SueSew

k3n, I like your way of treating a quilt that has become a mistake and a burden. In cost accounting, there is the concept of sunk cost. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging! Divest your dogs, invest in your shooting stars.

However, if one quilts for a living it is essential to milk the cash cows, and that may mean using the same quilt design or same kind of fabric over and over again, as rapidly as possible, to get the product to market.

maryp

i love taking my time doing my quilts .work on it when i want to. and its great feelin to look at when its all finished

C.

I LOVE IT ALL.....And reflecting on my past quilts I have made, for the most part, they were all challenging, intricate, exciting, enjoyable, time consuming (but in a good way), always learning and growing with each one, filled with anticipation and I was not in a hurry in the way of just wanting to get it done. For me, I want to feel that way when I make most of my quilts. I admit, that the charity quilts I make take less time, but still enjoy the process. I don't want it to be a hurry up process just to start another, I want to take it all in. Don't care if I am slow at it. And I love that there are sooooo many to look forward to that will be wonderful to make......

weezie

It's odd that you bring up this topic because I have been wondering myself what is all the hoopla about "speed, speed, speed" ... i.e., 'you can cut more pieces at once by doing .....' Everyone promoting quilt notions & methods seems to emphasize speed; I thoroughly appreciate all tips to promote accuracy, so if a tip involves both speed & accuracy, that's a good thing.

The things that somewhat nag at me to get a move-on are all my WIPs and my age. My age will not be a problem if I continue to be healthy.

I've lost count of how many quilt tops I have stored away. I don't consider myself ADD, but I do get bored easily and thus have different kinds of quilts in various stages of construction at the same time. There's hand quilting (2 king-sized); there's FMQ that I need to practice; and there's a ton of embroidery designs on my computer that are destined for quilt blocks. I also want to do some drawing (again ... I did it a lot when I was young) and have bought Inktense pencils, so as to add details to my machine embroidered theme quilts.

Even so, when I'm actually doing any of the quilt making process, I never hurry. I don't enjoy the process as much and tend to make mistakes when I get in a hurry.

weezie

My first quilt was a king sized (not for the faint hearted!) very complex 'Bouquet Star' and I am still hand quilting it 14/15? years later. It has many "no-no's" in it, such as cheap backing fabric and an odd assortment of fabrics in the top and I sewed them together with (don't laugh!) nylon thread. My initial hand quilting is about 3 or 4 stitches to an inch; now it is more than double that. I think that's hilarious. In spite of all its warts, it is a mighty cute quilt and someday, when it is completed and before I hand it over to my husband, I hope to share a photo of it with the QB members.

k3n

I'm not laughing - sounds a little like my first full quilt. And I look forward to seeing it. :-D

bnndr

I enjoy the process and progress of quilt making, but..... I am always thinking ahead and by time I have one quilt top appliqued, I am moving one to quilt number two and begin cutting the material getting it ready for the next applique quilt and still working on quilt one, putting the blocks/pieces together for the quilt top. By the time I have quilt one in the frame to quilt, I have one more quilt ready to put together and one more getting ready to design. Just cant help myself.... have to have more than one quilt going at a time as most quilters do I am sure.

Rose Marie

I tell myself Im going to slow down and enjoy the process but I find myself getting impatient and speeding up.
I wish I could shut out distractions of other projects I want to try.
There are just so many different quilts I want to make.

JanTx

As I've mentioned I fit quilting in around a full-time and a part-time job. The main satisfaction I get from my quilts is in giving them away. Because I do make the quick/easy patterns in just this year:
5 high school graduates from my church family have quilts
4 Quilts for Kids have gone to hospitalized children
5 new babies have been welcomed with quilts
2 new grandmothers were blessed with quilts
my mother had a new quilt for her birthday
2 co-workers who lost their jobs had quilts
1 retiring principal left with a quilt
my grandchildren had Grammy-made quilts to nap under at their pre-schools.....

I don't consider that work sloppy or rushed. I made what I could in the time I had to comfort/welcome/congratulate the people who received them.

As I worked through these simple projects love flowed through my hands. Perhaps the level of involvement represented in this thread will come to me later on, but for now .. I'll take this.

EagarBeez

I had a deadline on the last quilt I made, but, since I don't have any deadlines, I am enjoying the process more. I am working on a log cabin for my sister. It's the first log cabin, and first strip that I am making, when I finish each block, I am enjoying more and more. Can't wait till I start putting the blocks together.