Procrastination - a symptom of stress?

So the committee work came to an end late last year, just as the day job workload shot through the roof!  Talk about timing.  After being on our branch committee and chairing the national committee, I was ready to get back to making - after all I have 18 quilt tops to baste and quilt, projects to make for family and close friends and my mum wants two more cushions and another quilt.  When I counted up all the WIP's, UFO's I was at 48, which is nuts! 

So overloaded, I had to have a regroup on all fronts.  I normally just plough on through, say yes no problem to everyone and think about the stress when it's over.  This time though, I needed to press pause, centre myself, say no twice and engage the thinking brain.  So there was prioritising everywhere: family, work, health and the house.   I found a you tube video by Mel Robbins who said procrastination is a symptom of stress. Figure out what you are stressed about to get moving again. 

The Endeavourers May Challenge "Raindrops keep falling on my head"

Somehow, making lots of lists, to do's and prioritising healthful things like de-cluttering the house room by room, buying a new desk and storage for all my lovely fabric and ticking things off as done, pulled my distracted, overloaded brain, back into some semblance of starting to feel like myself again.  The creative brain will want to be fed though, so while I was resetting to centre, I did give a workshop and signed up for a few,  and I had a blast! 

It was joyful play and a great boost to bring me back to my making self!  Spending a day away from it all, with people united by a love of colour and creating crafty projects, good company and good fun is a real treat we all need from time to time!

I started this post in April and now it's August go figure.  So I will have lots to share in the coming posts recapping the year that was in it so far and all the quilty UFO's to be completed in the months ahead.  For now my most recent make is over on the Endeavourers blog.  Our Quarterly challenge is a themed challenge and this time we are sharing makes on "A Walk in the Park".

To read about my fabric dyed, free motion quilted Rose please visit here and to see more from all who participated please visit the Endeavourers home page here.

The Endeavourers August Challenge "A Walk in the Park"

Endeavourers Texture Challenge - Doodle Quilting using the Slate 2 by ISKN

Remember the big trend in adult colouring books?  I have always been drawn to these books, loving the complexity of pattern created with simple lines.  Some of those lines would make amazing quilt patterns.  As soon as I saw the Endeavourer's challenge for February was Texture, I knew I wanted to play with this idea and see what happened.  The idea of using this type of doodle quilting to create texture appealed to me.

For one of my Pictorial Ticker Tape workshops I was asked for a cow so I drew this one on the iPad and thought it would be fun to fill in with pattern.    I got a Slate 2 tablet for Christmas and it allows you to draw on the tablet with a special pen and the image appears on the app as you draw. 

The drawing area is A5 in size and uses magnets to track the pen or pencil across the page.  It doesn't have pressure sensitivity and the app doesn't have a lot of features but it is fun to use, easy to use and it saves all the lines you make and replays it back to you.  I had a lot of fun with this and loved the little video it made of the drawing which you can export as an MP4.  I thinks this will be a brilliant way to play with Free Motion Quilting.

So here is what she looks like after quilting.  I'm calling her Molly and I think she is going to be a cushion or maybe a tote bag.  Not sure yet. 

What do you think?  Think it would be fun to have videos of your quilt warm up?  If you want to see more of Molly in the making or the projects the rest of the group have made please pop over to the Endeavourer's blog here.