Life in the Time of Coronavirus: Week 11

I am going to have to start thinking of unique titles for my posts again, because it is increasingly looking like the time of coronavirus is going to be a very long time indeed. The good news is that nature got the message that it's the end of May, and it needs to be warm enough for short sleeves. We found a great new throwing rocks into water location, although it's a bit of a hike for a 2-year-old, so I always end up carrying her back. Two year olds are not light, but I suppose it's good conditioning should I ever go backpacking with a backpack that moves and also kicks me.

Last time I wrote about how I didn't have a good way of organizing my projects. In a serendipitous turn, I came across the latest episode of Inside Number 23 where Katie talks about this very topic. She queues up her sewing patterns (matches pattern to fabric) and only works on one knitting project at a time. I like this idea for knitting, although I think I need 2 projects going, a simple one (like a sock) plus a more complicated bigger project. I also need to apply this to books, as I have had about 6 at a time going, which means I forget what I have read and never seem to finish anything. So I am going to try out sticking to 3, an audiobook, a non-fiction book, and a fiction book.

Having my new office/craft room set up has made a big difference to my crafting productivity, because it is now a place I want to go, unsullied by kids' toys. The warmer weather always makes a difference as well, since when it's cold and dark I would much rather be under several layers of blankets. Another goal for this summer is to clean out some of the backlog of projects, like the shorts I was going to make out of an old bathrobe (done, but don't fit!) and the t-shirt quilt from shirts that are probably 15+ old at this point.

Life in the Time of Coronavirus: Week 7

Hello from day...... 47? Today is May, but it has been a cold, wet spring. Both my kids have decided they like hiking (or walking through mud and collecting rocks), and we have been out three times when it hasn't been too cold or rainy. The problem is that everyone else is out too! The solace of the woods is more like a highway these days.

My biggest project for the past few weeks has not been a craft, but a craft room. My craft room and office was previously located in a large room that is a landing by the stairs. It doesn't have a door, and screaming tends to drift upstairs. The room that you see above was an empty bedroom that had a 90s floral wallpaper border. For nearly 5 years I have ignored that wallpaper; it turns out being home every single day was the motivation I needed to finally get rid of it. It was the chore I suspected, but getting rid of it and painting the room completely changes everything. I moved in all my desks, so I can call into work meetings with the door closed, and all my sewing and painting stuff is now in one place. I still have some work to do putting stuff on the walls, which should be a good project for the next few weeks. The landing is now a second living room area, which I'll share photos of soon.

I have sewed a few masks, but it's not my favorite thing to do so I've not started a production line or anything. The perennial problem is that there are just too many things I want to make! I want to paint some art for the walls, use up yarn and fabric making Christmas gifts (it's never too early), and also #memademay is making me want to sew more of my own clothes. It's also gardening season: the tomatoes have been planted, but the rest of the garden will need to be done over the next couple of weeks. I had hoped to take some days off work to work on projects while the kids were in school, but now of course that won't be an option for quite some time.

How do you handle the backlog of projects you want to get done?