Quilting has become much more than a hobby for me. I write for Generation Q Magazine and I design projects for kids to sew in the feature We Sew 2. I also teach kids sewing classes. On any given day, I am going between writing, editing and sewing.
In other words I keep several balls in the air as I juggle numerous projects each day. Add in an autoimmune disease like Sjogren's Syndrome and it is amazing I get as much done as I do. The struggle is real.
It's a lot. I drop balls all the time. Some days I can't write because I am in pain. Other days I can't cut fabric unless I use my Sizzix for fear of ruining fabric. Most days I have just enough brain fog going that I have to retrace my steps on a project to remember where I left off. It's hard.
This doesn't even go into my personal projects that sit neglected. Here is fabric that sits waiting for me to turn into a quilt using Victoria Findlay Wolfe's Tulip and Melon dies.
Here is the world's oldest UFO. I have started and stopped this poor quilt so many times, stitched it using so many different techniques and probably used four different sewing machines and hand sewing to stitch the blocks - so you know it is really accurate! (insert eye roll here)
At this point I want this UFO off my plate just so I can stitch the
fabric-in-waiting quilt. (In all honesty, I probably would have given
up a long time ago, but my hubby picked out the fabric and his heart is
set on it.)
So, I gotta find a way to have it ready to go any time.
I am sure I am not alone in needing help to keep projects organized. Pat Sloan was just talking about this in her blog about this in a blog about sewing de-motivation.
So what are some techniques that can help me continue to make progress on multiple projects? Here are a few things I found around the web that may help those of us who need a little help in the organizing department.
Author and quilter extraordinaire Lynn Harris sets up her featherweight near her kitchen with a single project, tiny scraps for her Twinkling Stars quilt.
Bonnie Hunter has a ton of tips on her website Quiltville. My favorite is this ingenious use of a cutlery tray for strips. This would work great for a log cabin quilt, wouldn't it?
Amanda Jean Nyberg designed a WIP (work in progress) bag to keep her projects straight. She sells the patterns here. I love this idea. These are so very pretty! A similar solution would be ziploc bags, but certainly not as pretty.
Amanda also has a great tutorial for making Storage Cubes. In her book Sunday Morning Quilts with Cheryl Arkison, they created color coded bins to sort scraps as you cut fabric. Pretty cool!
Pat Sloan has some great tips for using clear bins to cut up scraps into usable sizes. I have used this same technique for projects and it works great.
Reader Therese Kay adds: "My house is so full of UFO's, it could be a space station. I don't sew or quilt - my Mom did that - but I inherited her creative gene and then got chronic Lyme. Add brain fog, fatigue, and achiness to a person who already had ADHD and a propensity for far too many ideas and too little time and you can understand the space station! In addition to zippy bags and baskets, I also use clipboards for papers associated to a project. One clipboard per project and I leave a note somewhere where I left off and what the next step is... When I remember to! I love the fabric scrap tip - cutting to usable sizes! That can be applied to all kinds of supplies!"
Do you have an organization solution that works for you? Tell me about it and I will update the post.
Happy quilting,
Tracy
In other words I keep several balls in the air as I juggle numerous projects each day. Add in an autoimmune disease like Sjogren's Syndrome and it is amazing I get as much done as I do. The struggle is real.
Brain fog is real people.
It's a lot. I drop balls all the time. Some days I can't write because I am in pain. Other days I can't cut fabric unless I use my Sizzix for fear of ruining fabric. Most days I have just enough brain fog going that I have to retrace my steps on a project to remember where I left off. It's hard.
This doesn't even go into my personal projects that sit neglected. Here is fabric that sits waiting for me to turn into a quilt using Victoria Findlay Wolfe's Tulip and Melon dies.
So, I gotta find a way to have it ready to go any time.
So what are some techniques that can help me continue to make progress on multiple projects? Here are a few things I found around the web that may help those of us who need a little help in the organizing department.
Author and quilter extraordinaire Lynn Harris sets up her featherweight near her kitchen with a single project, tiny scraps for her Twinkling Stars quilt.
Bonnie Hunter has a ton of tips on her website Quiltville. My favorite is this ingenious use of a cutlery tray for strips. This would work great for a log cabin quilt, wouldn't it?
Amanda Jean Nyberg designed a WIP (work in progress) bag to keep her projects straight. She sells the patterns here. I love this idea. These are so very pretty! A similar solution would be ziploc bags, but certainly not as pretty.
Amanda also has a great tutorial for making Storage Cubes. In her book Sunday Morning Quilts with Cheryl Arkison, they created color coded bins to sort scraps as you cut fabric. Pretty cool!
Pat Sloan has some great tips for using clear bins to cut up scraps into usable sizes. I have used this same technique for projects and it works great.
Reader Therese Kay adds: "My house is so full of UFO's, it could be a space station. I don't sew or quilt - my Mom did that - but I inherited her creative gene and then got chronic Lyme. Add brain fog, fatigue, and achiness to a person who already had ADHD and a propensity for far too many ideas and too little time and you can understand the space station! In addition to zippy bags and baskets, I also use clipboards for papers associated to a project. One clipboard per project and I leave a note somewhere where I left off and what the next step is... When I remember to! I love the fabric scrap tip - cutting to usable sizes! That can be applied to all kinds of supplies!"
Do you have an organization solution that works for you? Tell me about it and I will update the post.
Happy quilting,
Tracy
Thank you Tracy for tackling the issues relevant to many people. I too have pain and fatigue health problems but I want to continue my creative pursuits of quilting and sewing. I look forward to reading future blog posts.
ReplyDeleteMy house is so full of UFO's, it could be a space station. I don't sew or quilt - my Mom did that - but I inherited her creative gene and then got chronic Lyme. Add brain fog, fatigue, and achiness to a person who already had ADHD and a propensity for far too many ideas and too little time and you can understand the space station! In addition to zippy bags and baskets, I also use clipboards for papers associated to a project. One clipboard per project and I leave a note somewhere where I left off and what the next step is... When I remember to! I love the fabric scrap tip - cutting to usable sizes! That can be applied to all kinds of supplies!
ReplyDeleteGREAT idea! I always forget where I left off. I will add this to the list.
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