My bungalow

I live in a little bungalow. This is my second floor. It serves as my office, bedroom, studio, and classroom for three of the remaining four children (out of eleven) that are educated at home. The atmosphere is wonderful; It is bright, sunny, and the space is very open. I am fortunate to be able to work in the presence of my children and be available to them at all times. We are surrounded by the sounds of fingers on keyboards and my sewing machine. Music is rare, as we all have such varied taste that each chooses to listen to his/her own. The problem with earbuds is that if I have a question for any one of them, I end up screaming :(

This month, I had several projects that I needed to finish before I could play around with things that have been tucked away for months or even years. The next star for the block-of-the-month is done....

...and I wanted to finish this baby quilt for a possible class at the Cloth & Bobbin. Because the squares in this quilt range from very simple to quite complex, students could learn foundation piecing and work toward more difficult constructions as they go along.

I was thinking the other day about why I have so many unfinished projects. I came up with a few ideas:

1. Often, when I am beginning a project, I think to myself, "Since I am already doing all the planning, measuring, cutting, and sewing for one....I might as well make two." Well, about 11 years ago, I taught quilting to a wonderful group of homeschooled girls. Every square I taught them, I made five! Three of the quilts were just finished last year. One is in Chicago and was a gift for my 28 year old. One is here and was given to my 16 year old. The third is for my baby 12 year old, but I haven't finished the binding yet.

2. I am very much an in-the-moment person. This is often a negative character trait. I get very excited about things and dive in without thinking about the consequences. As a result, I have been known to over-extend myself. This trait lends itself beautifully to starting things endlessly.....and you know where that leads.

3. Growing up, my mother used to call me the "jack of all trades, master of none." I absolutely love learning new things. I guess I may tire of things relatively quickly. Even now, I need to have several projects going at once. I can work on one for only so long, and then I have to go to something else. Also, there are always new things calling to me to try. I met a mosaic artist....I wanted to try mosaics. A friend knit me an adorable hat....I want to learn to knit one myself.

Each of these play a part in the accumulation of "things," undone things that I am surrounded by. I try to be gentle with myself knowing that this process called growing up is just that, a process that never ever stops until you're dead. Who knows, maybe even then you keep learning.

The next unfinished project to tackle is a second transparency quilt. Yes, I decided to make two.

I'm making progress...one step at a time...