Sunday, January 9, 2022

Better Late to the Challenge than Never

I don't really do New Year's resolutions.  I've never formally committed to a word of the year.  One year, I thought my word should be "flow," but I didn't stitch it up and put it on display to remind myself.  Maybe I should have in order to better cement it in my consciousness, but I decided to just...er...go with the flow.

But I did see something cross my Facebook feed the last week of December that sounded interesting, and that was to note one good thing per day during the year, the idea being to write it on a strip of paper and put it in a jar and then read through them all at the end of the year as a way to revisit those moments.  Sort of an annual highlight reel of good things.

The idea of noting one good thing daily seems like a good habit to cultivate as a way to mindfully practice gratitude, and I'm all for that.  So on January 1, I started doing this, except instead of putting papers in a memory jar, I started a "One Thing Good About Today" memo on my tablet.  

(Good Things daily list)

You might note that I transposed "Good Thing" as "Thing Good," in the title of the list (guess I was thinking in Wisconsin-ese) but I couldn't figure out how to correct it without starting a new memo and starting over.  Ope.

(Homemade Rhubarb Pie on New Year's Day)

Now there are many good things about any given day, but taking the time to jot down just one item makes it easy, quick, and totally doable.  I usually have my tablet with me when I climb into bed anyway, so before I open a streaming app to watch the next episode of whatever bingeable series I'm currently obsessed with, I take a moment to reflect on the day and add one good thing to the memo.

(Basting a quilt on January 5)

I also decided to hop on board the sewing room Declutter Challenge at Just Get It Done Quilts.  The challenge was several days underway when I joined, but that's okay.  You can see all the daily challenge blogs and videos there or on Karen's YouTube channel.

The Day 1 challenge was to take out the trash in your sewing room.  I am notorious for writing myself little notes on scraps of paper and letting them accumulate until I've done the thing I wanted to remember to do.  Well, I am a procrastinator, so some of those notes were well-aged, shall we say.  

(Songs on scraps of paper became a playlist)

I tend to write down the names of songs I hear while sewing that I want to listen to again or further explore the artist.  So before discarding those bits of paper, I decided to find the songs on YouTube and make a playlist of them, which I named Sewing Room Songs.  Feel free to click and listen, if you're up for an eclectic mix of roots rock, funk, blues, alt, and interesting covers.  

Part of Day 2's challenge was to clean your sewing machine.  I cleaned and lubricated two of my most often used machines, the Juki and the vintage Singer Touch and Sew that was my mom's back in the 1960s.  The 15 minutes to be allotted for this task took an hour and 45, but I was happy to give them some overdue TLC.

(Day 2 Declutter Challenge - cleaning and oiling machines)

Day 3 was today's challenge for me, and that involved decluttering magazines and then working on a UFO.  I had exactly zero magazines to declutter (having done that already during the past year or two), so I spent the time on sashing the UFO that's been languishing on my design wall for a couple months.  Again, I spent longer than 15 or 30 minutes on this part of the challenge, but once started, I was happy to keep the momentum going.

(Working on a UFO as part of Day 3 Declutter Challenge)

I think things are about to get more challenging tomorrow with Day 4's book decluttering challenge.  We'll see how it goes!

~Paulette

7 comments:

Julierose said...

Nice to get those machines all ready to sew!! Do you like your Juki? I am thinking about a 2nd machine--being the machine-challenged person that I am-- I am looking around for ease of use...
I like your scrappy UFO..really pretty hugs, Julierose

The Joyful Quilter said...

Your good things list is a great idea, Paulette. You making progress on gorgeous projects and jumping into the Declutter Challenge, too? Way to go!!!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

I like the idea about writing a good thing every day, to keep you thinking about the positive. I haven't been following the decluttering challenge exactly, but I am trying to work on clearing my space.

Quiltdivajulie said...

What a rabbit hole you pointed me towards . . . not sure if I should say thanks or darn it (LOL). Did my pattern purge yesterday and it felt really good. No magazines in my studio so that was easy. Trash goes out weekly if not more often. Books - I found a way to rehome many of them this fall so that is calendared for October. And the list goes on. Especially love her squirrel journal!

audrey said...

The declutter challenge sounds like a good one! Making lots of progress!:)

Kaja said...

It sounds as though you are off to a good start with 2022. Good luck with those books.

Preeti said...

These Shoo-Fly blocks are so impressive. Love the scrappy string rectangles. They sure add a lot of pizazz. Looking forward to the finished quilt. Stay warm.