I suck at this

Well, it's official.  I suck at this. I had all of these great intentions at the beginning of the year and it seems that I have followed through with very few of them.

I joined the Quilt Along on The Free Motion Quilting Project and although I follow her blog every day and have kept up with each entry, I have yet to attempt to do the work.  I joined the Free Motion Quilting Challenge at Insights from SewCalGal and although I follow her blog daily and have kept up with the assignments, I have yet to actually do the work.  I had every intention of posting on Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, but I can't seem to do anything but follow everybody else's posts.  I was able to post once or twice, but let's face it, I haven't had anything on my wall to actually post.  I also follow Works in Progress Wednesday on Freshly Pieced.  I was gonna do the NewFO Challenge as well.  That's actually what inspired me to work on my Mariner's Compass Star a while back.  In all cases, I keep up with daily reads on each of over 20 blogs, but can't seem to follow through and do the work.

My life has been so hectic lately.  I hate when I get so scheduled and over-committed that I start to feel totally buried and claustrophobic.  That's what it's been like lately.  I have had to go out of town several weeks in a row.  I show up at meetings and forget to bring half of what I was supposed to.  I create lists and never seem to be able to cross anything off or else I lost the list before I even get started.  Every time I start to go into my sewing room, I either get overwhelmed by the disaster of the room or I guilt myself into postponing what I want to do in order to do some cleaning around the house. 

I have done the same thing with my quilt guild.  There are all kinds of new swaps and challenges this year and I want to get involved in all of them. 

• We had our first lotto blocks based on Bonnie Hunter's Wonky House blocks. I completed mine 2 days after they were assigned, but when it was due, I forgot it at home.

• The new mystery quilt has posted 3 installments already and I have yet to find fabric to make mine out of. It's due in September, so I'd better start soon, before I lose all the instructions.
• I am in charge of the paint chip challenge, so I more or less have to participate in that one. Mom came over last weekend to help me find some fabrics in my stash to match my paint chips. That one is due in August, so I'd better get going. I think I'm going to make a simple baby quilt. Maybe I can get that done.
• We also have a Quilt in a Box swap going on. We had to pick our fabric and put it in a box. Then we pick a secret block to make. We each swap boxes all around and make our block out of each person's fabric as we go along. The organizer keeps the completed blocks so they stay a secret. At the end, we are given our blocks from all of the participants and they are made from fabric we chose. We also have an opportunity at the end to have a setting challenge. Mom also helped me find some fabric in my stash for this one. In essence, it becomes a sampler with blocks made by all different people. I'm not sure I like samplers. I've never made one before. We'll see how it comes out.
• We also have an Alzheimer's Art Quilt Inititive (AAQI) Challenge. It's due at the first of April. I have had Carol Doak's Mariner's Compass Stars book for a couple years now and have never made a single thing from it even though I love everything in there. So anyway, I made a block from it and it came out gorgeous, if I say so myself. I need to tear off the paper and quilt it and back it and put the hangers on and fill out the paperwork, and all before the next meeting.

I really need to do something to get out of this wild crazy rut I'm stuck in.  Last night when I got home from work, I stopped off at the store for laundry detergent, got the laundry going and then went into my sewing room.  I had to reorganize the items on the shelves in the closet to make more room and to more efficiently fit everything in there.  I was able to move some piles from the sewing table into the closet.  I freed up some table space and was able to actually do some sewing.  I'd never be able to accomplish all these challenges and swaps if I did not have access to my machine, so this had to be the first step.  Wow!  I actually accomplished something.

I've been out of town 3 weekends in a row and this is my only free weekend before I go out of town again this weekend.  DBF wants to attend an Antique Fishing Lure Show and Sale in Houston next weekend and wants me to go.  I agreed although all I really want to do is stay home alone so I can accomplish something.  I'm trying to develop a list of what all I can bring project-wise to work on while I'm there in the hotel. 

Maybe a forced retreat is exactly what I need.  Alone in a hotel room with nothing to do but work on my projects.  I just have to make sure I bring everything I need to be able to accomplish them. I also have the option of driving around and visiting quilt shops in the area, of which there are many.  That would be nice, but let's face it, my stash is plenty full and I really don't NEED any fabric, although I can always find some to buy.  I think I'll probably try to avoid the quilt shops, at least at first.  The other possibility is a trip to IKEA, and that one I will probably do.  I could spend hours in there.  Maybe this trip will be more stress-relieving than I expect after all.

I'd love to get a lot done.  If and when I do, I'll post pictures.