On my fridge there is a magnet from Missouri Star Quilt Company that states "Better Finished Than Perfect." I really like that sentiment. It really speaks to me. I am not a perfectionist and I tend to get bored with projects about half way through. Rather than rip out every little mistake, I tend to leave well enough alone. Don't get me wrong I fix mistakes. But if my points aren't perfect and my corners don't quite match up, I will most likely leave it. I quilt because I like to create. I probably will never be a competition quilter but that is okay too. I am still working on my craft. I am still trying to learn from each quilt. It is a process as much as a craft. But I do not worry about being perfect. It is something that I must learn to strive for.
Lack of perfection is not my only down fall. I get bored about halfway though projects. Well maybe not so much as bored as I get excited about another project. I have a quilt that I cut all the pieces for about nine years ago. It was suppose to be for my daughters high school graduation. I have yet to sew a singe piece together. It is sitting very nicely in a plastic storage tote waiting on me to get back around to it. Her wedding quilt is waiting to be quilted and she has been married for over 3 years. I have way too many projects half way done. In fact, half way is generous. So in order to get a project done, I sometimes give my self deadlines. Or refuse to let myself start another project until I finish one. This only partly works. I am not disciplined enough to stick all the way to it. Plus I am also waiting for my long arm to do the quilting.
So these past two weeks, I have not been keeping my goal to sew a little every night. As a result I am behind on the Christmas Lemonade quilt. I did not sew four blocks a day for at least 10 days. So yesterday, I sewed 28 blocks. Yea!!! Then I stopped and worked a little on the Studio. I sat down to work on the blocks again but didn't feel like it. My daughter, Tatianna, wisely told me to quit trying to make up for the days I missed. She pointed out that I was defeating the purpose of quilting. It was becoming a chore rather than a pleasure. She was right of course. How can some thing releive stress when it becomes a source of stress.
So today, I worked a little on the quilt, no blocks completed but I did get some squaring up and cutting done. I also worked a little on the studio. It is no where close to organized but I am making slow progress.
On a brighter note, the reason I have not been sewing is that I am working on getting the Long Arm. Oh and getting the car insurance mess cleared up. (I miss my little toyota) The evenings have been filled with paper work for the financing. So where I have let some goals slide, I have worked on the others. Hopefully, I will get everything back on track and make some progress on my other goals. I guess I really have to because I need the studio in shape before the Long arm arrives.
Better Finished Than Perfect - While I like the sentiment, I don't necessarily live it. I have several projects not finished. and while I am not a perfectionist. I do want my quilts to be as good as possible. I just don't need them to be perfect. I quilt for people I care about. They know I am not perfect. They also know the love that goes into a quilt. So while I am going to get better about finishing projects and I am going to try and learn something from each and every one.
What Quilting motto do you like?
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Jumping In With Both Feet
The time has come to jump in with both feet. I am taking this quilting thing to a whole new level. I am buying the Long Arm. Whew! that was kind of scary. Matter of fact it is still scary. I am sure this is what I want and need to do but still that is a lot of money. But I am committed, I put down a deposit and applied for financing. The whole thing has been set in motion. I just hope I don't regret it as I will have to work until it is paid off. (work is not all that great right now)
All of this took place last Wednesday. I took off work and drove to Lake City, FL to attend an APQS Roadshow. I wanted answers about what could be added later and what I needed to get right away. I also wanted to know the advantages and disadvantages of some of the features. I wanted to be sure they were worth the extra money to me. I was not sure until that morning that I would be getting the Quilt path as I wasn't sure I wanted to go into debt over it. But my wonderful husband told me to get it even though it meant financing. The Roadshow deal gave me all I wanted, at the price I wanted, so I moved forward with it.
So why would someone that has a blog entitled "Quilting Wanna Bee" jump into that commitment with both feet. There are several reasons.
First, I see it as a way to supplement my retirement income. I don't have to make a lot of money but I am sure that any retiree could use a little extra now and then. If I buy it now it is paid for when I retire and that means I can use whatever I make to feed my quilting addiction.
Second, while I am not an competition quilter, I do love to quilt. I have been quilting off and on since I was young. This will help me to get projects finished and on to the next one so I can improve. Besides I need to practice using it.
