If you are anything like me, you see creations on Instagram, Pinterest, in books and magazines and want to make them all!
I currently have more than 10 projects I want to stitch, and some projects are quite big and ambitious. I felt I needed a bit of a system because I was just stitching the latest project rather than those that I’ve wanted to stitch for ages.
I use a Kanban board. You probably do a form of this already and just don’t call it a Kanban board! Basically it is a series of steps each project goes through. Each step has a heading and projects move from one heading to the next as they complete each step.
For example, the headings I have are
Idea - a project idea or design I want to stitch. This is a good place to park all of your ideas and it then helps you remember ones you loved but forgot about.
Prepared - all the materials for the project including the pattern or design have been gathered ready to start. I have this step as I found I had loads of ideas but some of them weren’t getting made as I hadn’t got round to sourcing the materials. When my ‘in progress’ pile is getting low I look at my ideas and shop my stash and then acquire the missing materials. Each prepared project goes in a bag with the pattern, fabric, hoop, and a threads so it is ready to pick up and start. This step is also a great way of using up as many materials as possible.
In progress - the project has been started. I’ve found that having this step has highlighted just how many projects I have on the go at once. Having visibility of this has helped me concentrate on getting the stitching for projects completed.
Needs finishing - the stitching has been completed and it needs framing and hanging. I’ve found that a lot of my makes have got stuck at this stage so by highlighting this it reminds me to get my finished works on display
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