After not sewing for a few days, I went back to it today. I was digging through more of the fabric piles and I found two projects that were half finished. They were vests for me. A few years back, I thought I would make a vest for each month of the year to fit in that month's decorating theme/season. I had one for June in a sunflower pattern and one for July in a 4th of July pattern.
I took out the two vests and looked at them for a minute, and decided not to finish them. Wearing vests isn't really my style and I wasn't sure they would fit anyway.
For the first time EVER, I decided not to finish a project, and I didn't feel bad about it. I hadn't sewn the lining to the fabric yet, so I cut out as many squares for fabric blocks as I could and then threw away what I couldn't use.
Slowly but surely, I'm going through my fabric stash and making decisions what to do with it. Many of the projects I will still finish. There are more for me to start. They may not go to the person they were originally intended to, and maybe I will use some of the fabric for something other than what I originally bought it for. I've also added the option to simply not finish the project and to cut up the fabric into squares for blocks or other projects.
Deciding not to finish a project doesn't mean I've failed at something. Tastes change over time and maybe that project doesn't fit who I am anymore.
A few months ago, I went through a folder that had pictures I had cut out of magazines. These were pictures of decor or craft projects I thought I would like to do. I threw out almost all of them because they just didn't fit my style anymore. A few were of paint projects that I just wasn't interested in doing anymore. I'm not a painter. I can't paint a doll to look like it has a real face. I can't blend colors to look shaded or make things look real. When we were getting ready for one of our moves, I gathered up all my paint supplies and gave them to the Relief Society. I decided there was no reason to keep the paint when I wasn't using it.
Lately I've been thinking I want to revamp the decorating in my house, especially my kitchen. I'm not talking about giving everything to the DI and starting over from scratch (although that would be fun). Rather, I'm trying to look at everything with fresh eyes and try to imagine using things in places other than where they've been. Just because something's always been in my kitchen doesn't mean it needs to stay there or stay in the same place. I'm not quite sure what I want to do yet, so I'll be taking some time to think about how I want things to look.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
goals report for January
Well, I got lots of sewing done, and quite a bit of scrapbooking done, and not much in the way of organizing the files.
I finished a nightgown for C, a pair of pajamas for J, a set of table runners in a snowflake pattern and the crib skirt. I cut out and sewed together the tops for a set of table runners in spring colors--just need to sew on the backing for that. I also cut out lots of blocks of leftover fabric to make fabric blocks for my baby. My final fabric-related project was clearing out odds and ends pieces of fabric that were too small to do anything with. Not too shabby.
I worked on the Alaska scrapbook and I think I'm about halfway done. I'm not worrying too much about making it super cute but I do want it to look good. I do need to get more page protectors to add to the ones in the book already so that's held me up a bit but I plan to work on it lots this week and hopefully I'll have it done by Saturday, Feb. 6.
I haven't been able to get motivated to tackle the files. I'm kind of dreading that because there are several years worth of files that I need to clean out. I look at the files and I wonder, do I REALLY need to keep all this stuff? The past few weeks have been so warm that the snow in the backyard has melted. Last Friday I cleaned out the garage--moved stuff that is normally stored in the shed but had been put in the garage for awhile. I put some old tax envelopes in the "dead file box" and as I looked at the envelopes going back to the beginning of our marriage (we've been married 12.5 years now!) I wondered why I was keeping all this stuff.
I've started a new system for keeping track of electronic payments. Before, I'd print out the confirmation page and then file it in the company folder. Then I got the idea to just keep track of confirmation numbers so that in case of a company telling me I hadn't paid, I would have the confirmation number available. So I set up a Microsoft Excell worksheet with the payment date, the company name, the bill amount, what the bill was for, the confirmation number and the bank account used to pay the bill. I started that with the January bills and so far it's working well. I've never had a company tell me I haven't paid a bill so I'm glad I won't be using any more paper and ink to print out confirmations that I don't even need.
Another problem with printing out the confirmation pages was that I use my bank's Bill Pay feature, so I'd have several different companies on one page. Where do I file it? That was what finally motivated me to set up the tracking form in Excell.
So, while I may not have accomplished everything I wanted to in January, I did make good progress, so I'm happy with that!
I finished a nightgown for C, a pair of pajamas for J, a set of table runners in a snowflake pattern and the crib skirt. I cut out and sewed together the tops for a set of table runners in spring colors--just need to sew on the backing for that. I also cut out lots of blocks of leftover fabric to make fabric blocks for my baby. My final fabric-related project was clearing out odds and ends pieces of fabric that were too small to do anything with. Not too shabby.
I worked on the Alaska scrapbook and I think I'm about halfway done. I'm not worrying too much about making it super cute but I do want it to look good. I do need to get more page protectors to add to the ones in the book already so that's held me up a bit but I plan to work on it lots this week and hopefully I'll have it done by Saturday, Feb. 6.
I haven't been able to get motivated to tackle the files. I'm kind of dreading that because there are several years worth of files that I need to clean out. I look at the files and I wonder, do I REALLY need to keep all this stuff? The past few weeks have been so warm that the snow in the backyard has melted. Last Friday I cleaned out the garage--moved stuff that is normally stored in the shed but had been put in the garage for awhile. I put some old tax envelopes in the "dead file box" and as I looked at the envelopes going back to the beginning of our marriage (we've been married 12.5 years now!) I wondered why I was keeping all this stuff.
I've started a new system for keeping track of electronic payments. Before, I'd print out the confirmation page and then file it in the company folder. Then I got the idea to just keep track of confirmation numbers so that in case of a company telling me I hadn't paid, I would have the confirmation number available. So I set up a Microsoft Excell worksheet with the payment date, the company name, the bill amount, what the bill was for, the confirmation number and the bank account used to pay the bill. I started that with the January bills and so far it's working well. I've never had a company tell me I haven't paid a bill so I'm glad I won't be using any more paper and ink to print out confirmations that I don't even need.
Another problem with printing out the confirmation pages was that I use my bank's Bill Pay feature, so I'd have several different companies on one page. Where do I file it? That was what finally motivated me to set up the tracking form in Excell.
So, while I may not have accomplished everything I wanted to in January, I did make good progress, so I'm happy with that!
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