Working Towards Organized, Controlled and Complete

I know we haven’t celebrated Halloween yet, or even thought about Thanksgiving and let’s not mention the other Holidays, but that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about my New Year’s resolution.  Why am I thinking so far ahead?  Well, it’s not because I’m super organized, in fact, it’s just the opposite.  I’m not organized enough and I’ve come to realize it’s because I have too much stuff to keep organized.

Let me explain: As you know I have been sewing all my life which means I have a lifetime worth of projects I’ve started and haven’t finished or worse finished and haven’t given, used, tossed or worn.   My sewing room is so stuffed that it’s literally difficult to move around in.   I have even started ‘misplacing’ items – which has never happened to me before!  I always knew the general area an item was in and, after lifting a few things, could usually find it.   My kids have started calling me a “Hoarder” and sadly, I have to agree.

Last summer I sorted though my sewing room and ended up taking 9 large lawn bags stuffed with fabric and unfinished projects to the Textile Center for their annual garage sale.  Which made me feel really good, but even after all that, I still have more projects than I’ll ever get to in this lifetime!  I’ve realized my creative space reflects my life – overwhelmed, unorganized and unfinished:  A-Ha Moment!

So for my New Years Resolution I am going through all my projects and choosing 12 that I really want to complete.  The rest will be taken to the Textile Center or sold on Etsy/e-bay.   Then for the entire 2012 year, once a month I will focus my energy on one project until it is done.  My plan includes putting each project in a labeled bin (note to self: must get bins), buying what I need to finish that project (must have buying in there someplace) so that I have no more excuses for not finishing that month’s project.  By December 31, 2012 I hope to have cleared enough of my sewing room so that I can start 2013 organized, controlled and complete.

Now that I’ve put that out into the Universe, the Universe has answered back.  One of the projects that made it onto the list (and now taken off) is this quilt:

Front of Quilt

Back of Quilt

Drew and I started working on this batik quilt (made entirely from my stash) maybe 3-4 summers ago.  We didn’t finish before the summer was over, which means it quickly found its way to the bottom of the ‘To-Do’ list once school started.  For the past 2-3 Quilt Retreats I’ve brought it with me to work on.  Once session I finished the top, the next session I finished the back and one session for pinning it all together.

In going through my projects I decided this would be one that I tried to finish in 2012, but then I really started to look at it and realized I was almost done with it!  So I sat down then and there and “Got ‘er done” in about 2 hours.  Let me just tell you it feels wonderful to finish a project!  I don’t know why I don’t do it more often – seriously!  It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, I have a clean spot in my sewing room and, after talking it over with Drew, a quilt to sell on Etsy.

I’ll be keeping you all up to date with the projects that make the list, and those that don’t.  Maybe I’ll even get the courage to show you the ‘before’ picture of my sewing space.   Hello, my name is Nikol and I’m (no longer) a Hoarder.