Can you tell me where the "off" switch is?

So yeah... haven't done any significant work in the basement since January. And I keep getting Awesome Ideas that make me want to do things that are not, you know, work. It's really bugging me, but so much needs to get done that it's a little paralyzing. Just when I think I'm getting a handle on things, stuff comes up and... yeah... *sigh*

The UFOs that are always (always!) nagging at the back of my head, two of them finally kicked me hard enough to work on them. Our stairway has two walls covered with photos and art. One side is all family photos, and I have quite a few of my family up there, but not nearly as many of my husband's family. I finally dug around through all my files and found photos of his grandparents and wedding photos of his sisters. I'm going to surprise him, and get those framed and on the wall (tomorrow, while he's at work). The other project is one for me, with an affirmational sort of message that I had no idea how to make happen. I think I finally figured it out, though, so today when I go pick up the frames for the other project, I can get what I need for that one, too.

That empty wall to the left? That's where his family should be, and will be soon.

Getting things done usually provides some impetus to get more things done. I'm hoping that works again here, because seriously, the basement has become my nemesis...

We were watching Carvers on SfFy, and one of the guys said his partner had creative diarrhea. My husband commented that he wished he had creative diarrhea, then looked at me and said "you kind of do." First of all, that's horrible imagery. Secondly, it ain't all it's cracked up to be. (See: huge piles of unfinished projects, things I might want later, and current works in progress.) Case in point: I read an article about making miniature books in Easter eggs and my brain switched into hyperdrive. (I'll be posting pics of that project later...)

Another Completed Project!

Yaaaaaaaaayyyy!

At the same Bead & Button show I bought materials to make a Hallowe'en necklace, I bought some other things. One of them was this pretty little raku pendant with some gorgeous purple and blues in it. The back is stamped "Rama" but I can't find the cards I grabbed from the vendors so I'm not sure if it's the same Rama that's from Olympia, Washington or not, if Rama is even the name of the business, or if they're still in business...

ANYway, back in August/September when I attacked the basement, I bought a bunch of little storage containers to keep pieces bought for specific projects together. Yesterday, I decided I was going to finish one of them.

I had originally made loops in the necklace that the ribbon fed through, but decided I didn't like the way it looked, so I restrung it, and left the ribbon mostly loose. It's attached at two points at the top, and goes through the beaded loop that I used to attach the pendant.

I'm pleased with the colors, loving purple as I do, but I suppose that the beads of the necklace could be a bit smaller so they don't overwhelm the pendant. I'm going to live with it as-is for now, and if it truly bugs me then I can do something that will draw more attention to the pendant. But considering that this project has gone unfinished for probably close to a decade, I'm quite happy with the fact that I have something that's wearable after all this time.

This also gives me validation for the work I put into organization. I was able to go straight to where the bits were, grab the little container and get to work, and finish a UFO once and for all. If I could consistently do that once a week, I'd have a lot less stress about the whole thing... Now, I should add, one of the reasons for some of these UFOs is because they stalled in the process. Somewhere I got derailed -- I couldn't find the "something" it needed, I wasn't happy with the direction it was heading, I didn't have the skill set to do what I wanted... For this necklace, it was as simple as restringing it to remove the loops that I just wasn't satisfied with. With a little luck, I'll be able to finish some more this way.

Not Even Cold Enough

Goofy weather; I finally got an old project completed, and it's not even cold enough to wear it.

When my daughter was a toddler, I bought a pattern, material and thread to make a poncho. The fleece fabric was clearanced, and I just fell in love with it. My daughter is now 15.

Our old house was small, and so in an attempt to make more space, my material got put into one of those Space Bags. Clever me, I even thought to put the pattern envelope, front facing out, in with it, along with sequins I had bought to embellish it and the thread in a small margarine container. Once the air was sucked out, I had a much smaller project, and everything was in one place.

