Friday, February 10, 2006

To rotate or not to rotate?

well, lately, for some reason I have been not wanting to blog. It's not that I don't want to, and I still get up and read my daily blogs, but when I think of writing myself, I don't know what to write. But as I read other's blogs I have been having some thoughts.

Lately I have been really stuck on working on one project or another exclusively. For awhile there I was working soley on Love, Joy, Home, and then I realized how quickly my parent's birthdays are approaching and put everything away and pulled out November Quilt and have been working on it exclusively for awhile. I enjoy working exclusively on one piece for the simple fact that you really see progress, alot of progress in a short amount of time, and when I see progress it spurs me on to work more on that particular piece.

However, as I read all your blogs, and see everyone's rotations, I realize just how much variety really does spicen up life (well stitching anyway), And I start thinking of all the things I could be working on, but also realizing that I really need to get these pieces finished and I am afraid that if I try to rotate, then I will get stuck on one other piece and not get back to my "obligation stitching". I could fit it into my rotation, but then I always get stuck on a piece. How do you die hard rotaters do it?! I have got to figure something out! I get somewhat "bored" when I work on the same piece for TOO long, like right now, for instance. I am starting to get the "I don't-really-want-to-work on-this-peice-but-I-know-I-need-to-so-I-will" thing going on with November Quilt, and this type of feeling leads to a slump. I know the best thing to do is to pick up something else for awhile to keep the idea of stitching exciting, which leads me to another thought...

A NEW START!!! Just what I DON'T need! I could do something small, like a book mark or something, maybe a Valentine's Day card for a friend, or something. Oh I don't know...guess I could just work on a small area of one of my WIP's, and when I am done with that one area, put it away and pick up Nov. Quilt again! I must go contemplate this!

Any thoughts?

3 comments:

Juanita said...

If you don't blog, what will I read? LOL Seriously though, I know just what you mean... I think we all get that way sometimes.

As for rotating, I'm not a "die hard" rotation stitcher by any means. I generally work on whatever strikes my fancy at any given time. I have taken to setting monthly goals for myself though-- just to provide some focus. This has worked well for me so far.

One thing I have found is that I don't like to rotate too many projects at a time, or too frequently. I get into a much better rhythm if I can stitch on the same thing for a few days in a row.

A NEW START might not be such a bad thing. Sure, it would take a bit of your time away from other projects, but occassionally we just need the "thrill" of starting something new. And if you keep it small, a happy dance is sure to follow. That's always good for motivation!

Geez, I'm long-winded today!

Bastet said...

I'm not a die hard rotation stitcher either. As a matter of fact, trying too hard to become one put me in a major slump. If you want to try rotation, start with a couple of projects and set a time limit for each before rotating. for example: Project 1 will have 10hrs or 4 days then project 2 will get the same. I'll be heading on a two weeker rotation this coming week.

Anne S said...

Yay, I'm finally making a start to catching up on blog reading ... and you're one of my first :) I started a rotation late last year, and found it was wonderful - I have given myself a self-imposed deadline of getting those Dratted Dolphins done, so what I did was have them in every 3rd rotation slot - and each slot is 10 hours. That way I get to spend more time on the Dratteds than anything else, so it's getting stitched more quickly, but I get to stitch on some smaller or more fun projects inbetween that don't have the same urgency. It was working out pretty well, and now Mum's not here anymore I'm going to try to get back into my rotation again ... but I'm going through a phase where I want to stitch what I want to stitch rather than be 'told' what to do by my rotation ... maybe I'll start again next month ... ;D