The Stash Straightening Begins on Off the Wall Friday

 This blog has been a lot of things over the years.  It's been a creative journal.  It's been a way to connect with other quilters.  It's been a way to give back to the quilting community who have shared so much free knowledge online.  Through it all, I've tried to stay transparent.  I mean it's so easy to go to big quilt shows or read magazines and say "WoW!  They are so talented.  I could never do that!"  What we don't see are all the trials and failures that led to those masterpieces.  So I thought here would be one place where you see it all ...the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In that light....

This is what my stash shelves have deteriorated to....

The Before

Yeah, I know terrible right?!  In my defense, the fabric I use the most is neatly organized in my studio.  This dressing/stash room is right off my new master bath and acted as a staging spot while Paul did the remodel.  He promised he would remodel this room too but first he had to re-paint my Victorian which was no small task. But finally, it's my turn!  The room is going to get new flooring, shelving, and a paint job. (notice the nasty LIME green carpeting from the '70s remodel!)  I think I'll even convince him that it needs decent lighting. (It sits in the eaves of the former attic)

I decided that I didn't want anything too fancy but I did want it to be practical.  One thing that I learned over the last 30 years, is that open shelving does not work for me.  I am incapable of keeping all the varying lengths of fabric organized in any semblance of order. (Here it is in 2009 with me having the same problem!)  Plus getting at just the right piece of fabric is always a chore. Every few years I would have to day HOURS folding and straightening 

So I'm going to repeat the idea that I hit upon for my studio.  I'm going to use dish busing tubs.  They are 20" by 15" by 5" so they are big enough to hold a bunch of fabric but not too big that you can't easily carry them around.  I bought them at a restaurant supply store for the cheapie price of $4.80 each shipped.  They are definitely sturdy enough for fabric.  What I really love about the bin idea is that you can easily pull it down from the shelf, try out the fabrics you need and neatly pop it back to its rightful place.  If you get more fabric, you can easily reorganize it. I've been using them for two years in my studio and my fabric is always neat.   I figure that 24  28 of them will do the trick. (It's hard to believe that 12 years ago I sold off a quarter of my stash!)  

Getting the bins unboxed and taking a hard look at the stash shelves really was a wake-up call on how big a job this will be! The whole thing is compounded by the fact that the house is 3 stories so it will be a lot of up and down.  Not to mention that I have boxes of fabric throughout the room that I intend to organize into tubs.  I did recruit my friend Lisa to come over and help 'cause, ya know, why have friends if you can't put them to work?!

I keep reminding myself how much better I felt once  I got my studio into order and that was a bigger job than this one.  I promise to show you the after pictures!  

How do you store your fabric?  Has it been a struggle?

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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My Goal Planning on Off the Wall Friday

 So after writing last week's post on SMART goal setting, I had a good idea on how to go about it.  Now I just had to sit down and do it!!  hmmmmmmmm...okay....where to begin.  As most times in life lately, it began with a google search (of course it did!).  That brought way more information on goal setting and goal setting worksheets than one girl really needs!!  I settled on a worksheet layout that was created by Aimee, at the Crazy Craft Lady.  I liked how she broke up the time for the goals into a 90 day period and then from there into 3 - 30 day periods.    90 days all seems more manageable than a full year.  Plus after 30 days, I can always adjust the specifics of the goal! 

 

Once I settled on a worksheet, it was easy enough to fill out using PDFescape.  Of course you could just print out the form and use a !!GASP!!.. a pen, but honestly my handwriting is so under utilized these days that its become illegible.  Coming up with the goals wasn't hard since two of them were staring me in the face everyday saying "Why aren't you working on me?"  As per SMART...

 

Specific ...Hand piece pinwheel quilt regularly, Complete my masterclass, Finish Abbey Quilt

Measurable...Hand piece 4 hrs a week, complete each weekly assignment from my masterclass, work 8 hrs a weekend on Abbey till it's done.

Achievable...That's 12 hrs a week sewing/creating is doable although I still work full time.  I should finish Abbey before my masterclass starts, but if not I'll adjust the timeline.

Relevant...All three goals are appropriate for my Master Vision and Purpose...To Work Routinely & Productively in my Studio 

Time Bound...The goals are all set up hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and finally in one quarter.  90 days later I can adjust and recommit. 

Now, I'm writing this all so you can see how I did it.   With all the information out there I didn't see one person actually put their goal process out as an example.  It didn't take me long to come up with this so I wanted to show that it's not as hard as it seems!  In fact, I'm thinking that writing these two posts is the easy part!  Getting the 12 hrs of work done each week is the hard part!!

Now onto Things I Like.....