Third, I can't stand how long it takes to hand quilt things (Heirloom items included). My hands get tired very easily and I am prone to carpal tunnel problems. Plus I am one of those people who likes to see progress on a project every time I work on it. I don't get that with hand quilting.
Fourth, I can't machine quilt big quilts on my machine. It is woefully un-equipped to do any quilts bigger than a throw. I can't manage to get the hang of moving the quilt at an even speed to do any type of free-motion. I just don't have the right tool for what I want to do. The long arm is the right tool.
Fifth, I think this would make my parents happy. Most of the money for the machine is coming from money that my parents left me. I was really good and paid off a lot of debt and got somethings done that made our lives easier. But I know that my parents would also want me to spend a little on myself. So I am. In fact the only reason I am getting financing is so I can get the computerized system. I will need that if I am going to quilt for others.
So yeah, I am a little bit of crazy but I am making that commitment to get better at what I do. I am taking the next step. As the saying goes "if you would have a virtue, assume it". Decide what you want to become and start being that person. It is time for me to stop wishing I was better at quilting and commit the time and effort to becoming better at quilting. That is what I am trying to do.
Bonus reason, it will help Tatianna as well. We both will improve, finish projects, and maybe earn some money as well.
What are you trying to accomplish?
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Bad Math and Sudden Realizations
Last week, I was counting up the blocks and how much more time I would have to put in on the Christmas Lemonade Quilt. I counted incorrectly. I thought I had 80 blocks and if I did 4 a day, I could get the blocks done in a little over 2 weeks. That was keeping in mind I had just done 16 blocks. I figured another week to put the top together. I even bought some fabric for borders and backing. I was excited to get this project done and move on.
Now I don't know how I came up with the 80 blocks. I had four turnovers. Each turnover had 80 half square triangles in it. That is 320 half square triangles. Once sewn together that equals 160 blocks. When all the blocks are completed, I will have 160 blocks not 80. Some where along the line I halved the number. It may have been because I had done the blocks in sets of two.
I am usually very good in math. I like to run number problems in my head when I am bored. I can generally add numbers faster in my head, than most people can punch them into a calculator. So for me to make that silly error is unusual. It is not a big deal but it does means that it will take a little longer to get the quilt done.
Of course the real issue could have been the fabric I bought for the borders and backing. I don't usually get that stuff until the quilt is about done. But I saw some fabric I liked at the local Walmart (no booing or hissing, this is good stuff). I thought "Okay that will work." Since the bolts were kind of low, I figured I better go ahead and buy it. You never know if the fabric you like today, is going to be there when you are ready to buy it. I had no choice but to buy it now. I thought about what I needed for a quilt made up of 80 five inch blocks. I mentally laid out the quilt and I figured out what size it would end up. I estimated what I would need for 3 inch borders, binding and backing then added a little to be safe. Like I said the fabric was getting kind of low on the bolts and I wanted to be able to finish the quilt. At this point I hadn't realized my mistake. And of course I have 160 blocks. A recipe for disaster if ever there was one.
As I was waiting for the person to come cut the fabric, I estimated how much fabric was on each bolt. I figured one bolt had about 3 yards and the other was around 4-1/2 to 5 yards. They were two different red prints both of which I really liked. I got to thinking about my stash. I tend to favor blues, greens, purples, and pinks. Consequentially the color selection of my stash has been rather limited. So over past few years I have been trying to broaden the color selection of my stash. I knew I didn't have much red in my stash and I see red as a very traditional color in quilting. Logically I had no choice but to get what was left of both fabrics. By the way, my estimation was pretty close. The one had 3-1/2 yards the other had 5 yards.
Later that night as I was finishing up my 40th block, I realized that I was not half way through the blocks. I was no where close to half way through. In fact I was only a quarter of the way through them. I will not lie and say I wasn't a bit disappointed. I thought I would be moving on to another quilt in about a month. But that is okay. This way the quilt will be more of a bed size quilt. Best of all because I bought the extra fabric, I still can put the boarders and backing I want on it.
