August's Stitching Drought WIPocalypse

Don't worry, the title definitely does not refer to me!  It's the topic for this month's WIPocalypse!

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings
Also linking up with 17 in '17

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  I have chosen my "17 in '17" which are the 17 projects I want to focus on this year.  You can see the full list on this page here.

I've worked on 7 of my 17 and had a finish too.

1. Happy Hallowe'en by Imaginating:

2. Witches by Oberlin Samplers:

3. 12 Days of Christmas by Joan Elliott:

4. Stitcher's Alphabet by Brooke's Books:

5. Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace:

Added a pumpkin to the O

6. Dragon of the Winter Moon by Dragon Dreams:

7. Spring in the Square by Just Nan:

I didn't have the charm for the centre but I found this nice little button to use instead.

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss, and as the title suggest this month we have:

August - How do you get yourself out of a stitching drought?

I have no idea!  Probably cut back on doing other things which take up your stitching time.  The only times I have had droughts have been due to circumstances beyond my stitching control!  Here's a chart of my finishes from the year I started stitching to the year before I started my blog:

Can you guess what happened in the least productive years? 2001 I was doing a lot of overtime, 2002 my first son was born, 2006 I was dating my husband and moving house, 2007 we got married, 2009 my second son was born.  Life events stop you stitching!

Obviously this is quite raw data as it doesn't show the size of the projects I was working on.  For example 2006 was the year of Mirabilia's Sleeping Beauty so although I only had 2 finishes, one of them was massive!  I also didn't stitch so many smalls in those days which is why I have stopped the graph at 2010 when my stitching style changed from OAAT to rotation.

For people who find themselves in a slump, I recommend the Ten-a-Day method which has worked so well for Spring and Summer in the Square.  Just do ten small stitches each day and put the project away.  Looking through your stash works for some people, for others it can be overwhelming.  Fully-finish some old pieces, even if all you do is iron them and stick them into a scrapbook you can see them to inspire you.

Finally, read some blogs and leave lots of encouraging comments for other people.  Why not enter a competition like the one we are having on the Blogger of the Week blog?  Click below to see what it is all about!

Blogger of the Week