This morning on my walk I was running through a list of things that I’d like to try making, that I SHOULD be making, that I NEED to be making. By the end of my walk I felt totally stressed out—completely negating the experience that I wanted to get out of my early morning exercise! I think I’m going crazy…and not the good kind of crazy, if you know what I mean.
I’m a list-maker. I’ve started a list of everything that I came up with on my walk this morning and this has helped some, but I’m still feeling the pressure. To me, “making” should be enjoyable, relaxing, fulfilling. I can’t even get myself past deciding what to make first!!
I've got about 5 other lists just like this one laying around my house!
I have a question for all you “makers” out there: How do you handle all the jolts of inspiration that you get when reading blogs, sharing project ideas with friends, even just dreaming up cool things on your own? Most importantly, how do you keep yourself from going (too) crazy?
27 Comments
I too make lists but it depends on my mood..crafting is my hobby that I do to relax so I try not to pressure myself and do what makes me happy or before the idea goes out of my head
I keep a moleskine journal of ideas about art I want to make, sometimes with sketches or clippings from magazines. Then when I am in an artistic rut or have no idea what to do, I refer back to my notes for inspiration.
I have a box that I put things in which I want to alter one day, then I have a little file holder thingie on my desk where I stash clippings, notes and sketches, and I have a folder in my email for links to blogs and newsletters.
Organized, yes. Do I ever get around to making any of these things? Um…not so much.
umm….I don’t know I have hundreds of little homemade journals with ideas…they just keep coming….and I just try to keep up….sorta…sometimes…
I keep a notebook with lists, drawings and doodles. I always glue in envelope pockets to my notebooks so I can stick things torn from magazines and catalogs that I find interesting or inspiring.
@ctpublishing I keep a notebook for the ideas then flesh them out when I hit a dry point
via Twitoaster
There are so many things I want to try, experiment with and make, it is very overwhelming at times. The story of my life – so many ideas, not enough time. I keep a small book, it sits on my desk all day and as the ideas come to me I write them down or sketch them out. If I’m not near my book I’ll write it on a post it and then stick it in my book later. Whenever I have a little free time or a new project to start I’ll look through my book for inspiration and ideas. It doesn’t help me with the issue of not having enough time. I’m hoping someone will post a trick here for that.
I love hearing that I’m not alone with the endless lists!
Sue: great idea to glue in the envelope to your notebooks. While it’s simple, I’m sure it gets a lot of use…I’m going to give that a whirl.
I’m with Dawn, when’s someone gonna give away their secret for adding more time in their day? ;)
i keep a running list of thoughts, a kind of ongoing list. but i rarely refer to it. i just write it down so it etches into my mind somewhere. i try to incorporate my momentary inspiration into what ever i am working on. so a current piece might be considered a sampler of thoughts . i switch from project to project when i get bored. new ideas always bring new inspiration and a freshness to what ever i pick up. i found out years ago that all those journals and clippings and notebooks served no practical purpose for me except to stress me out. .. since then i just read things through carefully and then put them away or toss them. every moment is an inspiration and i figure it all sticks in my head somewhere and will come forward into creative action all in good time. and i never worry. and that is how i stay sane.
It depends on where the inspirations come from. When I’m on-line, I print out whatever it is that gets me excited. Magazines get sicky notes and everything else gets jotted down in my little spiral notebook or photographed. THEN I regularly go through it all and either transfer my ideas into my inspiration journal, or save the articles I’ve printed into one of my inspriation notebooks (everything is catagorized so I can find ideas without have to sift through a mish mash of stuff). In my journal I add fabric swatches, photos or samples of new techniques I’m trying out. I love going through the Hancocks of Paducah catalog and cutting out all of the fabrics I absolutely HAVE to have! And to keep sane, I have a rule that I strictly adhere to….finish what I start and don’t start another project until I’m finished with the current one. That’s not to say I won’t be working on a quilt and designing or picking out fabrics for the next one, just that I’m not allowed to actually START the next one until the first one is finished. I have to be strict with myself about this because I used to be just the opposite and I was constantly filled with anxiety because I never knew what I wanted to work on and I’d jump from thing to thing without staying focused. A source of constant frustration!
