There are a very few people who are “One project at a time until it is Complete” stitchers – I don’t understand these people except that they are still new stitchers, the Stitching Demon inside them hasn’t been let loose, or they are extremely disciplined. Most of us have tried some type of “rotation stitching” – stitching several projects at a time, rotating them according to some predetermined rules, guidelines, deadlines, or whatever is screaming the loudest at you. I believe all stitchers wish they could get more done, no matter how many projects they complete each week or month.
I also believe that stitching is more fun when done together with other stitchers, whether in person [that’s why our Stitch-Ins, Retreats, and other Special Events are so well attended] or in spirit [that’s why stitching blogs and shop newsletters/email are so popular]. Most of us live with at least one “Non-Stitcher” who just doesn’t understand our need to have a needle moving a lot or most of the time. As my brother asked me the last time I was visiting his family at their house, “Do you and Mom ever not do that?” “Can’t you just sit and watch TV & relax? I pondered his question for a moment and answered his first question, “Not if we can help it”. He doesn’t understand how relaxing and what a release it is to just make x’s.
With a new year approaching, I’ve been thinking about some type of year-long “event” you can all participate in with me. I’ve decided to take “Tonia’s Rotation Method” and adapt it to a 2010 Needle Delights Stitch-A-Long. Basically, you take your pick of a single project or group of projects (months, seasons, sets, etc), break it down into 12 parts or patterns and take a year to complete it. For example, Tonia’s project for 2009 has been Houses of Hawk Run Hollow from Carriage House Samplings. It has twelve Houses/Blocks and she started in on January 1st and stitched on it exclusively until the first area was complete. She then put it aside and worked on other projects until February 1st. She picked it up again and stitched the 2nd area until it was complete and then had several weeks left in February to work on other pieces until March 1st when it was again time to pick up the Houses. She continued working on this piece using this “Monthly Method” until November when she didn’t pick it up again because she had started a large Christmas gift which she is still working on. I asked her if she’d missed a month or not completed any within a month and she said no. That means she only has two blocks left and she’ll get back to them as soon as her Christmas stuff is done. The moral of this story for Tonia is she would have had her Christmas stuff done sooner if she’d stitched it earlier in the year. However, she is almost done with a LARGE project and has completed a lot of smaller projects as well.
As an aside, Tonia originally started this method of stitching a large piece because she had never stitched anything so big and was intimidated by the size of the piece. It seemed less daunting to just stitch one square at a time. Some of you may feel the same way or think they could never get a whole series done – it’s all just one “X” at a time.
Needle Delights is hosting its first Stitch-In on Friday, January 1st, 2010 to get this Stitch-A-Long started. The party will be from 1-5 to register your Stitch-A-Long project and start stitching on it. Unlike most rotation methods where you choose a bunch of UFOs or WIPs (unfinished objects or Works in Progress), this Stitch-A-Long will require you to start a new project (the Stitcher inside me says Wahoo!). You don’t necessarily have to buy something new – most of us already have something in our stash to easily qualify for this Stitch-A-Long. Some ideas are:
· Any of the Hawk Run series from Carriage House
· Any of the Monthly Flip-It series from Lizzie Kate
· Any of the 12 month series of Threadpacks from Little House Needleworks, Country Cottages & Crescent Colours
· Needle Delights Originals “Color Delights” series
· Gleneagle from Jean Hilton (needlepoint piece with 12 blocks)
· 12 Days of Christmas from Victoria Sampler (this is what I’m going to do)
· Any of the monthly series from Just Another Button Company (Tonia actually did these in 2007 along with the Villages of Hawk Run Hollow – two Monthlies every month!)
· A Christmas ornament series
· Whatever other large project you can break into fairly equal parts of 12
Membership in the Needle Delights 2010 SAL Club is free and you can join whether you are local or far away. Timely completion of your monthly project will earn you some small surprise goodie from me each month. Just bring in your project when it’s complete or email me a photo and get your goodie at the beginning of the next month. At the end of the year, I’ll award a great prize to all of you who complete your project every month and you’ll also have a great Completed Project!
You may be asking at this point, “What happens if I don’t finish something one month?” We don’t kick you out of the Club, you just move onto the next part the first of the next month and then catch up when you can – that way you never fall too far behind and give up! You’ll also always be doing whatever is current and hopefully will stay motivated. You’ll also be able to still earn the goodies each month except for the month you don’t finish.
I’ve personally never tried using this method myself so will share my story with you through the year – Tonia says she knows it will work and I’m hoping it will for me too. Of course, now that I’ve decided what I want to start, I am having an extremely difficult time not starting it. Instead, I’m trying to finish a few projects I’ve started in the last two years that I’d really like to have complete! It’s a real challenge for me as well – maybe we’ll work on conquering some UFOs next year or slot a few in here and there this year!
I hope you’ll join the ND SAL club – just send me an email if you’re interested or have any questions. We’re also now taking reservations for the New Year’s Day party – we’ll be doing finger “football” foods since a lot of people stay home and watch football on New Years Day. You can register & start your project at the party or send the info in an email.