I don't know how many times experienced quilters have told me "buy a little extra fabric for your projects". Their reasoning was if you make a mistake in cutting you will still be able to finish the project. If you don't make a mistake, you have some left for exchanges or scrappy quilts. I think the main reason is because so many of us fail to finish projects in a timely manner and then when we get around to finishing a project and we make a mistake, we can't get the fabric. I know I have always been glad when I follow the buy extra rule.
What advice have you gotten that you were glad you followed?
Now I don't know how I came up with the 80 blocks. I had four turnovers. Each turnover had 80 half square triangles in it. That is 320 half square triangles. Once sewn together that equals 160 blocks. When all the blocks are completed, I will have 160 blocks not 80. Some where along the line I halved the number. It may have been because I had done the blocks in sets of two.
I am usually very good in math. I like to run number problems in my head when I am bored. I can generally add numbers faster in my head, than most people can punch them into a calculator. So for me to make that silly error is unusual. It is not a big deal but it does means that it will take a little longer to get the quilt done.
Of course the real issue could have been the fabric I bought for the borders and backing. I don't usually get that stuff until the quilt is about done. But I saw some fabric I liked at the local Walmart (no booing or hissing, this is good stuff). I thought "Okay that will work." Since the bolts were kind of low, I figured I better go ahead and buy it. You never know if the fabric you like today, is going to be there when you are ready to buy it. I had no choice but to buy it now. I thought about what I needed for a quilt made up of 80 five inch blocks. I mentally laid out the quilt and I figured out what size it would end up. I estimated what I would need for 3 inch borders, binding and backing then added a little to be safe. Like I said the fabric was getting kind of low on the bolts and I wanted to be able to finish the quilt. At this point I hadn't realized my mistake. And of course I have 160 blocks. A recipe for disaster if ever there was one.
As I was waiting for the person to come cut the fabric, I estimated how much fabric was on each bolt. I figured one bolt had about 3 yards and the other was around 4-1/2 to 5 yards. They were two different red prints both of which I really liked. I got to thinking about my stash. I tend to favor blues, greens, purples, and pinks. Consequentially the color selection of my stash has been rather limited. So over past few years I have been trying to broaden the color selection of my stash. I knew I didn't have much red in my stash and I see red as a very traditional color in quilting. Logically I had no choice but to get what was left of both fabrics. By the way, my estimation was pretty close. The one had 3-1/2 yards the other had 5 yards.
Later that night as I was finishing up my 40th block, I realized that I was not half way through the blocks. I was no where close to half way through. In fact I was only a quarter of the way through them. I will not lie and say I wasn't a bit disappointed. I thought I would be moving on to another quilt in about a month. But that is okay. This way the quilt will be more of a bed size quilt. Best of all because I bought the extra fabric, I still can put the boarders and backing I want on it.
I don't know how many times experienced quilters have told me "buy a little extra fabric for your projects". Their reasoning was if you make a mistake in cutting you will still be able to finish the project. If you don't make a mistake, you have some left for exchanges or scrappy quilts. I think the main reason is because so many of us fail to finish projects in a timely manner and then when we get around to finishing a project and we make a mistake, we can't get the fabric. I know I have always been glad when I follow the buy extra rule.
What advice have you gotten that you were glad you followed?
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Slow Progress, New Projects
Well, it has happened to me once again. Progress on my current project slows down and I start to get excited about a new quilt project. Right now I have two projects planned and I am not even half way through the Christmas Lemonade quilt. I have most of the fabric cut for my star quilt and now picked up some fabric for Missouri Star Quilt Company's Square Dance quilt. Not to mention the kits and other projects that I have set fabric aside to do. I have more plans than I do time.
Life got in the way this week and we (my family) have been called to other projects. So I did not quilt until Saturday and then only for a few hours. I did work a little on the studio though. Well very little. I need to get busy in there if I am going to get organized by the end of the month.
I didn't work quite as many hours this week and I found my mood improving as the week went on. I still find I am very tired by the time I get home. I am hoping that vitamins will help with the exhaustion. Vitamins and better sleep. I need to give a shout out to my sister in law Brenda. (Because I know it was her doing) She and my brother sent us essential oil diffusers and oils for Christmas. I have been using the oil for sleep and I really think it has helped. In fact the nights that I haven't used it, I didn't sleep as well. But this is about quilting and not sleeping.
