Sunday, January 11, 2009

Quilt-a-thon in progress

Well, it is that time again. Judy L. is hostessing the first quilt-a-thon of the year over at Patchwork Times. And while I am perfectly capable of getting a bit of quilting done on my own, I find it much more fun when I feel like I have someone else quilting with me.



This weekend I am focusing on two things. One is finishing up with the reorganization of my quilting space. But I will save all that for a later post. My other focus is working on some kits I purchased on-line over the past year or so. These kits were sold as mystery quilts, so I had no idea what I was getting, other than a table topper kit, or a lap quilt kit. And the kits were originally intended as gifts. But when I saw them, I decided against that. One of the kits was actually short some pieces. But I only caught that while I was working on it, so I am really glad I did not give it as a gift. I had to add the green fabric to the top below to make up for the missing fabric. As you can see, it was a pretty substantial omission on the part of the quilt shop. That shop no longer exists, by the way. I'm not at all surprised by that, are you?


What I have learned this weekend is this- I do not enjoy working on quilts where someone else has planned the fabrics and colors and all. In fact, I find it excruciatingly difficult. I know it is my inner control freak combined with my left-hander's right brain demanding creative control. And I think from now on, I surrender. My quilts need to be all my own choices.

Will I need to relearn this lesson again one day? Probably. That's just me. Will I finish these quilts? Umm, the first one shown, yes; the other two probably not. I will use the runner in my sewing room. The two smallish lap-quilt tops will not likely ever be finished by me. I just don't like them. In fact, I think I will give them away. That way they won't clutter my sewing space.

1 comments:

ColorJoy LynnH said...

Looks like the last 2 were "play it safe, sell a bunch" sorts of kits. No wonder you don't like them. You are much better at choosing colors and designs than these kit makers were.

It's good to understand what you love, though. We use creativity for fun and enjoyment. For me, the planning of something is much more fun than the executing of it. If I did not pick the materials, color and design, it would not be fun to execute. Might as well be a factory, or so it feels.

It's great to go back to things that sat still for a while, though. I got out something I'd not worked on for at least a year and a half. Loved it, but got stuck at a decision-making place for a while. I'm back working on it again, it's a lot of fun.

Lynndy