Creative Classes!!  It's no secret that my favorite vacation is when I learn something new and

am able to refuel myself creatively!  This week I managed to make a new plan for 2021 after 3 such vacations got cancelled in 2020.  (Seriously worst vacation year ever!)

Quilting By the Lake has not managed to announce a summer schedule this year due to Covid, but did set up online Online Classes  & Workshops.  So I signed up for Rosalie Dace's Masterclass.  5 weekend  days of exercises lead by Rosalie who is safely home in South Africa.  It's not QBL but I will have the luxury of having my whole studio and fabric stash at my finger tips so that will be nice.  This starts the last week of February therefore, making it into my creative goals for this quarter.

John C. Campbell Folk School is resuming classes for June 1.  I'm signed up for a Embellishing Textile class with Jennifer Ries in August (my husband is going to learn to make brooms - apparently a life long ambition of his) and then I'll go back down in October to take a class with Mary Lou Weidman to try my hand at applique story quilts.  Both sound fun - both should ad a skill or two to my toolbox but more importantly fill back up my creative jug!

There ya go!!  Now it seems I have a plan for 2021!!  I think things are looking up!

 What Have You Been Up to Creatively??

 

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Setting Goals on Off the Wall Friday

 Is it just me, or did it feel like all of 2020 was spent just "waiting it out".  It kinda reminded me of my childhood in the 1970's on the Tug Hill Plateau in upstate New York. (And when I say Upstate NY, I don't mean 45 minutes north of New York City, but the truly Northern end of the state)  We would get these ridiculously huge snow storms where you were lucky to make it the mailbox more less to the grocery store.  You just spent the next few days, just waiting for the weather to break long enough to get shoveled out....or the sun to come out...or both.  That's what 2020 felt like  to me....just marking time

. 

But honestly!  Enough is enough. It's time to stop sleep walking through the weeks and set some goals.  Now, don't get me wrong.  Goals are different than resolutions  which tend to point to everyday life improvements.  Goals are specific deadlines or targets.  It's a tangible finish line to reach too.  

Apply this idea to your creative life and see how much you get done in 2021.

Okay, got it!  So how do I do it?!

 

1.  What are the results you want to see?  Is it project driven like finishing two large quilts in 2021.  Or maybe its technique driven...learning how to hand dye fabric.  Or maybe its productivity driven...spending 20 hrs a week in your studio.  Really the possibilities are endless.  I suggest you sit down and think what is REALLY important to you!  Brainstorm and make a list.  Now prioritize it.  Set the top few and file the rest for another time.

2.  Now that you know what you want to do, you need a plan.  You might have seen the acronym SMART around.

• SPECIFIC- Exactly what you want to accomplish
• MEASURABLE - Set up a way to keep track of your progress towards your goal.  Set up milestones or "mini-goals" to meet
• ACHIEVABLE - Make sure that your goal and in extension the way you plan to obtain it are actually attainable.  This process is meant to be empowering and productive not discouraging and depressing.    Don't be afraid to ask for help.  Is there someone knowledgeable that can help you with what you want to learn?  Or maybe a friend or mentor that can hold you accountable to reaching your milestones. Set up the tools that will make your goal achievable
• RELEVANT -  This is more important that you might think.  Okay so say your goal is to make two full size quilts this year.  Well that's all fine and good but why?  Is it just to say "Hey look at me.  I covered two beds in 2021!?"  Or are those two more installments in your latest series of quilts?  It's the difference between just randomly doing stuff just to have a goal for 2021 and using the goal to further the decade and eventually your whole creative life.
• TIME BOUND -  Set a deadline....a REALISTIC deadline. I myself do well with mini-deadlines and treats along the way.  With a deadline looming, it's easier to complete the goal.

3.  Using SMART, set up an action plan. I highly suggest you write out exactly your milestones,
how you intend to achieve them and exactly when they are to be done.  I would also  use visual ways of measuring...think GOLD STARS or Days to Christmas ... you know what I mean.

4.  Take Action.  Put your plan into practice.  Use a charting system or calendar to mark off mini-achievements.  Brag to your best friend how you're doing.  Have her help you when ambition lags.

5.  Reevaluate.  Once the process starts, don't be afraid to reevaluate the goals and achievements.  If the timeline needs to be changed, do it.  The idea is to accomplish the goal, not to give up because it proved too unrealistic.  

Writing this all out gives me hope that I will actually get something done in 2021.  I'm still playing with the idea of putting my action plan on the blog and publicly  being held accountable.   Now THAT'S scary.  But honestly after 2020, a little boot in the pants toward a bigger goal is a NOT a bad idea!

 

Anyways, I hope this helps you as much as it's helped me!  Here's to a more productive 2021!

  

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