I front load my projects. I’m all power at the start. But most of my projects reach a snag at 75% completion. It’s darn dang a cryin’ shame!!! The Inauguration Quilt is a perfect example and not simply due to the fact that we’re a little past Inauguration Day. I pulled up short, stopped, caught a snag and hit that near 75% mark. I stopped!!! How did I manage to work with this dastardly burnout demon of mine?
Well I put a hex on the demon and caught him in a jar with some formaldehyde of course. Wouldn’t you? Then I put the quilt up and called a stop to the burn out. The seal on the jar is tight and the quilt doesn’t smell. Whew, ha?
But seriously, I’m not into action plans and lists so I wait for the Spirit of the Quilt to call to me. I pay attention to friends that give me a “shout out” about this quilt or that quilt. I consider it a sign that I need to start thinking of restarting something when they do. I don’t do pressure or deadlines but I can deal with committed endurance when the project is right.
Still, at 75% with this piecing the calls are falling on deaf ears. I do love the quilt and the pattern is pretty & mostly all mine. Although the thought of getting back to work on it slays me! I wonder if I’ll get back at 75% on this and have the committed endurance to finish it. Do you have a place where you notice you have tendency to burnout similar to what I’ve just shared, do you have any demons in a jar of formaldehyde?
I’m really interested to hear if you’ve noticed a place during the quiltmaking/piecing process that really could snag you if you thought about it.
Karen, I'm with the folks who said their stopping point is borders. Borders are yucky. Other than the advantage of finishing the quilt top, borders can only make your quilt Not Good. If you do them perfectly, they are Neutral. If you don't, then your quilt gets worse. I dither and dither when it comes to borders, so that must be why the last two quilts I pieced had none!
Quilts take time and some take longer than others. As long as you're enjoying it, does it matter, I think not. The basting part gets me every time.
It is nice to have a blog to rat yourself out. I done that before. For me I can say when I was new to quilting I got frustrated a lot and that was what stopped me. When things did not go perfectly I stopped.
Yep, once I can really see what a top is going to look like I have to make myself finish putting it together before moving on to something new — so 50 – 75% is about right…of course, I'm just talking about piecing the top — the quilting doesn't count because I don't mind if a top sits around for a while — its just those projects still in pieces that I object to.
Most of the time I make myself finish a top before starting another although occasionally I'll have 2 unfinished ones at the same time. I still have UFO's in pieces from several years ago but now I might just one top in a years time that doesn't get get to the finished top stage.
Karen Dee, I get distracted with one project so fast. So then I went over to making fast and easy quilts…but that is not so much fun. My next step will be to work on more complex projects, but I will stop before the 75%. I think for all your advanced work 75% is so good!
75% is good. Keep on going, girl, it looks great!
Hmmmmm….I do get hung-up on certain quilts, sometimes cuz somethin' else (new and exciting)comes along, sometimes I can't piece worth a dang (I have more of those times than I care to admit), and sometimes cuz another project calls my name. I don't even get to 75% most of the time! You are my heroine for getting that far! I love, love, love that quilt, by the by! When the Quilt Spirit calls you to finish that quilt, you will! Then it will have a nice, warm home….at my house! I know – NOT!!
I love your progress! I hear that it is all in the journey, not in the finish…is that true? For me it is, at least somewhat. I do not like to put borders on, as I am not good at it. I have about 25 quilt tops ready for quilting, so that is a stall area for me. I just cherish the times that I have a finish! A quilt, ready for the bed…a time to celebrate. Maybe that is why it is uncommon, because the rarer, the more precious a thing, the more we are elated about it!
Hey, stranger!!! *giggle* (Who's stranger than me, right?!)
Ironically…it's the machine quilting that trips me up nearly every time. Crazy, yes?
Bottled up hugs….
Pass the Pickles was stalled on the design wall for weeks on end. It is now back in the storage boxes while I work on another project. The quilty guardian angel has to call out or I cannot proceed . . . happens most often before I begin, during the pondering period, but it also happens just past mid-way when I am physically tired from doing. I'm learning to let this happen because sometimes good things appear during the lull (other times I merely rest). Love the quilt you've pulled out – all in due time!
I love that quilt. I am so glad you got it out again. As for stalling on a quilt, for me it is usually the borders. I am in the home stretch and I get antsy for the next project. I have a quilt on my design wall that I have been playing with for over a year. It is 3/4 put together, but meanwhile i have finished lots of other things. Go figure.
Actually starting anything stops me on a dime. I go full-tilt boogie on designing and drawing and screech to a shuddering halt when it comes time to actually cut into the fabric. What? you want me to MAKE something? So when you see me actually produce something you can just about double the time it takes because I have probably made about 6 or 7 of them already, only on paper.
I always get to about 75% done and stop and get distracted doing something else. Borders are regular demons but the ginormous demons are getting the back pieced together and getting the blasted things quilted. I can piece blocks and quilt tops from now till eternity but I detest those large pieces of fabric.
