November 20, 2012

Unfinished Organization: Day 41 half way there

I have been looking through my back catalogue of magazines, reference books, and patterns for some tips on UFOs and they all say: the need for confirmation of accomplishment. I had to figure out how to tackle the obvious. The only thing I had begun with 41 days ago on my 80 day quest to organize was sheer volume. Volume of patterns, fabrics, thread.....

I seem to have it down to 13 or 14 projects to finish in my 80 days quest (started with 15 UFOs and countless WIP)  and I can confidently say I have only finished 2 since this quest began. The good news? Its kind of like anything you get in order: your pantry, your household, the laundry room, there is always something to work on to keep the accounts balanced at work, always something gnawing at you.

For stitching, I know that a big part of it is completion time, and I know that there has to be motivation to finish things and keep them from gnawing at you. I have been going through my informational stash and found a tip which HAS ABSOLUTELY WORKED! Here it is step by step:

1) I found an old UFO.

2) Found out that it hadn't been completely highlighted for some reason.

3) Dug out the highlighter and started going over what had actually been stitched, mistakes I would need to pull out.

4) Realized I had more done than I had thought so it was less intimidating.

5) Finished the project within two evenings of stitching! Imagine that

6) AND this is the most important part - started another TINY project right on the heels of the UFO. From scratch.

Then I realized that being driven on by the sense of completion and success makes me want to continue on the other 14 UFOs. I knew 41 days ago realistically I could not get all 15 done. 41 Days ago I had no idea how many I even had. 41 days ago I needed to sieve through all of it. Even then I knew there would probably be too much for 80 days, but I didn't think I would be this motivated in the middle of the game. I felt like a snake swallowing their prey - I would have to unhinge my jaw to consume all of these UFOs. What has come out of this project so far? I have actually been stitching more than I have been blogging which is not AT ALL What I thought would happen!

Pictures to come later...

Next post, what is the difference between a UFO and a WIP?

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