Procrastination

I made this quilt top over the weekend. 

Fast and easy applique and a little bit of piecing... easy peasy... and now I am stalled on the quilting part.  I made the back last night, and have to cut some batting to fit, pin it and quilt it... not hard, but I am procrastinating... Maybe hoping it will go away?... or quilt itself?... I am surrounding myself with other tasks, other things to do in avoidance of the quilting... why? 


I did see this article in this morning's NYT.  It addresses exactly the issue:

Like any modern office worker, my inbox every so often becomes an unwieldy mess of unanswered emails, half-written messages that need to be sent and more “Sorry I’m so late getting back to you!” notes than I ever thought I’d write. It’s usually fine, we all manage, that’s life.

But every so often, I have that one email I need to write but that I just can’t force myself to take care of. You know the type: It’s something you have anxiety about even after leaving the office, and you know you’re making it worse the longer you put it off. Maybe it’s not even an email. Maybe it’s a memo you have to write, a phone call you have to make, a meeting you have to set up, or whatever else.

I’m taking a wild guess here, but you probably thought of one specific thing on your to-do list while reading that last paragraph, right?

Psychologists call this kind of avoidance self-sabotage: It’s when we put off or ignore a situation or task to our own detriment because doing it would force us to confront our fears or anxieties. This often manifests itself in extreme procrastination (not that I’ve ever had problems with that), and there are many reasons we fall into these patterns.

Self-sabotage is particularly dangerous to our goals because it’s self-reinforcing. By putting off tasks we don’t want to do, we experience temporary relief at the thought of not having to do them, so the cycle continues.

The problem is, there’s really no trick for breaking out of that cycle: One way or another, you’re going to have to confront the thing you’re avoiding. You can, however, ease into it by focusing on self-compassionand going easy on yourself. Don’t beat yourself up for putting it off for this long — that’s already happened and there’s nothing you can do about it. Just act now to set things right.

So today, just take care of it. For me that meant finally writing that email; the emotional burden it lifted was incredible. Start your week on the right foot by closing this article (after you finish reading it, of course) and getting started on that one thing. You’re going to feel so much better after you’ve dealt with it, I promise.

Once you’re done, tweet me the thing you accomplished at @timherrera or email it to me at tim@....

Have a great week!

—Tim

Not sure I'd actually email him (I don't tweet), but I am inspired to get to work on what is vexing me...  I'm not afraid of quilting, just need to get to it.  I'm usually hesitant about design of the quilting, but once i get started, it all comes pretty easily.  

Not Changing.... just NOPE.

So my last post, I insisted I wasn't changing this block:

Didn't want to do all that ripping and resewing... however... the more I thought about it, the more I just couldn't let it lie.  I did the ripping... and the resewing - and here is my new block:

OMG, cannot believe the change in it... I am SO glad I made the alteration to it (I won't call it a correction because technically, there was nothing wrong with it - it was all aesthetics).  I am content with it now.

I also finished a quilt... one of two anyway.  I made two of these "You Lucky Dog" quilts designed by Bonnie Sullivan.  I am almost done quilting the second one... the hanging sleeve, label and binding are ready to go on, just waiting for the last stitches of the quilting to be done.  It measures 44x48.  The original quilt called for a very dark green sashing.  I replaced that with the light rust color. 

Agonizing over little things

It is in my nature I think to agonize over little things that others might not even think about much if at all.  I made these blocks over the last couple of days and put them all together with some previously made blocks, which I didn't look at before I made the more recent ones.    Now that I see them all together I am regretting some of my choices.

The blocks on the left that make up the big red diamond around the 'Love Deeply' block are kinda scrappy, because I thought they'd go with the first one better that way.  I didn't look at the one I'd made 10 months ago (the right-most part of the diamond under the word 'Grow') to see that it is instead made up of one red-orange fabric.  I could have done the same to each other bend in the diamond (top, left and bottom) in a different red fabric, but instead I made them scrappy - each one made of the three fabrics combined... sigh.  I think it's all little distracting the way it is.

I am NOT changing it now, though - that would require too much ripping and re-sewing.  It's gonna have to be what it is.  The whole quilt will be very busy, so perhaps it won't be so noticable in the final product.  I can only hope.

One more block to make for this quilt, and then borders, and I'm done... I'll be happy to have this finished in time for the recipient's birthday!

Mystery Looms...

I've been working on another mystery quilt, this one by Meadow Mist quilts... it's called the Mosaic Mystery... The first sewing clue was released a week ago, and my blocks are done...

These are my 'house' blocks for step one... I have NO clue what comes next ... (that is of course the nature of mystery quilts, but sometimes you can take an educated guess)...

My fabrics chosen for the quilt are these, with all the pre-cutting done that we were given instructions for:

As usual, I am agonizing still over my fabric choices, but it's all cut, so I'm not changing them now !  :)   I hope it comes out pretty, and not square (I hate making square quilts)...

Working through Adversity

I despise, hate and revile summer colds.  They are the worst!  Not sure if it's because the weather is hot and uncomfortable, making a fever and chills seem even worse or if it's the actual physical nature of the summer cold itself.  Whatever it is, I've felt miserable since Thursday night. It's Monday now and I still feel awful.

Despite feeling sick, I've still managed to play a game of D&D, keep up with my two games (Pokemon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite - doing pretty much the minimum I can get away with each day to stay current in them), prepare samples for a class I was supposed to teach on Saturday (and had to cancel) and sew a pair of dust covers for my Berninas. 

