angelicak777

I started piecing my quilt in 2014, right before my husband did an 8-week emergency stint in the Neuro/Cardiac ICU's. I put it away for a while after that, as he recovered (took a lot of my time and energy) and we moved across the state, then the country and I began school full time; general "life happens" stuff. Now I have dug it back out again and am trying to make more headway. I am hand-quilting 100% and I realize that will take longer, but holy buckets. I am ready to just get it put together and start the actual quilting!!

My other problem is, I wasn't sure if I would like quilting when I started this project. That being the case, I didn't want to invest a lot into something I might not keep up with and I bought the ugliest fabric ever because it was on sale for a very good price. LOL. Now that I know I like sewing, whenever I visit quilt/fabric shops to grab supplies I glance through the fabric and have slowly started collecting some beautiful stuff. I just want to drop the one I have and work with the prettier stuff.

How long did it take to finish your first quilt? Hand or machine? Is it "against the rules" to start a new project before finishing the last?

wesing

Hello and welcome to the board. First of all, hope your husband is ok. Second, love the helpers. Third, you sound like a very busy woman.

The only "rules" about projects are the ones you impose on yourself. I personally don't like having more than 2 or 3 projects going on at once. Some on this board have a dozen or more. Others only do theirs one at a time, start to finish. That being said, my wife and I agree that we quilt for fun and relaxation. If something gets too intense or ceases to be fun, we would have no problem passing the project to someone else, tossing the unfinished work in the scrap bin, or throwing it out. Space is also a consideration. If you have "quilter ADD" and store a bunch of unfinished objects (UFO's) you may run out of space for your fun stuff. You are the only one who can decide.

I will say that doing everything by hand would be terribly monotonous to me and I would tire of the project. If I were in your shoes I would look for a machine and use it to get this top finished. It sounds like you are nearing the end of your patience with it and it would be a shame to get so discouraged that you might not try again.

BTW, I saw your fabrics on the other thread and didn't think they were ugly at all.

Enjoy!

Darren

GEMRM

My beginner quilt took 3 years to finish because I wanted to hand quilt it and I lost momentum a couple of times. I did other things in-between too. No hard and fast rules - whatever works for you!

Boston1954

It is definitely not against the rules to do more than one at a time. If it were, most of us would be in the penalty box (hockey term). I have four going right now. Two machine applique and two pieced. Do what pleases you. I have UFO's that have been waiting for years.

cathyvv

No rules for quilting except that it has to hold together when finished.

My first quilt took me about 4 months to piece. My husband and I were care takers for my Mom who couldn't be left alone at the time. I needed something to do! I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT QUILTING! It still seemed like a good idea...

I bought the cheapest fabrics that I liked at Walmart. When the top was done, all I could see were my mistakes. I put it away for a few years, with a few instances of taking it out to see if I wanted to quilt it. Couldn't bring myself to do it!

Finally, I had a friend quilt it. Turns out I love it, and use it fairly frequently. It reminds me of that time with Mom.

Bottom line, if you are emotionally 'done' with it, put it away for awhile or give it away and let someone else finish it. Then move on to those beautiful fabrics!

A secret - I really only quilt as an excuse to buy fabric. That is more true than I let on....

Enjoy yourself with your quilting

Tartan

I had to give up hand quilting as it takes me a loooong time to do a full size quilt. There are so many patterns that I want to do that I had to develop my machine quilting skills. If you want to be done with the hand quilting, consider finishing it by machine.

Auntie M

Life is way too short to spend copious amounts of time on something you don't like. I'm with wesing and have given away or thrown out a few myself. I figure no loss as I've always learned something from even those projects.

pocoellie

I hope things are going well for your and your husband. As far as "finishing" your first quilt, it's EXTREMELY hard to work with AND finish a quilt that you don't like the fabrics or the colors. I would set it aside and work with the fabrics/colors that have "caught" your attention. I would also machine quilt it, although I do have 2 king size tops done that I THINK I would like to hand quilt, they've been waiting for around 3 years, have the batting cut and the backing ready, just haven't had the time.

dunster

When I decided to learn to quilt I signed up for a class. Like you, I went for the cheapest fabrics available. I bought a bunch of patriotic fabrics at JoAnn's that were on sale since the holiday had passed. I made a bunch of blocks in the class, laid them out and decided that the fabrics were horrible together. So I put those blocks and the remaining fabric aside, bought some fall fabrics at Walmart, and made that first quilt. But I kept the original blocks. Years later, I pulled them out and finished up that patriotic quilt with the horrible fabrics - and I love how it turned out! Here's the quilt - http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t174293.html

So, my point is that you may find that your tastes change down the road. Don't give up on your first quilt, but if you're tired of working on it then give yourself permission to start something else.

cjsews

Working on more than one project at a time is almost unheard of here. I always have too many projects. At one time. And before I finish one, I find a couple more I want to try. This board gives me so much inspiration. If you are tiriyof your quilt try to set a smaller time per week to work on that one and give a go at a new quilt in the remainder of your time. As long as your are having fun do what you want.