Getting Things Done

This is the year I clear out my UFO pile. For Good!

...said no quilter ever.

 

Seriously though after moving last year into my dream studio I was forced to look at (and pack and move) all my quilt and crafty stuff and ask myself what do I really want to create, spend time on and above all complete.

 

My husband and I are using this awesome book and the GTD program to help us in our time management of both work, home and volunteering and there are some awesome ideas and strategies to help us meet our goals. He went to an all day workshop his company put together and there were some really awesome tools that the book didn't have. I'm going to see if I can find one and attend at some point in the future. We have set aside time each week to "hold each other accountable" and it has been fun to have a productivity partner. 

 

My office is already seeing the benefit of this GTD mindset and now I'm incorporating it into my quilt life. After six months my studio is finally organized from our move to a point where I can really function and find things and I'm loving how clearing out the clutter has inspired me to be more creative and productive.

I recently came up with a couple of forms that will help me track progress of my quilting creations and project elements which will be a HUGE help when writing patterns.

The Log

This is the form I use for all projects that have been started. This is not a Want To Do list but rather for things that are already underway. I decided I needed to see where I was in the process for each project and I can put a date in the box under the steps as well as a deadline. This info can be helpful when scheduling my week and how I plan to get to my goal.  This is what I used when I wrote my book and my calendar had items blocked out by the headers.  Example on Tuesday morning I'm doing the binding on X quilt. I had to do that in order to meet my deadline. The form prints on 11 x 17 and I love having that option on my Brother printer/copier....best tech money I ever spent. (Model MFC J6920DW)

 

 

Quilt Project Worksheet

 

 I do mostly my own designs when making quilts. In the past I would just figure things out as I go and write down block or math details on whatever paper I had handy.  This is problematic if you ever want to go back and write a pattern after the fact.  This happened to me frequently. I would make a quilt, take it on the road and share in my lecture and I would get asked for the pattern.  So much so that I would go back and write the pattern from often sketchy notes. This is a tool that I can use to help keep track of the details and the math on every quilt and I'm very excited to incorporate it into my creative process. 

Both the log and the project sheets are kept in a binder and when I start a project I grab a worksheet and keep it with the project until completion. I printed them on heavier paper so they can hold up well to being handled a bunch as I work my way through the process.

 

I hope this gives you some inspiration as to how you can GTD in your creative life....I'll keep you posted.

 

Blessings,

Linda

 

Cutting Loose

Winds of change....

 Some of you will get this....the last week I have been going in and out of my sewing room (the place I make the quilts) and not really getting much done. Sometimes I just go and sit and look at quilt pictures and projects. Other times I was organizing things that really didn't need to be. I've been doing this for a few weeks. I thought it was maybe the "let down" of the book being done. I have been so focused on that, I wondered if now that it is done if there was anything else for me to strive for. 
 
Then I realized that I had this Dr. appointment this week. 23 years have gone by and yet it's there. Funny how it is in the back of my mind. Until you have faced that giant you probably cannot understand. It's not fear - I'm not afraid to die. It's not even about getting sick again. What I discovered it is about is the fact that a lot of years have gone by and I have lived more life than I have left to live. Something about the ski racer turning 60 this year......maybe? I don't know.  What I do know is I'm taking stock and contemplating cutting things loose.  Not just in my sewing room but in my house. I have so many quilts - show quilts and snuggle quilts and quilts I made when I was just starting out (not that many) and my house is full of them.  This list from my insurance agent for my land and sea policy that covers them is 2 pages long. So I have begun to look for ways to cut some of them loose.

So last night I was going through the lovely boxes up on the shelf above my design wall where I store projects in process (see the pic of my sewing room above and imagine about 2x as many as when that pic was taken) and asking myself questions like "do I even like this fabric" or "do I really plan to finish this" and "will this quilt make my heart sing while I work on it?" Honestly there are so many projects (and so much fabric) that I feel the need to clear out. I'm being brutal with the answers and several projects have already been cut loose. Luckily I have a BFF who loves random blocks and makes beautiful things with them so there is no guilt.  I can give them to her and put the rest of the fabric that was set aside back into my stash.

But I think the whole Orlando tragedy, the fact that I'm getting older and that another cancer anniversary have all converged into "what do I want to really accomplish before I leave this earth" and while I don't have the answer I feel energized at the process. Like I don't want to waste a minute.

So I have come up with some questions regarding my quilting; works in process as well as future quilts:

Will it make someone else happy to see it?
Will it make me feel good while creating it?
Is this show worthy? Do I want to invest that kind of time in the quilt?
Who else in my life needs a quilt made by me?
What charity group that I support could use one of my quilts for an auction?
Do I have any bed in my house that could use a new quilt?
Is there another book in me and is this project a candidate?

I have the answers to a few of the questions but time will tell hopefully about the others.  But it does not end here....


I also have a studio.  

My studio is where I quilt and embroider. It is also where a completed top goes and is no longer considered a UFO. I know that's a bit crazy but it works for me.

My "to be quilted" closet is full to the gills. Charity quilts, a few customer quilts and lots of quilt tops I have made over the years that were just for fun and are still not quilted.  Show quilts have a deadline so they get quilted and are not usually in that closet for long. But it's full.  I need to find time this summer to make a serious dent in that closet or cut them loose for someone else to complete.


And then there is the stash!

I have a relatively small sewing room with a large closet - it is full.  I have a cutting table that has a skirt and under the skirt are wire basket drawers that are full.  Bolts are under my sewing table and there are more in the studio that could be backings...... It's starting to come in on me, not so much that I want to get rid of it but more like "Get busy Missy and make some quilts!"   





I have gone through much of it and culled a ton of fabric that is now in bins for use on Quilted EMbrace quilts.  There is so much, I could make hundreds of quilts and probably not make much of a dent.

 And then there are the bins of string strips.  I love making those quilts but how many strings does one girl need?

So I'm reviewing everything.  Deciding what I'm really interested in working on and with and what I need to cut loose!

Now the question goes to you ~ the reader of this blog:   

Have you been where I am and what did you do to navigate it and did it inspire you to new a greater things and more creativity?  Please share below.

~ Blessings
          Linda