Motivational Mondays

Good morning!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.  In my case, my life seems to revolve around quilting and so today is the first day of an improved quilting life. I'm ready to stand up and shout to the world - "My name is Elaine. I'm addicted to quilting and I have an obsession that needs to be contained."

I'll start with a bit of background. If you've been following my blog, you know that I have so MANY UFOs that need to be completed. I won't embarrass myself by posting pictures, yet! There is a constant stream of stuff being packed and unpacked. There is constant chaos. The worse part is that new stuff gets started, new supplies get purchased, but the number of finished projects doesn't increase at the same rate.

I've made numerous changes over the years and I'm way better than I used to be, but a very sobering fact is if I don't come home tonight, what would my family do with that huge mess I created? How many of those projects would get ditched because no one could understand the mess that I've left? How many people would be fighting over my stuff? I decided that this situation won't do and as a responsible quilter, it's up to me to take control and do something about this.

I'm going to start by having you ask yourself a couple of questions. While this project is quilt related, you could use it to improve any part of your life.

• Are you frustrated because you don't seem to get much done?
• Do you spend top much time trying to find things in your studio?
• Are your shelves overflowing with quilt related items?
• Is the amoung of UFOs crushing your spirit?
• Do you know how many new projects you start in a year?
• Do you know how many projects you finish in a year?
• Have you gone to the quilt store to buy a tool/pattern/book that you know you already have, but can't find?
• Have you gone to the quilt store to buy fabric rather than search at home?

1.       If you answered YES to any of the above questions, then you might want to consider participating in my project. I failed miserably and answered an emphatic YES to all the questions. 

The object of this project is to help us get control of our quilting lives.

I've been quilting for close to 20 years. I’ve been a quilt teacher for a great part of those years and have started numerous samples. I’m also an enthusiastic quilter, but I’m not a great finisher. Making class samples and getting caught up in the latest trend has resulted in a huge pile of UFOs. There are so many UFOs that I don’t want to count them – even I would be shocked at the number. Even the number of quilt tops that need to be quilted would blow your mind. 

Not only are there a lot of UFOs, but there are magazines, books, tools, notions, patterns and fabric that fills the entire basement of my house.  I don’t even want to imagine the amount of money that was spent. Nor can I even begin to imagine what it would be like to move it all. Thankfully, there are no plans to move, but I will have to one day!

I’m tired of looking at the same old projects over and over again. I would love to get some of these things finished, so they can be donated, gifted or simply used for my trunk shows. I’m tired of digging through boxes of quilt tops to find examples for trunk shows, only to have to put everything back again. I’ve tried numerous times to fix the problem, but I get sidetracked or forget. Not the old age forgetfulness.  Nope, this is the kind that relates to – "I’m onto the next project already and no time to cope with the old|. Out of sight, out of mind also comes to mind on this one.

I’ve found over the years of blogging, that I've become more accountable to myself to get things done, but I need to take it one step further and by making this a regular plan and making it public, not only could I help myself, but hopefully I can motivate one or more of you to get control of the situation.

I’m calling my plan, Motivational Mondays and each Monday of 2017, I’ll post some inspirations, some tips, some photos on how we can get this situation under control.  It'll take some time, it'll take some motivation, it'll take some control and hopefully it'll change some of our behavior so once we dig ourselves out, we won’t get buried again.

Here's what I’m planning to do:

Each Monday, there be a new post  on the blog related to the situation. One week, it may be on magazines and how to get them under control. It may be tips on putting labels on quilts, culling projects or UFOs or just checking in with you. In order to make it easy for everyone to participate, I’m going to create a Facebook group where we’ll be able to post pictures of our mess – the before and after, we can post our finished items and we can motivate each other. 

This isn’t going to be easy. There will be times when we’re going to struggle, but I strongly believe that unless we start to clean up our acts, nothing will happen until the day we don't come home.  

I don’t think I even need to list the benefits of this program, but here are a couple in case you’re not convinced. 

• A more inviting sewing space, perhaps even enough room to share with a friend or two from time to time. 
• The ability to find ALL your tools when you want them, so no more purchasing duplicate tools.
• No more clutter
• Gifts that you can give ON TIME because you now have more time to sew, less time searching for things. 

1. 
   

Stay tuned!  You can sign up for the Facebook group next week. (If you don't do Facebook, then send me pictures that I can post on the blog or you can send me comments via e-mail).  I'll post the link to the weekly blog posts on the Facebook page. Share this post with your friends who you think need help. 

      This program is for those that are serious about making this life-changing event. If you’re not sure, then this may not be the program for you, but follow along, you many change your mind when you see how much we're getting done.  The same way, you can't convince other addicts to stop their behavior, I can’t get you started. Only you can do that. But together, we’re going to remember that we’re in this together and imagine what our lives will be like this time next year!!

The Topic for Next Week:
How to choose your top 12 priority projects for 2017

Have a super awesome day!

Ciao!