Operation Organization: Keeping Track, Keeping Motivated

On thing that I have learned in more than 10 years as a military wife, is that life is easier with organization and order. It has actually become something I am known for among my friends and colleagues. Lists, notes, journals and more. Does that mean that my house is an organized and well running machine - no, I'm only human, and in fact as I write this, a pile of dishes silently stares at me waiting to be loaded into dishwasher and my son's school uniform for picture day tomorrow is still sitting in front of the washing machine, but being organized does make it quicker when I do face the most dreaded of household tasks.

Lists, charts and timelines are something I thrive on most. Sure I've shown you stacks of carefully cataloged boxes and bins, but really the important part is the list that tells me what is in those containers and where I am on the projects.

Last year a fellow crafter asked me for the project worksheet that I'd made in 2007 or 2008 during one of my husband's deployments. I updated it last year to reflect The Teacup Collector's Cottage, now that I chronicle my creative adventures here.

Since we've spent some time talking about organization lately I thought I'd share with you my simple little project organizer.

Its no secret that I juggle what feels like 700 ongoing projects. At home, work, and with my son's school, I am a start-to-finish type person, so to be able to set something down and start something new is a bit of a vacation. There is no deadline really, unless I impose one like the Quiltsmart Round Robin.

Ultimately, when it comes to creative projects, I like the worksheet because some projects can make you feel like you are spinning your wheels and getting nowhere, but having notes to track progress can put things in perspective.

What do you do to keep motivated on long projects?

Until our next cup of tea ...



Operation Organization: Keeping Up with Quilting and More

As a military family, organization is important. As a crafter, organization is important. As a mom, organization is important. Basically, organization is important. 

When the Army brought my son and I home, while my husband spent a year overseas, I had to chance to unpack and organize at my leisure. That included my creative area and office.  

In Miami, I'd started to get organized and had a variety of boxes that I'd purchased as I organized my craft room there. It was so easy to sort my creative supplies and tools into these easy to stack boxes. I loved them especially, because I could open them through the snap fronts. That was quite helpful once we moved here and they found a home at the top of the closet.  

Once we moved, I had more space and I started to get more and more supplies, mostly from friends who pass stuff along to me. When my husband returned after a year overseas, he started law school and I had moved to a job that allowed me to work from home. Since there was less travel and Iwas able to keep up with housework that when I was juggling a job where I traveled, worked odd hours and kept up with a toddler.

I was exploring a sale at The Container Store after a lunch meeting one day and found these sturdy, deep boxes and being pink certainly was a bonus! The blue boxes were perfect for organizing The Lil Monkey's art that comes home from school. (I have plans for that later.) 

When I started the "A Year of Quiltsmart" Project, I knew I needed to find a way to organize my rotating projects (really, who does one at a time?) and my Quiltsmart interfacing and panels. By this time I'd visited The Container Store a few times, and had discovered their clear plastic shoe boxes in varying sizes. Once a month I had a lunch meeting nearby and would head over to grab a few, and before I knew it, I had all my projects organized, each in their own container. 

The boxes were also the perfect size for extra unpackaged interfacing. Whenever I want to work on a project, I can grab a box, which has all the fabric, interfacing and pattern or notes. I can get started with a project within minutes. I also found these small scrapbook boxes that I use for smaller projects. I have been using the larger ones for scrapbook, but have only found the small ones recently.

Keeping myself organized has definitely made my limited craft time more efficient. Living a businy life doesn't mean that I can't have a little down time, I'd just rather spent it doing a project than trying to find all the parts to one. When I started the "A Year of Quiltsmart" project in August I knew that I needed an organized method because inspiration can hit at any moment and who wants to waste timedigging  for stuff you think you might have, when you can reach for it and be started in minutes. 

   

Until our next cup of tea ...

Operation Organization: Cross Stitch Corner

I learned to cross stitch at the age of 5, when a friend of my mother's taught me that summer. We'd spent a lot of time with her and her sons. I was the only girl in the group of kids, so I was either left or wandered off because I really wasn't interested in what the boys were doing.

I stuck with it through high school and even into college. Cross stitching was definitely what helped me keep my sanity through my husband's yearlong deployments. So many projects were created through those 3 deployments.

It wasn't until 4 years ago that I realized I had an organization problem. I was 7 to 8 months pregnant and the Army had just moved us from Georgia to Florida, our 3rd Army move in his career, but that did not count the 7 moves since I graduated high school, or was it 8?

Anyway, each move half finished projects, or even finished projects that had to be sewn or framed into its completed form, were boxes up and shipped along with all of our household goods to our new home. In some cases it only took days to get a house, in some it was weeks. In that time, I'd usually picked up another project at the locate craft store to keep me from going stir crazy in a hotel room in a new city with a grumpy bulldog. (To be fair, he was not grumpy if I just sat and let him lay on top of me, it was all this getting up and going places that did not include food that he was against.)

