What Will You Make?

I’ve run into a dilemma, which I’m sure many of you probably struggle with, too. There are way too many thoughts, ideas and projects that I’ve dreamed up running through my head than I’ll ever have time to implement or create. They flit about, entering and leaving at their own will, leaving me with a sense of unease and anxiety, always feeling like there is something I’m forgetting or leaving undone.

How do I deal with this? Well, here are some tactics that have helped me:

1)         Always have a notebook handy. Tiny ones for the purse, medium sized ones next to the bed (for those 2:00 am brilliant ideas), a larger one in the sewing/craft room/area. That way, when an great idea or inspiration pops into your head, you can jot it down for further reference.

2)         Don’t forget to use your mobile phone camera. See a beautiful collection of flowers? Snap a photo, those colors may work their way into a quilt in the future! See a particularly interesting piece of architecture? Another photo… those shapes would look great appliquéd onto those cushion covers you are making. See a particularly beautiful sunset or enjoying the moodiness of an evening fog? Snap some photos. Inspiration can be found anywhere!

3)         When its time to start a new project, revisit your “ideas”. You’ll see that some of them were very fleeting, and you won’t remember what was so special about them. Others will strike you as divinely inspired, and you will know that they are worth developing into a fully realized project. This way, all those random thoughts and ideas will have been filed and aged to perfection without them running through your head for days (or longer). You can give your mind a rest, knowing they have been archived for future reference.

Working with a continuous inflow of beautiful fabrics and inspiring patterns, as we do here at Sew Hot, constantly challenges the thought and idea process. Every time we get a new shipment, the idea muse decides to set up camp  in the caverns of my mind and it’s easy to overload with new project ideas. All those new colors and patterns and fabrics are sometimes just too much, and because of the over stimulation indecision settles in and nothing gets done.

For example – I would LOVE to show you a photograph of a nifty little project Rebecca and I dreamed up for our newly arrived Chalkboard Fabric by Camelot Cottons. But, alas, Rebecca has been busy sewing the Phoebe stuffed elephant toy to use as a sample for the new kit we’re going to offer, and I have been bogged down with writing projects for Sew Hot and some other non-website related creative projects.

I would love to show you how creative we were, dreaming up ideas on how to make a hanging fabric “chalk-board” for a child’s room or your craft room, or alternately, sew in some magnet strips and you can use it on your refrigerator. In our conversation, we mentally imagined the pretty fabrics and coordinating trims we could use on the borders for these. But as of right now, these are just notes in our notebooks, waiting to be rediscovered some day.

I would like to challenge you to think about new ideas for future projects … What would YOU make with the Chalkboard Fabric? Hmm, sounds like an opportunity to have another drawing here at Sew Hot!! Respond here, in the comment section on the blog, by midnight Friday June 20, with your idea of what you would make with the Chalkboard Fabric, and we’ll have a drawing of all names who have responded. Winner will receive a half metre of the coveted new fabric! We’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with! And remember to jot it down in your personal notebook, too, for future reference.