I’m currently part of an online book club. We’re reading Refuse to Choose! Use All Of Your Interests, Passions, And Hobbies To Create The Life And Career Of Your Dreams by Barbara Sher and doing the exercises in every chapter. When I did the Living Quarters Map of my studio, I discovered that I have at least eighty projects underway. Seventeen of them are quilts. I have realized that if I really want to finish more things, then I need to be planning more.

In Chapter 3, the importance of scheduling was mentioned. I know from experience that making a plan can increase my productivity. The year I gave myself a reading challenge, I read many more books than normal. In the same vein, I am choosing which quilts to work on first. I want to get the maple leaf quilt finished this year, preferably in time for fall, and I still need to practice my machine quilting before I finish it. That put the car quilt on the top of my list. It is finally pin-basted and ready to quilt.

During my inventory, I re-discovered Purple Enough, a quilt I started at least twenty years ago. This quilt of wonky stars was my response to a purple and yellow color study I did that wound up being not purple enough for me. It’s a twin-sized quilt that I intended to use on quilting retreats. Since I have a writing retreat in May, I’m going to work to have it ready for that. Unfortunately, it needs borders to get it to the right size, but that shouldn’t take too long to do.

I am still working on my English paper piecing as well. I haven’t made up my mind about what I want to do for my bed-sized scrappy quilt, so I’m sewing together flowers without doing much planning. I’m loving the hand-sewing that goes with this because I can do it when I’m too tired for other things, which is fairly often. I do know that I want to get this piece squared off so I can turn it into something. A pillow? A cover for the back of my chair? Something. Time will tell.

Having a plan is helping me to focus and get moving. It’s easy to think “I want to sew” but with so many projects to pick from, having priorities is essential. Otherwise I would just open box after box trying to figure out what to do. Identifying which projects to work on and what their next steps are is helping me to move forward.

Do you schedule your creative projects? Why or why not?