Which Needlepoint Project?
How do you pick which project to stitch?
I’m working on three projects actively at the moment.
One is a small piece, one is really huge and is a model for a stitch guide, and one is a Bargello.
And there are tons more sitting in bins and baskets in my studio in various states of completion.
I sometimes try to stick with a rotation system, but I rarely manage to do it for long.
The huge project I can only work on at home as it isn’t portable. So if I’m not going to be home, it’s not in thed running.
One small project is basically for me, so I should only work on it on Sundays. The other small project is something for Napa Needlepoint and is nearing completion. The Bargello project has just started.
So yesterday, by my own rules, I should have worked on the project for me, and I did, but only in the morning. When I did stitch in the afternoon I worked on the other small project.
But mostly I read yesterday.
This got me thinking. Was I burned out? Bored? Tired? I woke up this morning thinking about which project I’d stitch on today.
How do you pick?
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Janet,
This should be a rather simple question but I find it difficult to answer, perhaps because I do not have any quick and fast rule for that one.
At most times I stitch whichever project I feel like stitching that day. If I have an important project deadline, then I will concentrate on that special project.
I like to have some kind of rotation going on, but rotation for me, only means that when I have had enough of working on one project, I pick up another one and then another one, only to return to the first one when I feel like it as well as the others.
Sometimes a project has been put aside way too long and then I decide that I am going to finish that one, so I work on that once exclusively until it is done.
Right now, I am working on Persian Fantasy as this is a cyberclass and for some reason unknown to me at this time I really want to finish it in the cyberclass time frame. Don’t ask me why, I have not a clue. I guess it is only a goal I made for myself with that one just to see if I could make it.
Before that I was working on a pilot class project, so had a deadline that I wanted and needed to meet, so worked exclusively on that project until it was completed.
Now, I am thinking that I have been working almost exclusively on needlepoint projects and I need to start working on some other projects like drawn thread, silk ribbon, hardanger, brazilian embroidery, just not sure right now, but it has been on my mind a lot lately so will soon get something out and start working on it. I will have to look at my projects until I see something that I just have to stitch now
Pierrette =^..^=
I said something similar recently, that now that needlepoint is my work some of the joy is gone from it..but is it? I still get that glow from completing a piece, even if it is a sample so maybe it is just a matter of changing my (our) perceptions.
A smart lady recently said something to me about reading, that the relaxation from it is essential.
I have this nutzy theory that people who read do not really go *all the way crazy* we have an escape from the pressures of life in our books.
I agree with Pierrette. It is a hard question to answer. I think the key issue is that it’s a creative endeavor and you just can’t force the creative. I usually keep a rotation of small projects that I work on during the day and a larger one I keep going for a long period of time. The long-term project is the one I do “for fun” or to unwind in the evening. But I usually end up spending most of my time on it.
I’ve found that it’s best not to fight the urges. If I try to work on something when I’m not in the mood, it comes out all wrong.
But it definitely requires a balance.