Sunday 8 September 2013

Too much Reading and Not Enough Finishing

I am currently mulling over a toile that I want to get right and am working on three patchwork items - some english paper pieced hexagons, a jelly-roll strip quilt, and a needle-turn wall hanging, but none of them are finished yet.  I still have my crochet flowers to work on too but I'll wait for the weather to truly turn to Autumn before I take these up again.
Three of my current WIP

Instead of actually completing any of my own projects I seem to be spending a lot of time reading about other people's completed works.  This is getting to be a bad habit for me - I read blog posts in the morning before work and then again in the evening when I get home.  The time I use to spend doing or making has now turned into just reading about other people's doing and making. This is not good really and I shall try to limit this - any good ideas you could share about managing your blog reading time?

And yet doing all this reading has led to two very good things recently.


I was reading Jeri's blog post at My Modern Vintage about being stuck in a sewing rut and not having the motivation to get on and do the alterations that she needed to do.  She asked for some advice and she liked my comment so much that she offered to send me the pattern of my choice from her stash!  How lovely was that?  Then not only did she send me the one I chose (pattern on the right) but when I opened the envelope there were my second and third choices!
Thank you very much Jeri! x


The other nice thing that has happened because of too much blog reading is that I was able to offer two stars and a wish (teacher lingo for constructive comments) to Alison who blogs at Another Little Crafty Creation . Alison put all the commenter's names into a hat darth vader mask and drew out my name to receive a lovely package of sewing goodies to celebrate her achievement of 100+ blog readers.  Thank you so much Alison. x
What a pretty bundle: sewing themed sticky notes, two ribbons, chocolate,
1 metre of liberty lawn, dressmakers notebook and hand stitcher's wax,
which I have long wanted to try!
If I can, I am going to try to use the very pretty fabric from Alison to create the pattern that I received from Jeri.

So really, perhaps the time I take to read and comment on blogs isn't wasted time at all.

9 comments:

  1. Awwww that's such a sweet post Nessa. I'm so glad you won so many lovely things.

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  2. Gotcha! I think that I just need to cull my blog list as the amount of time I currently spend reading them is just plain ridiculous!

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  3. Gotcha! I think that I just need to cull my blog list as the amount of time I currently spend reading them is just plain ridiculous!

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  4. WTG on the giveaways!

    During the week I read blogs in the evenings, usually while I'm eating my dinner, and I often don't start sewing, if at all, until 10 pm or later, but then I don't go to bed until about 12:45. I try to plan my making for the weekends, anything done during the week is a bonus.

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  5. There are just so many lovely blogs to read! Right? I try to limit myself to just reading in the morning for a bit. I can also get inspiration overload which leads me to many unfinished projects! Yikes.

    So happy for you and the giveaways! So sweet you are!

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  6. Lucky girl! I tend to limit my blog reading to the mornings when I get up (like now!). The WiFi doesn't reach my sewing room, so I'm not bothered by any outside interference. Sometimes it does take a Herculean effort to want to go sew though!

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  7. I have exactly the same problem but not sure what the solution is - I know I wouldn't' have learnt so much without blog reading.....bit I would sew more. Good to know I'm not the only one! Juliex

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  8. Hey, well done you!!! So the reading did pay off!? I think it is a really difficult one. I have no solution I'm afraid. Reading blogs has kind of taken over my life recently and I really do need to cut back. I feel like I spend my life on my phone! But as Julie says above, I wouldn't have learnt what I have without reading blogs, and I know I wouldn't give the community up for all the sewing time in the world!

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  9. You've got me thinking with this post! On reflection, I think creativity is cyclical - sometimes I'm in a fever of hands-on making, sometimes I'm spending time gathering inspiration, and sometimes I just need a break or rest, in order to let desire/motivation well up again. I don't really stress over the "not actively making" phases anymore - I've found the motivation always returns in the end. In the meantime, enjoy the wealth of talent and inspiration out there!

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