Starting over... again and again

I have my students create sketch after sketch before starting a project.  They hate it. I tell them over and over again, "better to start over on a sketch than start over on a project."  So why is it, that on my last three projects, I have started over every time? And not just a little start over, I mean, nearing completion and then throwing the thing out.  Sometimes I get a better idea, sometimes I just don't like it, sometimes I get bored with it.  Whatever the case may be, someone on a limited amount of studio time (me) should be learning to use time more wisely.  






For example, Unity.  I started this piece and created the entire thing with stitching.  Hand stitching. No machine work. It was the exact same image, but done with thick solid threads.  After working on it for DAYS, I hated it, threw it out, and started over.  Do I love the final piece? Yes. Should I have focused on planning before hand? Yes.  

Then there was Charley's Giraffe.  I have already admitted to procrastination on this, but spending an entire day working on a background painting only to find that it looked too 'grown-up' for a child's nursery didn't help. Best to throw it out and start over!  




Now I am working on Caitlin's Cats.  I've been working on this since October, but started over last weekend.  There were two driving forces.  First, I don't have to have it completed until Christmas because I know she isn't coming home before then.  Second, I hated it.  It was very small and geometric.  The background kept the cats in seperate sections which made it look too uniform.  I found myself not working on it simplly because I didn't want to.  (You also have to realize that one of these cats knocked my toothbrush in a toilet, so finding motivation to work on her can be difficult.)  

Last weekend I pulled out different fabric, drew some cat silouhettes and started sewing.  I like the detail in this new background and am ready to begin again.  Lets hope I can keep it at just two re-dos now....