed 3 or 5 or 6 things off the list.

Mix my projects up! What I mean by this is work on several things at once. I used to just have one quilt or project out and that was generally the only thing that I worked on until I put it away or finished it. Now, I have several things going at once so I can mix things up by setting one thing aside to work on another that is holding my interest a little more. Here's an example - I worked on the dang Star Struck blocks for a lot of February and all of March and if I had just put them aside and gotten to something that I really wanted to work on, I probably would have the Split Decision quilt done by now!

Reward myself! If there is something that I really have very little desire to work on, I will do one of a few things. I could reward myself at the end of a productive evening with a bowl of ice cream (YUM!!). If I really want to get something done by a certain date, I will let myself buy a little something or some fabric if I make the deadline. If I something awesome to look forward to at the end of a tedious night or project, it always helps me to keep my focus just a little longer.

Libby, I hope that some of these suggestions or those that others have will help you get through your lack of sewing mojo and get you right back in your sewing room stitching up a storm!!

Anyone can participate in the answering, just make a post on your blog and leave a link to your post below. I will draw a winner at the end of the month.

Come on quilters!! Help Libby out!!

8 comments:

Libby said...

Everyone that comments is personally invited to come to my house and clean up my sewing room...and maybe give me a swift kick in the tushie!

Sarah said...

I think everyone goes through lulls in their quilting motivation. Its part of the process. Try out different suggestions that people leave and see what works for you. I find that something that works one time may not work the next to get me out of my funk....so its a case of having multiple strategies to combat whatever it is that's causing you not to want to quilt.

Anonymous said...

Libby, Jill:

I've posted some suggestions. Hopefully these will help.

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

I agree with all you've said. An organized area makes for an uncluttered head. Lists work for me too and many projects at once. If you get bored with one, move onto the next one!

elizabeth said...

Libby, I to get into that mood alot. I think as I get older I must have adult ADHD. I cannot (most of the time) work on just one thing. I have several projects going and jump back and forth so I don't get bored of an item and make it a PIG again. I sew, scrapbook, knit, crochet, quilt, etc. I sew clothes for my grandkids which they love. I was inspired by Jill and all that she can get done in one weekend, so that got me working on alot of my PIGS. They were from all kinds of crafty groups. I have finished several projects and have several moe to do. Sometimes I just have to make myself sew on a quilt even when I dont want to, so I can get it done. Once I get started it seems like I get into it again. Just like I kept putting of redoing my bedroom so I can put my sewing desk in there and take my sewing machine off the card table. I started on it this week and have thrown out stuff that should have been gone a long time ago. I also have started removing the wallpaper off my bathroom walls, which is sometime I wanted to do for about a year or more. I decided now is the time to do this stuff and when I get this stuff done I will give myself a treat. Plus I will have a better sewing area and a new look in the bathroom. I hope you get something out of this long post. Happy Quilting.

Catskill Quilter said...

I too have to tidy up my workroom after finishing a project. I too make lists (and yes, lists of lists)! There are two other "jump start" tricks I also use: One is to grab a pile of favorite quilt books (always a different pile) and slowly leaf through them, occasionally stopping to read something that catches my interest. The second - brace yourself! - is dumping out my scrap basket onto my old walnut workroom table, and beginning to sort through the scraps. I hope these ideas, and the other great ones mentioned, are of help to you! (I also do not have a blog, but I think I am getting Blog Envy).

Kate said...

I hope Jill found something useful in all the posts. As Sarah said in her comment, you need different strategies in different situations.

Julianne said...

I am off to read everyones posts so that I can get back on track. as I look at the weekend I see colder weather and rain maybe I will turn on my little heater and just sew?