Getting Things Done

One of the secrets of getting more done is to make a TO DO List every day, keep it visible, and use it as a guide to actions as you go through the day.

~Jean de La Fontaine

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Call me a geek but I am a huge list maker.  I love writing them down, I love crossing them off.  I love the feeling of looking at them and actually SEEING what I’ve accomplished, so much so that I’ll actually write something on my list just to cross it off. It’s a good feeling.  Being that this is no secret you’d be shocked to know that I have no list on sewing projects I want or need to get done.  I just sort of skim through and do what I feel like doing in that certain moment while in the back of my head I do keep a lose track of projects I want to accomplish at some point.

The mental list has been piling up and I decided to get a few things taken care of before they slipped back into the abyss of “might get made in this lifetime.”  To help my motivation be supremely high in this regard I have made myself a rule that there is no more fabric purchasing allowed until I get the list chopped down and the stash shrunk to a more reasonable size.

So I did a couple little projects to cross off that list (some of which included blogging about the projects). Start small I figure.

Very early on in the month I was asked to make five of these little brooches for the five birthdays she had coming up in April.  Mother, grandmother, 2 cousins, and two friends all got the same gorgeous tiny black print on a vibrant blue.  They also got the same big black buttons, which I loved.  But what was different, what added some major glamor, and what I swooned over were the blingy buttons that were the focal point.  Those were different on each flower.  They totally make these brooches step it up a  notch!

I told the giver of these brooches that if she got me a zipper I’d make a little pouch for her daughter out of any remaining fabric from this project and I found myself at the tail end of the month here finally making it.  I’m actually hanging my head in shame because I never put things off this long, but for some reason last night was the night for making this little diddy.

Because this is for a little girl but the fabric has a more mature feel to it I didn’t want to do just any pouch.  I wanted to make sure it was cute and a little funky.  Who wants a matronly pouch when you’re almost 5?  Uh, yah, didn’t think so.  So to juv. it up a bit I made one with some cute little pleats in it and added three black buttons of varying size.

Forever and a half ago (at least) a friend emailed me a bunch of pictures of things she was certain I could make.  It was like she was possessed or something! (I loved it FYI).  One of the things she sent me was a shot of a darling pillow.  I wanted to make it so bad, but I moved, then I was sewing out of my bedroom, then I moved to the basement, then, then, then, and the next thing I know I haven’t finished it.

Actually, I made two of them.  One got folded up and shipped south where I hope it was filled with a pillow and throw on the couch (or where ever it decided to reside).  How could I not make one for my friend when she passed the awesome idea onto me in the first place?!  Mine is sitting on my recliner that desperately needs to be steam cleaned, it hides some of the worst spots for me.

And last but not least in the sewing productivity list today is the little purse I wanted to make my daughter ages ago.  Why has it taken me so long to break down and make this for her?  Partially, I really just didn’t know what fabric to use.  I finally chose one and made it telling myself that if all else failed I could always make her ANOTHER one if I found a fabric we liked more.  That’s one of the pro’s to having a sewing machine you know, I’m glad I clued into that fact finally.

Now on to the next thing on the list, which includes visits to the creative minds hanging out at Koyotoo’s today and My Crafty Weekend as well as Sew & Tell.

Cheers,

B