So my hesitance to start exploring while the dear hubby was at work, gave me plenty of time to stitch. When the Army moved us to Homestead, Florida (South Miami), I was nearly 8 months pregnant, hoping that we'd be able to get the house put together enough to bring home a new baby. So the kitchen, bathroom, and our bedroom were the primary focus. We were lucky, and I guess smart, because as soon as we learned where the Army would be moving us, we changed our baby registries to have all the of gifts not mailed, delivered to the local stores. It was like Christmas walking in and coming out with carts full of baby stuff that we 1.) didn't have to pay for and 2.) didn't have to unpack from the stacks of boxes that were sitting in our new house at the time. When you spend enough time in the Army you learn to always to looking ahead to the next move!

After we brought home The Lil Monkey, we slowly started to turn the 4th room into a craft room, the first time I'd ever had one (it only took 32 years!) The Christmas before he was born, my husband had surprised me with a sewing machine. So those last two months of pregnancy it was hard to focus on unpacking when I had that pretty new machine sitting there.

As I unpacked I'd realized that over the years, many of my half stitched projects had been boxed up for a move and then set aside when we unpacked because I had already started new ones in the interim. Since I was a serial project starter anyway and had rotated projects to keep me from getting bored, there were a lot. I knew that with a new baby, life had to get organized really quickly if I was to keep crafting. So that's where Operation Organization began.

When it came to stitching, the solution was simple. I needed something that allowed me to keep everything I needed for a project together, and that's when "The Box" came  to our house.

The box has changed over the years, just like the "craft bag" where I keep current projects for grab and go moments. Now it is a bright pink canvas basket, but the organization of its contents are the same.

Each cross stitch (or embroidery) project is put into its own zipper plastic bag. It contains the fabric and all of the floss needed to complete the project as well as with the original or copy of the pattern. I mostly use copies so I can highlight the finished sections as I go, but small or quick patterns may have the original. They are not really put in any order throughout the year, though at the end of each year, when I sort through and update my WIP (Works in Progress) list I usually put them back with larger in the back, smaller in the front. Throughout the year it gets rearranged with stuff I am pausing work on going in the front.

Each bag that is in the "working" rotation usually has a needle and hoop in it. I have a few pairs of scissors and even nail clippers that I use to cut with and those are usually in the bag as well. (I use nail clippers if I am taking a project in the car or on a plane for safety reasons and because sometimes TSA will not let you take scissors on a plane.

In the front of the box is also the stack of finished projects that need to be completed as a wall hanging or some sort of sewn project.

Since I mostly wind my floss on bobbins to prevent tangling, I also have a bag of floss that is unwound, so that if I am watching TV or at a sports practice I can take it and wind them at my leisure.

This year, I have the smallest amount of WIPs that I can remember in a long. My list this year includes ...

Finished Projects to Be Sewn or Framed:

• Rejoice Wreath
• White Heart (on pink)

Projects to be Stitched:

• Christmas Bells Bread Cloth
• Roll Poly Santa's
• Easter Bunny - mom
• Easter Bunny - me
• Love Honor Cherish
• Blanket with Jamie's initials
• Army Seal
• Good Night Moon blanket
• Red, White and Blue Ribbon
• Watermelon Towel
• Monthly Christmas SAL
• Witch Hat
• key bookmark
• Candy Cane Towel
• Daisy Tabletopper
• Jamie's Christmas Stocking

I'll create a Projects List with link at the top of the blog to help keep track. Tomorrow, I'll post organization tips for quilting and other crafting.

Until our next cup of tea ...

Operation Organization: Taking Back My Workspace

Sunday was a productive day, at least on the craft side of things. I cleaned and organized the extra room which serves as hubby's office, my office, craft room and thanks to a bad attitude by our resident 4-year-old, storage for confiscated toys. 

It was a bit of bad timing actually. Shortly after I pulled all of my craft projects out of the far corner of the room and created a desk using some inherited side tables, the lovable but stubborn junior resident in the house had a HUGE meltdown over being asked to clean up the toys in the play area and Daddy boxed it all up and put it in the spot where the side tables had been - which is where I was planning to put the shelf and craft project boxes. 

So for the past few months, I have had all my working craft projects - quilting, cross stitch, etc. - on the floor next to the desk with the sewing machine. It was definitely cramped working space this summer, but yesterday Monkey spent the day with the grandparents and hubby had to get some homework done for law school. 

That means I had a few hours of "me time"!! So I decided that if I was going to move forward with the list of half-finished projects.

 

 

We'll lately, we'd also noticed that our son was a toy-ninja, sneaking into the office and scampering off with toys from the punishment pile when we weren't in there. He was like a squirrel hoarding nuts for the winter - only it was toys under his bed.

 

You see that pile against the wall with the blue bin and other toys in a pile? When I got around to cleaning Sunday, it was only that blue bin left, and it was merely half full. Well, at least I know what toys I can get rid of without causing a big fight.

 

So, I sorted through the pile (in the front right) which was the creative stuff - quilting, cross stitch, scrapbook, etc. I got the individual quilting projects and all their fabrics and notions each in their own little bin (I love the Container Store!). Each cross stitch project was each put in a bag with all its floss and necessities and gathered in one large canvas bin (which was pink and on clearance for 70% off a few months ago.)

 

Then after sorting though all the stuff my mom like to "give me", meaning stuff she has and doesn't want, my creative work space was back in order and I spent a little playing and enjoying the new look.

 

 

Well, not that has made me want to go play in my fresh new workspace, so if you need me, I'll be in that chair on the right!

 

Until our next cup of tea,