Project #30 ...TBD

I have been so busy the past week and a half, my projects have not been glamorous, several days were spent filling Etsy orders, others working on projects in 'the pile' of items that need to be fixed, some just spent making more fun things...  

Like this Frozen hairbow set...

I have learned a lot about the way I work over the past month and my own creative process. 

1.  It is hard to churn out a project I don't feel excited or inspired about.  Sometimes I get stuck in one spot with a project and just can't get from point a to point b in my head.  This is a problem!  Then the project gets put down and forgotten about. :/

2.   I am full capable of working off patterns but my best work, I feel, is done from my head.  If I can envision it in my mind, I can get it down into a medium I am usually happy with.  Sometimes getting from that vision/idea stage to the mental pattern making takes time, and I have known for a some time that I can not rush that creative process!  I have spent hours sitting in my workspace staring at fabric, not sure where to start, then the next day the lightbulb goes on and in half an hour I have exactly what I wanted.  I can only imagine that's what it can be like for writers...

3.  I forget things.  Like posting pictures.  After I edited them and everything...  My apologies.  

4.  Believe it or not, I have a handful of *really* good projects in my head that just can not be done in one day. They just can't.  To try would be an injustice to the project, not to mention would mean neglecting all the daily things I have going on here, and boy is there a LOT!  I am looking forward to working on these in the coming weeks, each one will be using up a large amount of fabric on hand so I'm really excited about that!   

5.  My biggest disappointment this month is this right here:  

This cream and navy polkadot fabric is smocked and ready, waiting to be made into a little handbag, but I could NOT find purse handles anywhere here!  What I envisioned in my head just was not what I was finding in the store so instead of turning it into something I am not happy with, I will keep looking to find the right thing. 

6.  My daughter asked to learn to sew.  There are no words for how happy I was to see her fall in love with my Singer...she has a steady foot, that one does!  ")   The fabric bookmark was a perfect started project for her.  It covered measuring, cutting, ironing, pinning, different stitches, and how to add things like ribbon.  She loves it so much, she made one as a gift. Does it get better than that??  

7. I want to make another full size quilt.  I have no idea how or when, but this is now at the top part of my 'want to do' list!

8.  With the exception of the fat quarters for the caterpillar and the ribbon for the bows, everything else for the projects was from my stash.  The fabric & ribbon came to $16, thanks to Daffodil Dash and coupons at JoAnn's.  Gotta love a sale!   

9.  Henry the snake is awesomely cool.  He is a favorite in our house now. 

10.  Challenging myself to see things I already have in an 'outside the box' way has really given me a lot of ideas on how I can continue to best use what I have on hand.  Fresh perspective is always a nice thing to get. ")

Stay tuned, I will continue to share the projects as I go along, though at a slightly slower pace with bigger projects to tackle!