Busy procrastinating

I don't think anyone will be more surprised than me, but I'm quilting again! I started a drawing that I thought would be fairly quick and easy, and I suppose it is, but I started to procrastinate and lose a bit of interest. It's one of those I needed to put it aside for a day or two to mull over.

Procrastination is something I'm always struggling with but a couple of months ago I devised (as Blackadder would say) a cunning plan. Instead of mindlessly surfing, when I realise I'm just procrastinating, I thought I'd use that time to tackle something useful like bit of housework I've put off. I do this quite naturally anyway - I find cleaning bathrooms especially satisfying when I know I should be doing something else! Not often enough though, so I had to make a conscious decision to stop, switch off the computer and get on with something useful, something I'd feel guilty about not doing if I was drawing.

Funnily enough, I read the same idea this week on Clint Watson's blog and which says it better than I could. However, I was watching a programme, Kirtie's Homemade Home, in which Kirstie Allsopp, normally seen presenting property programmes, gets to meet craftsmen and women, to learn a skill to decorate her new home. But when she met a quilter to learn some basics I thought - why not go a step further and use the procrastination time to also do some other creative activity? I normally focus exclusively on one thing - for instance, when I was quilting I stopped drawing for three years - but I've been trying to break that habit this last year, using colour pencils, pen and occasionally watercolours. If I had used all the wasted hours, I thought, then I could have also finished this quilt ages ago. I blogged about it way back in October 2005! I guess I procrastinated too long and then got involved in the move from Kuwait. Since then, all my fabrics have been languishing in the bomb shelter in the basement (yes, we have one of those!) making me feel very guilty. (There is nothing quite as sobering as looking at a fabric stash and realising you won't live long enough to use it up!)

So, anyway, I'm quilting again and thoroughly enjoying it! It's incredibly satisfying to me to spend hours piecing tiny bits of fabric and lining up my seams, probably more than I should admit. When I was quilting before, I was involved in groups and there was always a competitive element which eventually killed off any pleasure. This time I'm on my own, no pressure, no chasing silly techniques, and I'm going to focus on the things I like most - namely piecing, playing with colours, free motion quilting (basically scribbling with a needle and thread) and beading. It's a radical thought for me, I always thought I should be either one thing or another, but hey, I can be a quilter in my wasted time and draw too! Why not?!