So on Saturday, I started to cut up my blocks. I decided the way to go was to do about 4 blocks at a time. This way I gave my back a break from cutting and I could keep the squares straight. First I cut off the dog ears. Then I should have squared up the block but I didn't with this first one. You will see why squaring it up is important later.
I took the the squares and cut them into fourths. That gave me four little squares that were 2 3/4 inches.
As you can see the four little squares are made up of 2 half square triangle blocks and two solid blocks.
To give the block a little variation I turned the half square triangle a 180 degrees. and sewed it back together.
I then squared the block up to a five inch square. I am a little excited to get these done and laid out for the quilt.
These worked up pretty well once I started squaring up the original block to 5 3/4 inches before cutting them into fourths. But when I skipped that step, I got this funky mismatched block. Fortunately I was able to square it up to five inches. It could have been too small and I would be down a block.
Always take the time to square things up. Taking short cuts could be disastrous. Fabric is too expensive to waste because you want to get things done. The old adage "Haste makes Waste" is very true.
I was chatting with my friend Cindy, and she told me she hates pre-cuts. She always has a problem with accuracy. If I was as accomplished at piecing as she is then I would blame the mismatched points on the pre-cuts. But I have to be honest and say I am probably to blame. It is an area I need to work on.
Jenny Doan says, No one has ever turned down one of her quilts just because the points don't match. I never had that problem either. I think as I get more practice I will improve. I am trying to make the points line up. But I am not going to tear my hair out over it.
So I have 80 blocks to cut apart and sew back together. I managed to get 16 done this weekend. Doing sets of four at a time and doing a set each night, I figure it will take a couple of weeks just to get the blocks sewn together. I am trying to not get bored with it. So I may work on some other projects along the way. But I will work on this project every night. That is my current goal.
What do you do when a project gets boring?
Life got in the way this week and we (my family) have been called to other projects. So I did not quilt until Saturday and then only for a few hours. I did work a little on the studio though. Well very little. I need to get busy in there if I am going to get organized by the end of the month.
I didn't work quite as many hours this week and I found my mood improving as the week went on. I still find I am very tired by the time I get home. I am hoping that vitamins will help with the exhaustion. Vitamins and better sleep. I need to give a shout out to my sister in law Brenda. (Because I know it was her doing) She and my brother sent us essential oil diffusers and oils for Christmas. I have been using the oil for sleep and I really think it has helped. In fact the nights that I haven't used it, I didn't sleep as well. But this is about quilting and not sleeping.
So on Saturday, I started to cut up my blocks. I decided the way to go was to do about 4 blocks at a time. This way I gave my back a break from cutting and I could keep the squares straight. First I cut off the dog ears. Then I should have squared up the block but I didn't with this first one. You will see why squaring it up is important later.
I took the the squares and cut them into fourths. That gave me four little squares that were 2 3/4 inches.
As you can see the four little squares are made up of 2 half square triangle blocks and two solid blocks.
To give the block a little variation I turned the half square triangle a 180 degrees. and sewed it back together.
I then squared the block up to a five inch square. I am a little excited to get these done and laid out for the quilt.
These worked up pretty well once I started squaring up the original block to 5 3/4 inches before cutting them into fourths. But when I skipped that step, I got this funky mismatched block. Fortunately I was able to square it up to five inches. It could have been too small and I would be down a block.
Always take the time to square things up. Taking short cuts could be disastrous. Fabric is too expensive to waste because you want to get things done. The old adage "Haste makes Waste" is very true.
I was chatting with my friend Cindy, and she told me she hates pre-cuts. She always has a problem with accuracy. If I was as accomplished at piecing as she is then I would blame the mismatched points on the pre-cuts. But I have to be honest and say I am probably to blame. It is an area I need to work on.
Jenny Doan says, No one has ever turned down one of her quilts just because the points don't match. I never had that problem either. I think as I get more practice I will improve. I am trying to make the points line up. But I am not going to tear my hair out over it.
So I have 80 blocks to cut apart and sew back together. I managed to get 16 done this weekend. Doing sets of four at a time and doing a set each night, I figure it will take a couple of weeks just to get the blocks sewn together. I am trying to not get bored with it. So I may work on some other projects along the way. But I will work on this project every night. That is my current goal.
What do you do when a project gets boring?
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