Stitch The Sketch #12: The Gift of Progress

Episode 12 is about drawing a regular street scene that can be found in any town. Later, I’ll also talk about why you should give yourself a gift of progress. I live in New England and when I drive from one state to the other, I’m always surprised to see how similar Main Street looks across the states.

As always, I started with a pencil sketch. I like to pencil sketch before thread sketching because it helps with my cell memory.  My brain and hands get familiar with the intricacies of the design as I sketch with pencil then with thread.

I’m quite positive that it doesn’t matter to the brain whether I’m working on paper or on fabric.  Whatever learning I achieve on paper is easily transferred to fabric. For example, when I doodle a quilting design on paper several times till it becomes easy to draw, I experience a similar ease of execution when I go to thread sketch that design on fabric.

So here’s the pencil sketch I started with.

And then the thread sketch

And here’s the reverse side of this drawing

And finally, the video showing me creating this drawing on fabric. Scroll on after the video to read about why you should give yourself the gift of progress.

If the video does not appear, please click on this link.

Tips, Techniques, and Tools

3 Reasons Why You Need The Gift of Progress

1. Progress is easier to achieve than “Completion”. It’s all a matter of size and perspective.  Accomplishing small tasks within that entire project is easier to do.  So bite off little pieces rather than biting more than you can chew.
2. Progress makes you feel a sense of accomplishment which boosts your morale and gives you that extra lift (motivation) you need to carry you to the finish line.
3. Progress can be visualized. When you have a project to complete, it can be hard to see the end from the beginning. It’s hard to visualize how to accomplish the many facets of a big project. On the other hand, it’s easier to see and isolate small tasks that need to be done.

How The Gift of Progress Works in Practice

This is how I reward myself with the gift of progress when I’m drawing on fabric. I look out for the bigger spaces or shapes in my design that can easily be covered with a simple pattern.

Personally, I find shading with straight lines in a back and forth motion, easy to do.  So I’ll look for the largest space that needs to be covered this way and start to do just that.

When I’m done with that area and I step back to look at the work, it seems to me a lot has already been accomplished.

This sense of accomplishment gives me the desire to continue with “the little” that needs to be done.

So try it out! Give yourself the gift of progress. It’ll do wonderful things to your confidence. Finish something – a task or two – and see how easy and fast it’s going to be for you to complete your entire work.

Progress leads to motivation which in turn leads to success.

So focus on progress and before you know it, you’ll have achieved completion and success.

As always, I’ll love to hear from you. Leave a comment below.

Warmest Regards,

 

 

Watch all the Stitch the Sketch Videos and read about the techniques.