I don’t! I AM crazy because I’ve got too much I want to do and not enough time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think this is an awesome post topic! I have hundreds of projects I want to do…and I am a list-maker. I don’t let my list stop me from changing my mind or switching projects, though! After all, creating things has to be joyful, not stressful! I start a lot of projects and do end up finishing nearly everything…not always right away, though! It seems like putting my ideas down on paper allows me then to just have fun with my projects…and I’m always free to change my lists and cross things off…because they’re my lists!
Very easy to get over stimulated reading blogs and wanting to do it all! I love quilt books too , find I want to make lots of quilts from books as well or try a new technique and look to my list to see if there is a quilt I could use this new technique for one on my list. (already thinking Jean Wells new book quilt on the cover would make a great background for applique).
I always have a list of quilts I want to make. The list changes constantly but I find the top ten quilts will get made eventually. Sometimes the quilt on a blog is inspiring for the colors /fabrics she use not the actual quilt she made so I will take those color/fabric choices and use it on a quilt I have wanted to make.
Inspiration for me comes in many places not just quilting blogs or quilt books, now I really need to find another day in the week or more hours in a day to be able to make all the quilts I would love to make.
Lists keep me focused as well as a journal with ideas I jot down.
I make lots of lists too, and think that it helps keep me in focus. However, when I feel crazy busy like you do now, I find that the best thing to do is to simply start on something, anything. I will have progress to show for it, and I can always move to projects in a more organized fashion later.
Take my dog for a walk. Clear my head. Let nature calm the soul. Pose the “priority” question….what’s most important to do first. Ask my small group for help. Call a friend. But, most of all….put myself in the moment so I can enjoy what I’m creating now.
If I’ve lose my mojo…..let charity projects tickle me until creativity returns.
wow, what a great subject. I seem to have bookmarks with notes, and I tend to start a lot of projects so I don’t forget them. I pile them on my work area and then go through the pile as I get the inspiration. My new goal is that I can’t start anything until I finish something. It keeps the pile so it isn’t bigger than the house. Blogs are a blessing and a curse. So many wonderful ideas and patterns. I love them all!
Great topic Kristy! I’m with Jude. I write everything down but never really refer back to my notes. Just the process of putting the thought or piece of inspiration into words makes it stick to some degree. The most important “things to do” stay with me, while the weakest ideas fall by the wayside, and the tiny but good tidbits get worked into other things or combine with one another to become something worth remembering. What I forget I don’t worry about. The last thing I want to do is make the fun things in my life a source of stress.
I make little sketches and notes as I am inspired and they stay in a pile on mycomputer desk for awhile. Then I spend a little going through all of them, throw away the ones that don’t interest me any more and put the rest in a more permanent form of sketch in a journal.
Oh yes. My lists are legion! I do tend to use a lot of paper because I will print out a tutorial or a picture that inspires me. If it is single picture I will post it in my journal and then make a few notes. If it really catches my attention, I will make a folder for it. The ideas that won’t leave me alone – or the ones that I have for a specific challenge or swap, etc. – go into a box on my worktable. Recently I started pulling 6 projects from this box as “Goals” for a specified period of time. That way I’ve only got a few projects going at once and I can actually see when I’m making progress! When a project is completed, I’ll go through the box first, then file cabinet and journals, to pick the next one so there are always 6 goals. Mind you, it doesn’t always work! But I have the illusion of being organized and just reviewing the folders can break me out of a slump. And . . . the lists still get made and re-made and pile up way too fast! I think listing is an addiction!
