When Will I Learn to Say "No"?
I've been sewing and making lots of pincushions and quilts the last few years and taking care of my beautiful granddaughters. Mia is now 7 years old and Amanda is 4. Mia has asked me to show her how to sew. The other day when she was over she made three little pillows for her Barbie dolls and sewed together some squares of my leftover fabrics which I finished for her to make a sleeping bag for her Barbie. She was thrilled with the results.
I also became the proud owner of a Pfaff Quilt Sewing Machine which has a large sewing bed so I can quilt some of my own smaller quilts. It also makes it so much easier when I'm making purses to fit them under the bed of the machine, especially when I'm using a stiff interfacing.
Last night I went to quilt group in Jackson and a gal brought a yummy dessert to share. It ended up being very simple to make. It was an Angel Food cake mix, that she made following the directions, except instead of using the water it called for, she substituted a can of cherry pie filling. Low fat too! I'm going to have to try making that soon.
How many unfinished projects do you have in your stack of things to make? Today I tried to make folders for each of the upcoming classes I've signed myself up for, so I would be organized. This is just for the next three months. I made 7 folders. I didn't realize how easy it was for me to not say "No" to a class one of my quilt guilds was sponsoring! I've signed up for a Block of the Month at my local quilt shop. It only lasts for 8 months, but that's a block every month for 8 months. Early February I have a Modern Mystery quilt class I signed up for with my local guild. Then I signed up for another Mystery type of quilt with my Jackson guild, along with a class at the end of February. In March I signed up for a class to turn a picture of a flower into a quilt. Not to mention a challenge quilt at both guilds...one due in April and the other in May.
That doesn't cover the unfinished projects I already have started that are patiently waiting to be completed. I'm working on fabric pages to hold the postcards that I swap with members of a Yahoo group. I've made several pages of the book, but I haven't mounted the fabric postcards on those pages yet. Plus I continue to swap fabric postcards, so that's an ongoing project. Plus I joined a swap for a monthly mixed media journal page. I have an almost finished kaleidoscope quilt I've been trying to finish for about 3 months and a Periwinkle Quilt that is all paper-pieced, but just has to be sewn together. Then there's the snowman tissue holder that needs one more side embroidered in the hoop and put together. And the small landscape quilt challenge that needs to be completed for next month. I still have to find a backing for my step-son's T-shirt quilt and get it quilted...the front has been done for almost a year now. My son's quilt also has to be quilted...that's been done for a year also. I've been working on my son's T-shirt quilt for the last 8 months, but it keeps getting put aside.
I have a teddy bear to make for a friend which is long overdue. My 7-year old granddaughter asked me to make her a princess dress when she was over the other day because she doesn't have any "dress up" clothes here, like her little sister does. And my husband has a pair of blue-jeans he gave me two days ago which he wants shortened.
Did I mention I became President of our local Painting Chapter this year? I've been trying to find a day to schedule a Board meeting. I also work part-time at a quilt shop. That part-time job was supposed to be three days a week, but it's more like four to five days a week. The only day I can be sure I won't work is Sunday because the store has to be closed on Sunday. I love working there. I started that part-time job a little over a year ago. I'm glad I did because the extra income certainly came in handy when my son lost his job and we had to help him through being unemployed. Even when he did have a job, minimum wage doesn't support bare expenses.
Well, I don't have pictures of the projects I've mentioned, but soon I will start completing them and stop complaining about not being able to say "No". Writing it all down has helped me put it all in perspective at least. Now I know why I sometimes feel overwhelmed. I just have to write it all down on a list for myself and cross it off one by one as I finish a project.
I can't say I won't add something to the list before I finish something because I just know that's not me. At my age, I need to keep trying all these things I still have on my "to do" list. After all, I only have about 20 more good years left, if I'm lucky.
