Last week I talked about my word of the year...SIMPLIFY. In order to keep life simple I feel like I must complicate it a little bit by planning. I'll be honest, it's not something I like to do. When it comes to quilting I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants. Creativity can't be planned, right? It's impulsive, living in the moment, creating what at the moment is calling to you. In order to refine my process I must first see where I'm struggling. Well at least that's what "THEY" say. So against my long standing rule of "just create" I'm going to do my best to become more organized with my process. Planning ahead and track how well I can stick to the plan. I started looking for monthly planners and calendars back in November. WOW, what a shocker it was to find out some planners are over $50. That seems a bit high. I considered designing and printing my own but UGG I'd rather be quilting. I could use a plain ole notebook, but I wanted to see what it was like to use a planner. Thankfully the end of the year online sales allowed me to purchase 2 planners for under $30.
The first one I'll be using is the Lori Holt Scrappy Project Planner. This will be the one where I add my ideas for new quilts, plan the making process and track my ability to stay on target. It will also help me to plan blog posts in advance. This planner is set up for the average quilter who wants to plan scrappy quilts. Most of the pages are dedicated to starting new projects. This is not the way I normally design and track my projects but I'm willing to give it a go to see if it helps.
I also found some really cute little document clips at Meijers. There's several colors in one package.
And what's a planner with Post Its. Not sure if I'll need them but I have them.
My next planner is by Bonnie Hunter. While this planner has a quilt on ever page I'll not be using for quilting. I love how every page also has a quote. Bonnie is well known for her daily inspirations. I read her blog everyday sometimes just to scroll to the bottom for her daily quote...shh...don't tell her I scroll. And Bonnie if your reading this you know I love you!
This planner will be my health planner/tracker. I've been tracking all my food intake since April. I'll spare you all the details but the short and the skinny of my diet is no sugar, no grains, low carb. Food in its natural state. Little to no processed food. This way of eating has changed my life and I'll never go back to the way I was eating. Well that's it two planners to SIMPLIFY my life. Do you use a planner for quilting or your day to day life?
Just a little reminder that you can still gt 20% off you entire purchase at The Purple Hobbies website using the code PodunkPrettiesJan20
Offer ends February 29, 2020. Make sure when adding the code to your shopping cart that you click APPLY. You can see my review of the BladeSaver Thread cutter here. And the Third hand Binding Folder Clip here.
#quiltplanner
#dailyplanner
I've tried using planners. . . and keeping track of the amount of time I sew. . .and probably every other "productivity" idea out there.
ReplyDeleteThey don't work for me.
If I took the time to keep track of everything that I was doing I wouldn't get anything done because I would be busy keeping track! LOL
So, what I have tried to do instead is to focus on one or two projects at a time, ok, well maybe three if I am listening to an audio book at lunch and want to crochet. This way at least things are moving a long, but I am not driving myself crazy like I used to with trying to juggle too many projects at once.
What I am hoping will help me is linking up with One Monthly Goal (OMG) and keeping track of the number of blocks I make a month.
Good luck with using your planners. . . .I'll be watching to see if maybe there is a way for me to work with them.
Have a lovely day.
I don't take time for using a planner but admire those that do and keep up with it. I have been watching Pat Sloan's promoting of using a planner and Lori Holt's looks like the most interesting one.
ReplyDeleteI have that LOri Holt planner too: I like that it doesn't have the dates written in, because I've been using it for several years now (can you say "long breaks from planning?")!! I like it but I find the lines for writing in my tasks for the day are just too short: I need to write a longer description for my taskes! but I love the book for the quilt planning area and the quilt patterns and inspiration. And I'm sorry to see your bag that has to do with your new diet! Good luck, and I hope you will feel healthier and better this year! Hugs, H
ReplyDeleteI don't use a planner per say, but a journal of sorts that I made myself. I blogged about mine last week. I need to tweak it a bit, however that's what I like about doing it myself. I can customize it on the fly. 😊If it doesn't work, I am not out anything. I can use my notebook for something else. Lori Holt sure does create cute things!
ReplyDeleteBoth of these planners look lovely! I almost bought one of them....but, then went for a simpler design (Needlework Press Book of Days). I find that I write quite a bit in the planner in January. Then, as the year goes on, real life happens and the stuff I wrote in the planner does not get done (in the time I had anticipated). What works for me is to just record when I started a project....keep notes of new techniques/shortcuts I may discover during the process...and then record when it's complete. If I ever get to designing my own quilts...I'll probably just buy a sketch book...lol! Good luck with staying organized! Organization is truly the center of simplifying! :-)
ReplyDeleteI use spiral note books as my planners, quilt progress, reference of when I was inspired to make … and when I finished. I can draw a quilt with the lines on the paper as part of the blocks and know what I'm going to do. How many blocks I need, what fabric I think i'll use, etc.
ReplyDeleteMy husband passed away this past week. It's been a very tough week. He was the King of Plaid shirts. Thank you for all your previous postings on Connie's quilts. Perfect ideas to help me through all of this and to cherish all of our memories, and to also gift our two daughters.
ReplyDelete