I am a list maker, too. After a list is made of all the projects I want to accomplish, I set a goal for myself to achieve their completion. For instance, I have one baby quilt, cry packs for my son’s wedding, a gift for my sister’s birthday, and a kitchen set for a bridal shower to make on my current list. The time frame involved is what determines what I will work on first. The baby is due the first of August, my sister’s birthday is the middle of July, my son’s wedding is the end of August and the bridal shower is the middle of August. So, the order in which they will be made is birthday gift, baby gift, bridal shower gift, and cry packs for wedding. I like to allow for having each item completed at least one week ahead of the scheduled day to allow time for mailing if necessary. As these are all local and don’t require mailing, I don’t have to worry so much about the deadlines.
This always helps me to get things going in the right direction and to stay on track with finishing projects. Don’t get me wrong, I have a full stack of UFO’s that I will get to eventually.
I also make lists…without them, I would be lost. I write poetry so I keep pad and pencil by my bed to jot down thoughts that do a fly by in my mind during the night…or those “Revelations according to John” when I have to get up in the night to answer natures call. Since I started quilting, those ideas also get jotted down, many times in the middle of the night. No way I would remember them all without my ‘list’.
I have things I’ve started in pizza boxes. Problem is-now I have pizza boxes all over the house! I’ve tried a lot of different things but this is the only one that’s even worked a little for me.
I gave up on Lists, too many lists. i do have piles and bookmarks of Items I want to do/ inspire something. If I buy fabrics with a purpose in mind, I attach a note to the fabricw itht eh purpose and any relavant info. My sewing area is a post tornado disaster. ….
This is a topic I wanted to blog about. My PROBLEM is that I am a strong divergent thinker which means I get ideas by the bushel while at the same time being interested in too many different art forms: metal, fiber, paint and paper and lately altered art forms. On top of it all I have a demanding full time job. I do all the jotting down and at times elaborate on ideas by making sketches, mind-maps and documenting in all sorts of ways in journals and notebooks. I date my items and create headings : idea for this and that. Because I lack extended time and still want to indulge in my creative making muse (not just thinking and inspiration muse) I test out and explore ideas: making swatches and journal pages. What happens is eventually feeling scattered and unfocused, too many small projects that end up feeling like busy work. I began thinking that perhaps I should assemble all my swatches and small art works into bigger pieces to get a feeling of some kind of accomplishment.
I worked with an professional painter at one point who told me that certain well known artists have a series of ongoing projects that are completed over time, in contrast to those who focus on just one idea and get it done. QUILTER BRIDGET seems wise to say stay focused and finish one before you begin the other. I like the nuanced proposed when she says she still indulges in ‘hunting and gathering’ for the next project but does not let herself actually begin making. I think this may suit me just fine. Thank you.
I don’t do lists as such but have a basket i put slips of paper in. When i get stalled on a project i shuffle the basket and pull out a paper. I tend to get bored easily so work on about 6 different pojects at a time, all in different stages. Items do get finished, tho binding is my big back-log. Hate binding!
maggie
One thing I didn’t say about my lists, like Bridget, I only work on one project at a time, other than my block of the month blocks. As far as quilts, I have many projects that I have picked out and purchased fabric for, organized them, bagged them (with pattern to be used) and have them ready to go when I reach for them. I do hold my limit of ‘Projects In Waiting’ to no more than 6. But I never start a new one until my current one is finished…with the exception of the “Prayer Quilt” for a very sick friend that I pushed everything aside for and I will finishe binding that the first of next week and get it to her. Then I will get back to my BOM’s and my current quilt. It is hard to do, but I make myself do it that way. When I first started quilting, I did have 3 projects going at once and was ready to pull my hair out. Then one day I stepped back, chose one and finished it, and so on until I was caught up. I would like to say I won’t ever do that again but of course, you would know that we can never say never!!! One thing about binding Maggie, I can’t do hand needle work any more due to health issues so I do all my bindings by machine. They work very well and I can bind a large quilt in a day if I have the binding strip ready. Even if I could do hand work, I would do my bindings this way.
Thanks everyone!! Sounds like the best thing for me to do is to just get started on something….anything, right? Checking things off the lists seems like it is going to be the most motivating to me. Stay tuned, I’ll keep you posted on my progress :)