One WIP Down

... Well, sort of.

 

I got to cross one project off my list because I put the offending blocks in the mail to someone who makes charity quilts. 

A few years ago I did a monthly block swap, but the blocks I kept getting back were very 'traditional' in fabric choices. I had planned a purple star quilt for my daughter but the fabrics just weren't to my taste. 

This was a very good lesson for me and I dropped that block swap and decided to be very selective about my bees - that may sound snobby, but I would much rather know I can trust the fabric choices my bee mates come up with.

At the time I put the blocks aside but when I pulled them out recently I knew I was never going to want to do something with them so I found a lady who makes charity quilts and offered them to her. She was thrilled - they are well constructed blocks and there are already 12, so it will be an easy finish. 

I am relieved to cross another thing off the WIP pile. 

I need to be more ruthless like this because that WIP pile is holding me back from what I really want to do.

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Dear Jane: It's Not You, It's Me...

Do you ever find that at the end of the year you start looking at the list of WIPs and working out what you can complete and check off before the new year rolls around? That's where I'm at right now. I'm trying not to feel guilty about the number of WIPs I still have hanging around, and instead I'm concentrating on finishing them up.

One of the things that has always been at the top of my WIP list, under 'Long Term Quilts In Piecing' is the Dear Jane quilt I started way back in, ahem, 2002. Once upon a time I had grand plans of a hand-pieced, reproduction masterpiece that would take pride of place on a wall somewhere in my house.

Then life got busy. We built and moved houses a couple of times. I had another baby. I discovered scrapbooking with a vengeance. I went back to work. I rediscovered quilting, this time modern.

Occasionally I'd pull my highly organised Dear Jane box out from under my bed, complete a few blocks, then get over it. Fast forward twelve years and I've done 32 blocks out of the 225.

At this rate I should get it done when I'm about 120.

Or I can rethink and accept that I will never, ever get it finished. I don't love the whole concept any more, I don't enjoy this kind of hand piecing. I admire the amazing workmanship of anyone who's ever made a Dear Jane, but it's just not for me.

I pulled it out again today and took a look at what I'd done. For a moment I was all sentimental about how wonderful it was, then I realised how much more work there was to complete this quilt.

I've made the decision to use what I've got to create a mini-Jane. She's not going to be as spectacular as a full Dear Jane, but she's still going to be beautiful. It's a very manageable amount of work - I have two more blocks cut out that just need piecing, and then I need to put it all together. Hand quilting it will also be manageable due to its size. I used to panic about how I might possibly ever hand quilt it after I finally finished it. You know, my fingers will be pretty arthritic when I get to 120.

Once I'm done I'll sort the fabric reserved for this project - a small amount will go into my colour stash, some will go in my art quilts stash, and I expect a lot will go to a friend who loves reproduction fabrics.

And then I'll be able to check another project off my to-do list and take a huge weight off my mind. Sometimes quilting with no guilt is all about finding solutions.

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Contemplating the New Year

I've spent a lot of the last couple of weeks contemplating the creative direction I want to take in 2013, where I see myself headed, what I want to achieve. I have been reading books about creativity and creative people, I have been taking stock of the contents of my craft room.

And I have concluded that 2013 should be a year of completion and consolidation. This is the year I want to complete quilts that have been sitting around way too long, finish the scrapbooking albums I am way behind on, take stock of the craft supplies I own and buy almost nothing else.

When I talk about WIPs and UFOs, I am talking about 30 of them. There, I said it out loud, in public. I'm not sure quite how the list got so long, but I absolutely need to rectify this. Some of these projects need a fair bit of work, others are close to finished. For this reason, I am ignoring all the new BOMs and sewalongs and challenges that are merrily happening in the blogosphere to people who don't have 30 WIPs.

This, by the way, doesn't include a few small projects and a big basket of mending and refashioning. Gotta get to that too.

On the bright side, I have finished my two bee/swap block commitments for January already. I've packed my machine away and I'm about to send her off for a much needed service.

And for the first time in many months, I have pulled out the paper and photos again and started scrapbooking again. It is a little daunting how much there is to do in this department, especially as I haven't printed a single photo or organised a single bit of memorabilia for the last two years. I am determined to focus on this task and make serious headway on my albums. Happily in the last three days I've completed about 15 pages, which is just about all I did in the whole of last year (which was a bad year for scrapbooking!).

One thing I really want to do this year is Project Life, or at least my version of it. I am using the materials I have on hand, as well as plenty of free printables. While it sounds like a bit lot of extra work, I am so excited about starting this project. It's inspired me to start scrapbooking again, and it's making me take more pictures of our everyday life. As the kids get older and stop doing those incredibly cute things they do as little ones, it's easy to get lazy with taking photos. This week I've made an effort to get behind the lens more and record. The Mamarazzi is back, kids!

So that's where I'm headed in 2013. More finishing, less starting, more taking check of what I have and what needs doing. It's not going to be the most exciting year and sometimes I imagine it will be hard, especially when the lure of the new calls. But I am determined, confident and motivated. Wish me luck!

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