Another reason my sewing closet fills up so quickly with half-finished projects is because I can come up with a list of projects I would like to do with no trouble at all. In fact, there is just such a list hanging on the side of my fridge right now. It contains some of the half-finished projects currently in my closet as well as other projects I would like to start in the next few months.

The projects range from gifts for friends and family, items for myself, quilts for the kids as they move into twin beds, home décor items, and more. I have struggled with my frequent ideas for new projects because when I have so many projects already started, I have to say no to new projects. Or, I start the new projects and ignore the already started projects which leads to problems. The main problem is that my projects are often doomed to never make it to their intended recipient or location in our home and they just stay as clutter in my sewing closet.

I started writing these blog post updates almost a week ago. I have been more consistent about working on projects-in-progress this week then I have been for quite some time. And that is without a looming deadline to motivate me. I can get things done when I have a looming deadline, although I often wait longer than I should and then give myself a lot of stress that could have been avoided with more project consistency.

Speaking of deadlines, I do have a few projects with loose deadlines that I want to start working into my sewing time once I finish the book covers.

First is a queen-sized quilt that I am making for my sister and her husband as their wedding gift. They got married in February and although I had planned to finish the quilt for her bridal shower in January (and I must say I was working on it very consistently), responsibilities that I had for the wedding ended up crowding out the rest of the time I needed to get the quilt all the way finished. This is one project that I don’t want to let slide too far into the back of my sewing closet. I think a week or two of consistent work will be enough the finish the last rows of the quilt top. Then I get to do my favorite part of finishing it with the long-arm quilting machine!

Secondly, four ladies I know are having babies this year. Since these are their second or third (or fifth!) babies, they don’t need a lot in terms of baby stuff. However, I love to give baby gifts, so I like to include a little something when I take a meal to a family I know who has a new baby.

While it is fun shopping for baby clothes, it is equally fun to shop for baby themed fabric. Last year I started making flannel spit-up clothes as my go-to gift for my friend’s new babies. It is a practical (but also cute!) gift – and they don’t take too long to make. I usually make a set of four clothes.

I know for sure that I need to make one set for a girl and one set for a boy. The other two friends are not finding out the gender until they baby is born. I may make a couple extra sets in advance, or wait until the babies are born and then make the set afterwards. That also depends on how far I have progressed on altering clothes for the kids and finishing the wedding quilt.

A few last thoughts for this evening: I really don’t mind having a never-ending list of project ideas. I love to sew, knit, crochet, quilt, alter clothing, etc. What I don’t love is forgetting about the project I started last week because I am excited about a new one. This has ripple effects on my sewing space, my mindset towards projects, and my stress levels about making items for myself and others.

Consistency allows me to fully complete projects so that I can more easily say “yes!” to new projects. And I am discovering that writing blog posts about the projects I am working on is a fun incentive to make a plan for finishing projects and focusing on consistency.