I'm hoping to be more organised this year, which will allow me to achieve more things in a more orderly manner.  I get rather tired of racing around at the last minute, meeting deadlines with no time to spare, or not meeting them at all.  Time management techniques would help with that I'm sure, as would tidying things up so I can lay my hands on whatever I need.  These months of hot weather, when I'm confined to the airconditioning, should be spent sorting and ordering and organising, not just sewing and surfing the net.

Sorting out the rest of the house will be done because I must, but sorting out the sewing room is always a labour of love; finding things I've been looking for, meeting old projects again, admiring fabric and tools and patterns, getting inspired all over again.  I've already started, and it's fun so far.

Of course, while I'm sorting there isn't any sewing taking place, which is a bit frustrating.  So I've been making a list each night, of things that I want done the next day; sew six blocks, make strip sets for 5 new 16-patches, cut the remainder of the sashing strips.  In between my other chores I can switch on the machine and sew long enough to cross the task off the list.  It's working well, I keep the jobs small enough to do quickly and I'm not tempted to just keep on sewing until it's become a marathon.  I think my obsession with finishing what's on the design wall comes from not knowing where I'm going with it, or how long it will take, and also fear that I just won't finish it at all if it goes on too long.  My list of tasks for the day keeps me focussed on smaller steps, so that I don't start worrying about the actual finish line.

I enjoyed the paper piecing I did on the Dear Jane blocks, and decided I needed to have a machine set up permanently for paper piecing.  My Bernina 730 is perfect, her tension is wonderful even with really tiny stitches and it's easy to see the line on the paper.

 She's been making HSTs for this project, and they're turning out perfectly.  I must name this machine, she's a beauty.  Part of the reason why I'm sorting out the sewing room is to make a space for her to live comfortably, instead of balanced on the end of a rickety table. 

I'm trying to tackle this grey quilt in an orderly fashion, and when I use the project parts as leader-enders I get muddled sometimes.  I've been using the 16-patches to separate the chains of piecing on the grey quilt, so they are building up rapidly.

I'm up to 40 complete blocks, and 12 more ready to sew together.  This will be a set of blocks that just seemed to appear without any effort on my part.

I have half of the grey blocks sewn into rows, and only need another 6 blocks.  Hopefully I will have a photo of it tomorrow, nearing completion.  Then it will be time to tackle the borders, which in the original quilt were complex.  I don't know how my patience will last, but I'll have a go.