It’s been a while – since my last blog post and also my last monthly check-in. Somehow the April recap got swept under the rug. So let’s see what I have been up to in April and May – since my last planning post for the FAL Q2.
April
Grey vs. Rainbow | Sewing Friends | Emotional Challenges | “Grete” a Finish
April started with arranging the just finished blocks from the #meadowlandqal and with a new rainbow quilt. It was a fun contrast working with that greyscale fabric selection and those bright, sunny colors.
Then work got more and more crazy with a new software release planned for the Easter weekend. Right in-between my friend Preeti came by to visit for two days. We had the most amazing weather and lots of fun!
I can’t find the original files but here are the Instagram posts :)
The week post software release was really insane. And somehow that craziness stayed for a while. The first weekend though I needed to sew and preferably finish something. My valve to release at least a part of that built up stress. But what I finished was highly determined by some family disagreement. You see, I had two (C)ommissions and three (P)romised projects at that time:
– baby quilt for the baby (girl) of by good friend (P)
– “pink” Grete aka wallet for a colleague (C)
– “computer” Grete aka wallet for a dear friend (C)
– fish drawstring bag for my nephew (P) and
– beach bag for my Mom (P)
This is the order I accepted the projects but somehow it was said that I should have already finished that “simple” drawstring bag if I really loved my nephew.
First I tried to explain – timely order, priority because of payment for the commissions – then I got really angry and for my emotional well-being checked my opinion with a few friends. Let’s just say: I want this to be my hobby and those Cs and Ps sometimes make that really hard. So I will make it a relative high priority to finish these projects soon and then I will probably not take on any new ones.
But I am curious: How do you handle requests/commissions (hobby scale not business)? Did you have similar experiences? Any advice?
Sorry for the long story, but that is why I finished the Grete (blog post) on that stress release weekend. In my ranking this was the top priority :)
May
Lots of Couch Time | Quilting Rainbows
The first days of May repeated the pattern of greyscale vs. rainbows. Greyscale won but was shortly followed by Rainbow. Here are both tops finished :)
But my body told me to stop: Battery empty, no energy left. I spent a whole week on the couch and sleeping lots, then worked for a week just to get a nasty cold. How come those are around full year?
Speaking in terms of #30minssewingdaily on IG, May was not a very good month. Only seven posts… mostly due to not photographing and blogging. For my sanity I tried to quilt a bit here and there and that step of the rainbow quilt is almost done.
Looking back over the Instagram posts of those two months: I also started an finished a few Hamburg pouches as gifts for Preeti and Nina, and of course one for myself :)
And I sewed the backing for Greyscale and did some planning on a totally unrelated project…
… all considered, not a bad month at all :)
So any input on my “emotional topic” or any insights on how you recap your months or evaluate your sewing progress? All the best for June and hope you have lots of sewing fun!
I am already looking forward to June – let me just say: QuiltCon planning and two weeks of vacation!
Best wishes
xo Melanie
So far this quarter …
On the FAL list (14)
Finished Projects (1)
Wallet “Grete” No. 2
Inbetween Finishes (1)
Hamburg Pouches
New WIPs (0)
It is always tricky when friends and loved ones ask us to make something for them. I base it on a few things, how interested am I in making the project, how busy am I in life, do I really like the person enough to invest many, many hours in them? I try to make my “no” answers firm, but kind. Sometimes it is “Yes, but with these conditions”. I really never do anything for pay, although I do sometimes accept reimbursement for materials if it is significant. Reimbursement helps them understand costs, otherwise I will just tell them I would like to “gift” it to them. If I don’t take pay, then if they ask about something some other time, it is clearly a favor instead of a business transaction which keeps it more on a personal level. Wishing you fast finishes and then time for things you wish to pursue.
For evaluation purposes, I use lists and trackers. I have a yearly list of the projects I want to work on, then I allocate them by trimester. For each trimester I have a tracker (horizontal for project, vertical for weeks). I mark which weeks I want to work on something. And at the end of the week, I colour the cells that actually did get some work done, so I can see how things progress. Perhaps a project looks stuck, but looking at the tracker I can see I had worked regularly on it, so there is some achievement after all.
(Does this make any sense to you at all?)
All new projects need to fit on this planning ;-)
Hope this helps,
Ariadna.