Now that I've gotten more comfortable with the sewing machine, I rediscovered that shrink-wrapped decade-old project and finished it! Huzzah! Thursday night I cut out the pieces, Friday I sewed it up, and this morning I added the darts I should have put in to begin with.

I used Butterick #3649 (©2002, looks like it's out of print), view A, but modified it. The 60" material I bought had a wide border, and that was what I wanted. That view had two pattern pieces, one diamond-shaped front piece, and a triangular back piece (cut two). Bah. That wouldn't have used the border to its full potential, so I cut four triangles, carefully getting a chevron for the front and back, but the chevrons do not match. I would have needed another yard (at least) to do that.

It's a smaller poncho than I typically prefer, but it's probably a better size for me to wear so that I don't look like I'm dwarfed by it. And, after looking at it, and playing with the sequins, I decided not to use them after all. The border pattern is busy enough that it probably doesn't really need anything else. I have a ton of the upper half of the fabric to make a shirt or something, since I only used the border edge, and enough of the border pieces to make a hat, I think.

Fast & Easy: yes it was
Views C & D are basically, "Hem the edge of a huge rectangle,
sew on these leaves (C) or this fake fur (D)." For that, you need a pattern?!

Front and back, respectively. The little pink flowers on the maroon field is what the rest of the material looks like.

Totally do not match, but I can live with it, because my chevrons
line up pretty well in front and back views.

Detail of the darts I added this morning.

I also added some detail to a beret I made on Wednesday, using some wonderful rose-patterned fleece I bought that I didn't know what I wanted it for at the time. I cut out a rose and appliquéd it to the top, quilting it somewhat with a scrap of fleece stitched between my appliqué and the crown of the beret. I also knotted some embroidery thread as stamens for a little more dimension.

So now I have this awesome finished project, and it's supposed to get up to 42ºF (5.5ºC). Hell, that warm in January in this part of the Midwest, it's practically shorts weather! (Why is it that 40º in January is so much warmer than 40º in June? Isn't that a bizarre perception shift?) I suppose I could wear the poncho over a t-shirt... But not with the hat. I have a tiny bit more fashion sense than that. (The colors totally clash. Non-matching patterns don't phase me at all.)

Chipping Away

I had the thought this morning, that if I could finish one project-in-progress a week, I could maybe, maybe, get caught up to the point where I didn't feel overwhelmed by everything. I could feel productive, work on new projects guilt-free, and have that sense of accomplishment that has been missing lately.

I want to start writing again, and because of the many many things racing around in my head -- ideas, thoughts, images, textures... -- I'm too distracted to do so. If I could chip away at the WIPs and the UFOs, it might allow me some breathing room. in my head (if you'll pardon the clumsy phrasing) to do some other creative work.

With that in mind, I decided to repair one of my daughter's threadbare blankets, that was coming apart at the edges. It's a quilted crib blanket my mother made for her, but the edges needed repaired. I bought bias tape, but wasn't happy with that, so I got some satin blanket binding and used that. This should be a simple and quick thing I can finish, before moving on to more work on the basement... HA! I had more trouble with that thing. The stitches are a mess, I had to rethread the machine several times, changed the needle, etc. etc. I'm confident that it was user error, not the machine. It seems to be working fine on material that's not got batting in it. However, I did get the binding on the blanket, even if it isn't pretty, and now she can have it back.

No more sewing for me today. Shoveling and sorting through piles of miscellaneous stuff will be like a vacation after the last hour + I spent fighting with this thing...

Organization

It's really the bane of the creative mind, isn't it? Inspiration strikes and a mess is born. Or maybe that's just me... I like to work on small things at my desk, because that's where my computer is, and where I reference ideas, chat with friends, and obsessively check my email. My desk is a disaster.

