Hardanger Angel :"Elfaba"
stitched and painted
It must be hardwired into humans to hoard things. People collect things, lots of things, and that is a particular type of hoarding. Some people who seem to be near the deep end even hoard animals. Stitchers and quilters hoard fabrics and threads; and they do it big time.
Part of this hoarding compulsion for some people comes in the form of unfinished projects. Dozens (or more) of stitching projects have been started, worked on at odd times, and then been put away. I can understand this. I have one or two unfinished projects myself. I mean that quite literally--one or two. But I'll get back to that topic in a minute. I have a particular friend who has projects dating back into the late 80s that sit in drawers waiting to be finished. Then she feels occasionally that she has to deny herself the pleasures of new projects, projects from which she can learn new things, because she feels very guilty about the drawer dwelling stuff. I can see at least a couple of solutions to this. One is to take out all the projects and decide which ones are really important to one's life, finish those, and give away the rest. The other is to stop doing new stuff entirely and devote the rest of one's life to the finishing of the languishing projects.
Neither of these solutions seems to be viable for my friend. She just feels guilty about not finishing the old and she feels guilty about starting the new.
All right, I have a third solution that works well for me. I do my own work about 98% of the time. The other 2% of the time I take classes with projects in them. These classes invariably teach me a new thing about embroidery. I do not have embroidery time to waste on someone else's project that does not further my knowledge. In that 2% of the time, I do the class and work on the new technique within the the class. Then I take the project home, strip it of its usable parts and put the instructions and the unfinished piece in a notebook for reference. I never feel guilty about unfinished pieces. And I do not consider them unfinished work.
"Anneke"
(for Ann)
stitched and painted with the details of the face done in gold gutta
I do have have at least one unfinished project. Part of the work I do is to offer classes to teach. One class in particular has been floating around the sewing for a couple of years. It has to do with angels. I have designed a set of Hardanger angels that are stitched, then painted with Dye-Na-Flow paints, and finished either for applique or as hanging ornaments. I have done several of these angels, but I have three undone--and I have no desire to take the time to finish them until I sell the class. For some reason, though I personally think the angels are charming, I have not had this particular class picked up. So the three unfinished angels are patiently waiting for me. What if I never sell the class? Well, maybe at some point I will finish the darlings and use them as gifts.
How do I stop from hoarding or collecting unfinished projects? It has never been in me to leave something, let alone a lot of somethings, unfinished. When I start on something, it is something that is essential to my work, or to my fancy. I work on it until it is done. Then I go on to the next thing. If a piece isn't working out or if I am dissatisfied with it for some reason, I may lay it aside for a while. But then I come back to it, make a decision to continue or not. And then I either strip it of its components and throw it away, or strip it and put it in a notebook with notes as to why it ended up there. Then I forget it.
"Albita"
(for Albie)
unpainted so far
As to my greater stash of the raw materials from which I do my art, right now I am working out of my stash and trying to not accumulate anything new. In particular I need to get rid of some sewing fabric which I love, but which I will never use. . But I try to keep on top of things and not let anything get too big or unwieldy. I think of my poor husband and children who will have to sort through things if I die in my sleep next week.
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