Well at least 75% is better than 50% Karen…before you know it it will be 100%..
I like to make up a quilt as I go and keep going on a quilt, if I put it away that's it, that's where it stays for far too long.
I can never ever make the same quilt twice!
Julia ♥
This seems to be the only area we differ in. I get close to finishing and I get excited. I can't wait to wrap myself in that quilty goodness.
Let's see…I love planning the quilt and picking out the fabric but then it sits for awhile…I make the blocks but then they decorate my design wall for awhile (that is if they don't get put in a bag and chucked into the closet…when the blocks are made into a top that is really scary (hence the more than two dozen quilt tops on hangers in the closet) and then there is having to make binding after the to is quilted – don't like that part at all…so if I could just play in fabric and make blocks I'd be perfectly happy!
PS I'm a fool who didn't write
I LOVE YOUR 75% completed demon.
Just keep swimming……to quote a Sophia movie.
I think I'm a quilter who hates quilting……….ah there written, out loud (I guess if people actually read comments out loud) for others to read.
I adore piecing! I could piece professionally by hand! I like quilts when I first start them a lot. Seeing a new design emerge and then once I've seen it, really seen it, I see something else…..
Is this bad? Only if I think that completion is my goal. If I think I'm enjoying doing this, it makes me happy, takes me to a good place, then I'm ok with a lot of half pieced quilt tops floating around.
I always seem to lose steam at the border!
Let me think….why do I like to quilt? Binding bores me…..Not crazy about the quilting…AT ALL. Hate putting borders on……Sewing blocks into rows is tedious. But I love picking fabrics from my stash….Or, of course shopping for more….figuring out how to put together a new block can be challenging……sitting at the computer designing a new quilt is motivating. And seeing a finished product is a reward and inspiration to do it all over again. It's a full circle with lots of kinks!
Borders. I break down during the border stage. I get the top together, fold it up and put it away. If I plan ahead, at least I have purchased the border fabric to attach at some later date.
Like you, I stall about 3/4's of the way and then once the top is done, I get stalled again on the borders. New projects keep calling me all the time. When the time is right, this little beauty will get done.
Still love what you are doing with your Cabin Tracks …..
I can get the top together, but then it sits until I can get it quilted~ then I love it all over again, but getting the binding on usually isn't a priority. So it sits until I get the mojo to do bindings.
Your quilt is going to be a beauty, I'd keep working on it! 
)
I love the words “committed endurance”. I guess that I don't really hit the 75% limit – I mostly like to finish up a quilt before I go on to another (wait, stop – don't throw shoes – unless they are pretty ones I can wear for the holidays LOL). While we are confessing – I guess I should say that I don't have much of a stash either – I have a friend that keeps threatening to take me shopping so I can build up a stash – she says it's not normal.
I can tell you that I'm excited about fabric selection, cutting the pieces and then getting the blocks going…after a bit I have this thing where I'm not so sure I like the color choices…I leave it sit and walk away to come back another day. At times I think what was I thinking? Or…think to myself if I press on will I like it more once I see this border on it? Then I may have a completed top to sit FOREVER because I've totally fallen out of love with it. BUT…for whatever reason a new demon takes over and I decide to quilt it up to give it away..get it out of here AND THEN THIS IS WHEN IT HAPPENS!! I fall in love with it all over again. I've learned to keep pressing forward…even if it takes a few years for completion.
As I write this….buzz saw has been sitting close to a year now…all it needs is some sort of border treatment..I guess it is at 75% and will remain that way for a wee bit longer.
Obviously, you've hit a nerve. So many people seem to have this problem. I don't think I do this much really, although some things get pushed to the back burner, like the Boring Baskets, I do finish.
Basting usually stops me in my tracks! And, of course, I get so distracted by new ideas I want to try that I end up with 3 or 4 large quilts on the go at the same time.
I get stuck at the borders. I hate sewing on long borders. But I've captured my demon too, by not sewing on borders…I just plan my quilts to work without them. I really admire those quilts with the beautiful vine-y appliqued border and would LOVE to make one, but I know that will never ever ever happen.
I piece quit tops, then come to a full stop cos I can't decide how to quilt it. Still, a bit of time spent with my computer design package usually gets me over that problem. Because I don't have the space to leave my frame up all the time, I then tend to start another top, etc, till I've got 3 or more all waiting for quilting, then up goes the frame, out comes Big Bertha, down goes the pile!
By the way, if you're making that quilt as my Christmas present, you'd better get it finished soon. When's the last posting date for parcels to the UK?
I have noticed a similar problem in my work. I get distracted by something new, and well, you know what happens then. Karmen
Aaargh! It would be assembling rows. I like to make blocks. Oh, I LOVE to make blocks. And to put them up on the design wall (or husband as the case may be). But that's when I get stuck. Sewing the blocks together. Duh.
Genius can't be rushed….that quilt will be finished in its own good time!