Have Your Say

From Small Ways to Small Wins

This week’s Have Your Say continues the conversation we started in All Stitched Up! issue #346 where we unpacked The Tonic’s thoughts on how small wins ultimately lead to big victories. We asked the Inspirations Community to let us know what they considered their small wins to be in their time with needle and thread and let us know they did! We hope some of their small wins will inspire you on towards your own.

Rosie walked us through the process she uses whenever she’s planning a new project. After spending hours, days or maybe even weeks considering what she’ll put her needle and thread to next, she’ll look through her inspirational images and choose ‘the’ one. Yet, she still she puts off actually getting started.

Even after transferring the design onto her fabric, Rosie finds her project still sits off to the side until ‘tomorrow’. However, when tomorrow comes she gets her threads out and chooses her colours.

‘That is the point when I have my win as I am now ready to start.’

From there though, her work just flows until the project is finished. Although Rosie always finds satisfaction in completing a project, she can’t help but feel a sense of loss as she has nothing to do with needle and thread until she goes through the process outlined above all over again. So, Rosie is now of the opinion that a longer project is better as it means she has more time in that ‘satisfying stitching’ stage.

Karen introduced us to the TNT method she uses to ensure her time with needle and thread is as productive as possible. Not familiar with the method? Neither were we until Karen took the time to unpack it for us!

It turns out TNT refers to ‘The Next Thread’ or ‘The Next Thing’. Simply put, Karen ensures that she’s always ready to do the next thing when starting her stitching each day. That means anything from ensuring her needle is threaded with the next thread or the linen is prepped with neatened edges or any basting that needs doing. The only thing Karen doesn’t do in advance is heat her iron!

As Karen sees it, by ensuring these things are taken care of, there are no obstacles at the start of each day’s stitching.

Not only does Karen do this for one project, but she makes sure ‘the next thing’ is taken care of for three projects so that she can pick the one that most appeals to her each day.

As Ann identified with The Tonic’s view that doing nothing means it can seem even harder to take that next small step, she’s decided her small wins are packing away her supplies and sweeping her workshop floor at the end of each day.

Unfortunately for Ann, as the passageway to her husband’s workshop in the garage is through her workshop, she also finds herself sweeping up the seeds her husband has so generously fed the birds as well as the dust his work has created!

We’re always up for learning something new at Inspirations HQ, especially in regard to being more productive when it comes to our time with needle and thread, so we appreciate Rosie, Karen and Ann joining in on the conversation.

We close this week’s Have Your Say with a timely reminder from Karen – every step is a win as it is accomplished, no matter how small it may be. After all, every big accomplishment is simply a thread of small wins strung together.