Maintain Momentum

After alluding to Debbie Preissinger’s article ‘Keeping the Motivation Going’ in last week’s issue of All Stitched Up!, we heard from several of the Inspirations Community who wanted to know some of the ways Debbie does in fact do that – keep her motivation going in her time with needle and thread.

From time to time, don’t we all need advice on how to do just that?!

Sometimes the flow of laying stitch after stitch comes easily, whilst at other times, it’s a little – or sometimes, a lot! – harder to find, and we think some of Debbie’s suggestions might just help us regain our lost momentum.

After being a ‘mono stitcher’ (which refers to working on a single project from beginning right through to completion) for many years, Debbie realised that working on more than one project at a time would allow her to complete more projects. After coming to this realisation, Debbie implemented some simple steps in her time with needle and thread that not only helped her to maintain her momentum, but also saw her truly enjoy the time she spent stitching.

The first thing Debbie did was to stop feeling guilty about the unfinished work in her stash, with her mantra becoming ‘this is my hobby and there is no guilt allowed’. From this foundation, Debbie then created a list of all her current projects in rotation. The list allowed her to see the bigger picture, and from there, she determined which projects were her top three.

Debbie suggests that one larger and two smaller projects might just be the perfect fit for a top three as ‘completing the smaller projects provides a sense of accomplishment that will motivate you to complete the larger’.  Debbie also found that gathering all the materials for each project at the outset meant she was able to make the most of the time when the opportunity to stitch presented itself.

Switching between the three projects each day and stitching for as long as she was able on these days, meant that projects saw more stitches laid every week, thus helping her to ‘complete all the pretty patterns’ she was once worried she wouldn’t get to.

However, all this aside, it didn’t mean there weren’t times when the enjoyment of the projects before Debbie didn’t dissipate. It might have been that the small count of fabric caused her interest to wane or that the subject and/or colour of the stitching before her had lost their original appeal. And it was from here that Debbie found that even the smallest of changes can sometimes bring with them a renewed interest.

It might be as simple as taking a break from the stitching before you, changing the location where you stitch or simply finding the opportunity to stitch with others, that might just change your perspective and add new layers of interest to your stitching.

Debbie, we thank you for sharing the ways in which you keep your motivation going as we know they’ll be a wealth of information for the next time we find our momentum with needle and thread hard to maintain.