For Christmas a couple years ago, my husband and mother-in-law got me two incredibly useful things: a sewing table and a drafting table. The sewing table meant I could have a dedicated place for my sewing machine, which would mean I could actually use it -- and I have! The drafting table meant that I could work on a nice clean surface on a variety of projects and not work at my desk. That hasn't quite happened, even though all my art supplies are in the basement, I still haul everything upstairs and clutter up the main floor to work on things at or near my computer. My wonderful husband also got me a small netbook that would be perfect for using at the drafting table. I could still access all the things I need to from there, and I would have a much larger space to work on with the table than I do at my desk.

Currently, the basement is a much larger-scale version of my desk: random stuff everywhere. I've been working on the basement, trying to get it unpacked and finished at long last, after having been in the house for three summers now. For some horrible reason, since childhood, my method or cleaning up a space has consisted of making a much (much) larger mess, sorting it all out, and eventually putting it all away. That's sort of what's happening downstairs. I have to see what-all I have before I can figure out where it needs to go. Plus, there's a ton of stuff down there that either needs to be pitched or given to charity. (Trash day is Monday, and I am motivated.)

We had to replace the furnace yesterday, because the circuit board that runs the blower (which the air conditioner needs to work) failed. Fortunately, we found this out before it was -20º and after our wretchedly hot July. The space where the installers were working is where I store all my stuff. I had to move things out of their way so they could work. This morning, I worked on getting things put back, as well as organizing a little as I went. I found a small pouch that had things in it I'd stashed for safety (fragile components for necklaces that haven't yet happened) as well as a sandwich bag full of more beads and more unfinished jewelry pieces I've been sitting on for ages, because I didn't quite have what I wanted for them.

I've been trying to find the best way of organizing various UFOs* so that I could lay hands on them easily. Want to work on the Jacket Project? No problem, here's all the stuff for that. Find a component that would be perfect for that purple necklace? Here's the rest of the pieces. I do have some of that done. There are boxes for the Jacket Project, and there's one for the Christmas granny squares I want to make, one one for the altered book I want to get back to, but there's so many little projects, like the necklaces, that really need smaller storage. I'm thinking that a small parts organizer -- one of those things like for holding screws and washers and whatnot in the garage -- would be perfect. The little drawers could be easily labeled with what's in it, and a lot of related things could be stored together without getting jumbled up.

From Harbor Freight

If I had something like that (above) not only would it hold individual projects, but also a great deal of my beads... maybe even all of them (well, ok, most), and tools in the larger drawer. Having all (most) the beads in one place would certainly simplify my storage, which is currently pretty scattered and non-uniform. I think I could also rig it to hang on the wall, and that would be perfect.

At any rate, I have some ideas which should make my life easier and undoubtedly my husband happier, since it means that all my crap won't be scattered everywhere. Imagine the creativity that could flow if I could actually lay my hands on the stuff I know I've got but can't find! The mind boggles...

*UnFinishedObject

What I'm Working On

At any given moment, I have tons of UFOs (UnFinished Objects), but really -- doesn't every creative person? I'm not sure what it is, but I have a dreadful habit of bouncing between projects. Inspiration strikes, and I drop one thing to start another.

This summer has been kind of a rough one. I had some health issues that put me in the hospital after ER visits. My daughter didn't have summer school this year, so we've been sort of on top of each other. Stress levels (which may have contributed to the health concerns) have been pretty high, and to make things worse, my anticipated summer trip to Ontario disintegrated, in part due to those same health issues.

But what, you might ask, does that have to do with projects and UFOs? Well, earlier this month during a visit to my parents' home while Dad's sis was up, we got to talking about family history. When I got back home, I dug out a CD of scanned genealogy notes, sent to me by someone who's probably a cousin somewhere. I'd printed out maybe a quarter of them, and I finished (yay!) that, and comb-bound them. Once that was done, I started inputting that info into my genealogy program (Reunion), in a new family file, since I'm not sure where all these people connect. As I'm working on all this data entry, some familiar places keep popping up; these Loyalist cousins (at least, I think they're cousins...) were settled near where my friends live in Ontario! And there's a museum with researchers who know the line. So now my desire to get back to Canada is even stronger, since now there may be some research links there, and I might be able to tie myself to the original family that emigrated from Germany, pre-Revolution! But that's not creative, you may say, and I suppose you'd be right. "Creative" research is not the sort you should engage in. So even if it's not a creative endeavor, it IS a work-in-progress, so I mention it here.

