I got my sewjo back!

sewjo \ˈsō-jō\ noun- 1.self-confidence in one's ability to sew, 2.the ability to bounce back from a negative attitude about sewing, 3.the ability to make awesomeness out of fabric and thread.

Yes, I did just make up a word, and I love it. Feel free to use it often : ). I know my last post was a little whiny, and it didn't seem like I enjoy sewing at all. Sorry about that. I'm new at this.  I get discouraged sometimes. If it has ever happened to you too, fear not! I have some advice. This is how I got my sewjo back:

 1. Take some time to organize. Organization is the key to happiness. At least in my book. I always feel more motivated when everything is accessible, in its place, and looking pretty.  That goes for work, home, and craft room.  Hubby helped me with this one.  He made me an awesome pegboard to organize all my quilting stuff.  My poor rulers had been shoved in a too small basket, my rotary cutters were in a bucket and my mat was tossed wherever it was out of the way until it was needed.  Now, everything is in its place.  I even have little baskets for my starch and basting spray.  Perfect! I've ordered pegboard paper towel holders for my ribbon since the pegboard replaced my ribbon rack.  Can't wait 'til they arrive, although, don't ask me what I'm going to do with my self-healing mat... (P.S.- that's my lonely crayon block fabric in the bottom left corner)  Can you guess what my lonely crayon color is?

Bright green pegboard to match my bright green yarn rack!

2. Sew something.  Anything.  Anything other than what was annoying you in the first place.  Following step one, I was still in my organizing phase.  I took the too small ruler basket with its baby nursery purple liner, and decided it had to go.  The liner, not the basket.  Baskets are great when you have lots of stuff.  I realized that I might have just enough leftover fabric from my sewing machine cover to make a new matching liner for the basket.  I had no idea how to do this, and I was totally winging it, but I did it!  It felt sooo good.  Gussets and all, I totally made it up.  It fits, it matches...perfect!

Before 

After

3. Let loose, have some fun, and experiment!  You never know unless you try, right? Besides, you might just be pleasantly surprised.  Grab some scraps and wing it.  It's a tiny bit liberating to know that there are no rules or boundaries. (I know, it's ironic that I complained about this in my last post).  One of my quilt guild assignments was to make a name tag for our July meeting.  I knew that I wanted to try and combine all my fiber crafts into my name tag, so I went back to my roots and cross-stitched my name.  Then I grabbed some leftovers from my sewing machine cover/basket liner and went to town.  For a second, I tried to figure out the math part of it, and then I said to myself, "Whatever, I have enough stuff to make another one if it doesn't work out."  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I'm still trying to decide if I should do some blanket stitching and add a crochet edge.  I'd love to work in knitting, but I don't see how that's possible.  Eh, I have two more days to experiment and try to figure it out.

North Jersey Modern Quilt Guild Name Tag

4.  Do something completely different.  Before I had the courage to tackle my lonely crayon block (sans any helpful directions), I tried to distract myself with other stuff.  I attempted to reorganize my DMC embroidery flosses.  I printed out a checklist, figured out what I was missing, hit up Michael's for 25% off, wound new bobbins, blah...blah..blah.  Then I crocheted my mom this super adorable tea cup pincushion. (Shhhh...it's a secret! Don't tell her!) Oh, wait.  My mom is my only follower...sorry for ruining your surprise, Mom! : )  But, seriously, how cute is it!?!?  By the way,  I got it from the new Joann's app.  If you have an iPad and haven't downloaded the new Joann's app for it, close this blog and do it now.  It has some great inspiration and patterns. I <3 free patterns.

Teacup pincushion for Mom from Joann's app.

5. Claim your sewjo.  By now, you should be feeling pretty good.  You've conquered a task or two, you've organized, experimented and created: successfully! Go ahead and tackle what was irking you. I actually had fun designing my ideas for the lonely crayon block.  It was the math I had a problem with.  I had to create a 10.5" block.  Apparently, a 9 patch and a 10.5" block don't go so well together.  The closest I could get was 10.625".  I figured that was close enough, so I made my block.  Then, I just trimmed it accordingly.  I think it came out okay.  I went with option number one.  What do you think?

Lonely Crayon Block- Brown

P.S.- Sorry about my awful iPhone photography.  Photography is the next thing on my to-learn list if I'm going to keep this blog thing going.

Hope you've got some sewjo! Until next time, happy sewing!
xo Jess