2.07.2015

Sew Saturday ~ ALYOF Goals

This past week I was having some struggles in the stamp room.  Things just weren't turning out the way I envisioned them.  Does that ever happen to you?  Two things usually help me with this.

1. Cleaning and Organizing-  The mindless works somehow helps me get back into a creative frame of mind.  Plus, I work better when things are organized and clean.  Cleaning up in the middle of creating, however, stops my flow of creativity, so when a project is done my area is a DISASTER!  Go figure.  Can you relate?

2.  Take my creativity to another medium.  If I am struggling with stamping, I switch to sewing.  If it is sewing that has me frustrated I go back to my scrapbooks.  When scrapbooking just isn't going right I turn to painting, cross stitching, applique, etc.  You get the point.

Honestly, I have so many ideas for cards, that I think I just got overwhelmed.  When I tried to make them work, they wouldn't.  I needed to do both of the things above and #2 sounded like more fun, so I headed to the sewing room.  :)

Here's what was on my design wall this week.



First sewed together this Amish Snowflake block. One of our SSMQG members designed this modern take on an old favorite.  I had one block finished last month, but didn't get the second one finished before our meeting.  I decided to square up all my half square triangles and finish the block before our meeting on Wednesday.  The unfinished block is 20"x20"



This month we had a pot holder swap at our guild meeting.  This seemed like the perfect excuse to spend more time sewing.  Here's my modern pot holder for the exchange.


Finally. when I got some creative juices (and confidence in my creativity) going, I headed back down to the stamp room in the garage and begun cleaning & organizing.  If you want to see a scary "before" picture check out yesterday's post.  When the work of purging and putting away gets too boring, I head back up to the sewing room and work on my February goal for A Lovely Year Of Finishes.




My goal is to complete the quilt top for the Art's Walk Challenge for the South Sound Modern Quilt Guild.  We were each given a fat quarter of fabric and challenged to use only that pattern and solids to make a quilt that is at least 20x20".  I ran out of fabric and only needed about 30" x 2.5"  and the store was out!  Thankfully a fellow guild member, Meagan found some yardage, and let me have a strip of hers.  Phew.  
alyof2015
Feb. Goals

Tomorrow is the last day to link up with your February goals.  If you like to sew and want a fun challenge, head on over to Melissa or Shanna's blog to participate.

What do you do when you get creative block?   Does cleaning, organizing or switching mediums help you?

3 comments:

Kate said...

I usually switch projects if I end up frustrated or out of ideas. Or I'll start going through my quilt books looking for inspiration.

The Amish Snowflake block is gorgeous! Those colors really pop against the black.

Marilyn said...

I'm new to your blog (saw your name and cards on CP's blog!). Love her work and instantly fell in love with your cards... so thought I'd better hop on over to your blog to check you out. I can SO RELATE to your skipping around to different mediums of creating! If I lose mojo on one thing, I'll go work on a different craft or idea I saw on YouTube, etc. I love to sew, love to paper craft, love photography.. so I jump back and forth. I love your quilt blocks too. I recently lost all mojo for paper crafting... so set up my (dusty) sewing machine and found So Sew Easy on YouTube (love her!) and am making some little teeny tiny zipper pouches... which immediately got me to thinking that I needed a card to go with each one I'm giving as a gift! so back I went to card making, and I'm on a roll again! I've subscribed to your blog too.

Anonymous said...

I love your Amish snowflake block. The math is elusive, but I don't think it matters what size I get it to come out as long as I can replicate it. =) The ALYOF blocks are great - yay for friends! If piecing isn't working, I just switch to embroidery. =) Or read a book.