Another semi-(un)creative project is my selective catalog of superheroines and villainesses; I've made it to the Rs. For someone who hates data entry, I sure have a bunch of it going on. Anyway, the point of that started out to be a more inclusive list of female action figures than the best one that existed online previously. The writer of that list stopped updating it (life goes on) and I thought I'd pick up the slack. But I went a step further and included the good and bad girls of note, regardless of whether they have an action figure. Why? Because I'm insane, clearly...

I still haven't finished my Flame Jacket, and all that needs doing to it is putting on the sequin appliqués. It's been sitting on Mathilda in the basement for months... *sigh* And if I'm going up to Ontario this fall, I might actually want a jacket. Better move this one to the top of the To-Do list.

I did finish one of the skirts, and am happy with how it turned out. I started working on a second, but stalled on that one. Hemming the dress is probably the easiest thing to finish, and if I hurry up and do it, I'll be able to wear it this summer. (Heaven knows it's been too bloody hot for long dresses!) I mostly finished one of the shrugs, I just need to get the right color of ribbon for the tie. (And that's another thing that's been sitting for ages, and would be so easy to finish!)

I sort of finished the t-shirt necklace, but I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with it, so it may not be finished. It's set to the side, while I consider.

I have a wall quilt planned and material purchased for the foyer. I have decided how I want to do the wall quilt with the Hawaiian fabric I bought on Maui (5 years ago...). And I want to make a wall quilt using material from my wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses (Mom made them, so I have scrap material from those, will not be cutting up my dress).

I want to finish redoing my closets, but I need to consider the second space carefully, since I learned things on the first space. This is a more back-burner project, although fall is a good time to be working in the garage.

I've sort of taken the year off after the gallery where Shattered Photos pieces were sold closed. I'm trying to regroup, and haven't been very diligent about picking myself up from that and moving on.

I need to do a revised edition of my book, and that's sort of stalled, too. Really, all that needs revision is one (important) chapter, but I'm having trouble getting started. I'd also like to do a new/revised family cookbook, since so many children have gotten married and started their own families since I did the first one 12 years ago. Those two things go hand-in-hand, or would, if I could jump-start the process.

Plus there's various other small things, ideas, planned projects, etc. I have materials to make various things with, and haven't gotten started... Not to mention the basement, which is one huge UFO -- have the paint and the plan, need to finish reorganizing the space (still not completely unpacked from the move 2 years ago).

I'm exhausted thinking about all this. Maybe I'll go take a nap...

UFOs

UFOs... the bane of my existence. UnFinished Objects are all  over the house. They're in boxes in the basement, in pieces all over everywhere, mocking me. How often do I start something, all gung-ho, only to get bored/disgusted/distracted/stuck with a project? Sometimes it's that I just don't know how I want to finish it. Sometimes I know what I want and can't find some elusive something I think I must have. Other times, I run out of time finishing a seasonal thing, and shelve it for next year (theoretically).

A couple days ago, I picked up an oldish crochet project that I keep meaning to finish. And I need to hurry it up if I'll get to use it this season: it's an openwork poncho sort of thing, and if I don't get it in gear, it'll be next year before I can wear it. The front and back pieces are finished, and I've stitched the shoulders together, but I think I need to make the neck hole smaller, since it's pretty ginormous at the moment. Then comes the fun part: adding the fringe. Miles of different textures and fibers, all in rusty autumn shades (another reason I need to get it finished). I hope I can make what I see in my head come to life in the yarn. There's only one way to find out...

Will post a pic when I get it finished, hopefully in a day or so. (Don't hold me to that!)