The first and largest of the two dust covers is completed:

I sized it to my Bernina 740, but I actually made it for my new 770, which hasn't arrived at the dealer yet.  Since the new 770 is a Tula Pink edition, I made the cover out of Tula Pink fabric, and it's purple and has squirrels, which I think are the cutest things ever, so that's a plus too (only cats would have been better, but I didn't have any TP cat fabric in my stash).  I managed to use up a bunch of purple binding scraps as well..  Now to just get that 770 in my hot little hands... can't wait til it arrives.
 
I made a 2nd dustcover for my little Bernina (a 350) too, but that one is not bound yet...  Since it is the 350SE Best Friends edition (with paw prints), I made that dustcover from paw print fabric. 

I may do a little quilting today on my second You Lucky Dog quilt, but mostly I'm gonna lay low and work on recovering.  Hopefully by tomorrow, I'll be back to myself again, with some energy and initiative.  Stay well!

State of the Stash 2019

As with last year, my cup runneth over with stash…

My stash (sans 7 bins of cat fabrics, 1 of panels and 1 of Asian prints

)

This year, in regards to fabric, I tried to buy only what I needed for immediate use, but:

I bought several wide backs and haven’t used them all yet… (I have 5 left out of about 15 purchased this year)

I bought fabric for a few One Block Wonders this year and have only made one of them (and it is actually started but not yet completed)… (an OBW usually takes about 4 yards of fabric minimum to make, and I usually buy an extra yard or two so I have the original fabric for borders or a strip on the back).

I have been working on several quilt-alongs and BOMs. All of them required fabric… some of it is now gone – one was sold (I made two of the same quilt, and they provided me so much fabric for each that I had enough for two in just the one kit, so I sold the second pattern and all the fabric for it)… I’ve got lots of leftover fabric from some quiltalongs that will be going to new homes very soon, so I’m not even counting that… but the fabric purchased as borders that I changed my mind on are a problem.

I’ve been ‘better’ this year about not acquiring fabric ‘just because’… I have bought almost no batiks just because I liked them, nor have I been purchasing prints or tonals ‘just because’… I have tried this year to limit my purchases to what I needed for current or ongoing projects… but sometimes I did buy a little too much. I hate having to go back for ½ yard because I was being too frugal initially, and then finding it’s from a different dye lot and doesn’t match.

I think I’ve got a finished quilt stash problem as well… my stash of completed quilts rivals that of some professional quilters who travel around doing trunk shows. I could definitely do a trunk show of my own, but I wouldn’t have a theme or cohesive style to show. I flit from project to project, style to style, technique to technique. Sigh. I need a bigger family to gift all these quilts to, but sadly I was not blessed with a large or close-knit family. My sister and I never speak (her choice, and I have no idea why).  I made her a quilt once, when our parents were still alive and she was still occasionally speaking to me.  She took it.. never really said much about it though she did thank me for it… I suspect it’s probably a cat bed now. My cousins all left the state, one is dead, the other two are pretty much MIA. Most of my close friends have already gotten quilts from me, or are quilters themselves and don’t want any more quilts...My friends who are not quilters have already all received multiples from me. My quilt cabinets (I have 4) are full, the guestroom bed and desk are piled with quilts and I've got a few stacks of finished quilts in the studio.  I gave 12 to Paradise Fire victims, 6 to the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild for the Thomas fire victims last year, and there is still no visible reduction in the piles. Sigh.

My thread collection has not grown considerably at least… I buy to replace and little more (Aurifil is expensive, though I've discovered Bluprint (Craftsy) thread is good too and my 770 likes it better, and it's less expensive).

Machines are another problem area. I bought a used 440 earlier this year (to replace the two 440s I traded in for my 740 three years ago and regretted the loss of. Have I used the 440 yet? No! I bought a 770 (purchased but not yet received – it isn’t going to be delivered to the dealer til Sept or October)… I did at least promise to trade in my 740 for it, so at least it won’t result in an increase in machines… I’m a bit overloaded with 2 FW’s, a vintage White in a cabinet (my mother’s machine, kept for sentimental value, a 1924 Singer 99 (my grandmother’s machine, can’t part with that), a 350SE (my travel/class/retreat machine) and my 740 (soon to be 770, my home machine)… it’s gotten out of hand!

So, that’s the state of my stash. IF you got this far, thanks for reading, if not and you just skipped to the end, that’s okay too. I’d really like to reduce my quantity of ‘stuff’’ again – maybe it’s time for another big ‘stash reduction sale’? I made about $3500 at my last sale, spent a chunk of it on a purple FW, but maybe this time, I’ll just bank it… DH wants to retire soon - it can go into my IRA and encourage him to take the plunge. 

The Endless HP Quilt...

I just got home from a 5 day retreat, where I pieced, quilted (no applique this time), bound, and did a little hand sewing as well (a label)...  

The endless Harry Potter quilt is almost done!  Well, one of them, anyway... I ran out of background for both quilts.  Quilt #1 needs lots of background to finish it for sashing and borders.  Quilt #2 needs a little background to finish it, for borders only.   I'm happy to have these almost ready for the longarmer (too big for my machines!)...

Here is a picture of quilt #2:

It's been so fun making these blocks... so fun I actually have 6 left over.... could have made another whole row (and a pillow)... if I wanted the quilt to hang over onto the ground off the end of the bed, that is.   I love it and can't wait to see it in use (this one is for me... the other, with a purple background, is for a friend)...

We even had a few visitors to our studio workroom during the retreat

 Mom, Dad, and 3 babies... so cute.....  They came to the door of our workroom to check out what we were doing.  The three young raccoons were very curious, but the parents were very protective of their little ones.  They did let us look as long as we kept our distance, even though we sort of 'chased' after them to take pictures.