With your hand in the cookie jar.
With your pants down.
Oh I could go on and on with this.
Quilting is fun. When the fun stops it’s time to think about what’s going on.
Usually when the quilting stops being fun for me I’m in the middle of learning something new and am banging my head against the nearest wall wondering if things with this quilt could possibly get any worse. And sometimes yes it can get worse because there is more to learn and I’m not there yet.
A good friend once said: we don’t need new teaching, we need reminders. Another good friend is an organization geek. She freely admits this and I can see a direct correlation between her organization and her success. It’s a beautiful thing to watch. She’s very respectful of her own time, giving her full attention to the project she is working on in that moment be it a contract for a quilt related gig, writing patterns, paperwork, making a quilt. She will often set a time limit to work on that particular project, work completely on that project for that time. Once the timer goes she’ll move onto the next, again giving her full attention. This allows her to touch many of her projects during the course of the day and meet and/or exceed goals. She does give herself some flexibility in that.
This is inspiring me in my own work in ways that I’ve never thought possible. I’m starting check lists for projects not only to keep the organized but to keep me on task. There’s a good article in this issue of Gen Q – a follow up to an article in the previous issue. Note taking isn’t working for me right now. And I’ve found myself doing something that I find really, really annoying. Bang. Head. Here!
In creating the check list I’m finding that I do indeed understand but what’s happening is I’m moving ahead without checking the next step and sometimes making sure I’ve done the first step correctly.
I did that with the Bendy Bag too, just plowed ahead without going back to read the directions and just confirm the next part of the process. And these are projects where it’s all in the details. With quilt making – it’s all in the details.
What I’m seeing is, this is stuff I’ve known all along. I’ve just needed good reminders. That when I give over to using check lists, and following processes the work flow all the way around is better, there is a good order and I function better.
What are the things that you do that help you function better?
Do you give yourself permission to be flexible?
What are your best organization tips?
Happy Quilting!
Teri
