The Bin of Unfinished Projects

I did something brave this week...I opened the bin.  You crafters know what I’m talking about.  In fact, you probably have one of your own.  Maybe yours is a bag or a closet (if I’m being honest I have bins and bags, some of which are stored in a closet).   No matter what shape it takes, one fact remains the same – it’s the place where inspiration goes to die.



Michigan Memories:  I turned my old t-shirts
into a blanket that tells the story
of my 2-year adventure living in the U.P. 

No More Excuses

In the course of crafting, there are plenty of valid reasons to take a break from your current project.  You might get tired or a complicated pattern makes you frustrated or your cohabitants request to use the dining room table for actual dining.  So you put it away.  But every day that passes makes it that much harder to pick it back up.  Eventually, it goes into the bin.

A Lesson Learned, A Project Saved

My Upper Michigan themed t-shirt blanket was the most recent craft that took up residence in my bin.  How’d it end up there?  Let’s just say it was a casualty of my long-standing feud with sewing machines (see rant at right).  It was also evicted after a month-long stay on the dining room table. 

This was particularly upsetting for me because I’d been so excited to make my blanket.  It was one of those projects that had me hopping out of bed in the middle of the night to sketch my ideas or search for supplies.  I just couldn’t let it go, so I decided to address the real problem.  I’d run out of thread halfway through the final edge and I couldn’t get it to sew correctly no matter what I tried.  I’d rethread it once and get big tangled bubbles on top, I’d rethread it again and it would rip underneath.  I wanted to scream in frustration.  Instead, I decided to reread the directions.  With 20 steps you’re bound to miss something, right? 



When all else fails, read the directions!

It isn't easy to admit this, but as it turns out my t-shirt blanket (and every other project I've attempted to make with a sewing machine) was a victim of user error.  Though I doubt I'm the first to make this mistake.  Once I properly rethreaded the bobbin, I was able to finish my blanket and rescue a project from my bin.  A good day indeed!





The finished project.