Every Sunday?

I met up with a stitching friend this weekend and we discussed how and when we start new projects and how we tackle the UFO/WIP piles.

She has a very simple plan, she doesn't start a new project until she finishes the old one. Or at least that is the theory. It never seems to work out for her. She keeps starting tons of new projects and not finishing them. Her WIP pile is now in three extra large tote bags from LL Bean. She forced herself to make a list of them and there were over 25, she stopped counting then.

I start a new project almost every Sunday. I keep a basket next to my work chair with any WIP. I wish I could start Scarlett Letter and Carriage House charts every Sunday. I don't. It's all in the size of the basket and being realistic about how much stitching time I will have in a week.

The trick is to start more small projects than large projects.

I start on Sunday and work on only that project for the week. If I finish the design before the end of the week I pick up something from the basket and work on that. I might stitch on several WIP in the remainder of the week or just one, it all depends on my mood. If the basket is getting full to overflowing my Sunday start will be something very small that I can finish in a day or three. If the basket is looking kind of bare I chose something larger.

If a project has been languishing in the basket for ages it becomes what I call my one needle project. Every time I sit down for a stitching session I stitch one needle of thread on the design.Right now my one needle project is a kit from Joan Elliot ( damn AC Moore and their 40 % off coupons, it seemed like a great kit at 40 % off).

I'll post a picture of my basket later today :)