Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Quilt Guilt

-quilt guilt.


 noun; that feeling one has when one should be working on this quilt or that quilt, but instead, one buys more fabric, starts three new projects (some not due for another four months) and generally procrastinates.*


Anyone hear me on this?  Half of my family (the husband and two older kiddos) went out of town for the Fourth of July holiday, and what did I work on?  Only five different projects!

1.  First up, I finally got around to cutting my Posy stash into 2.5 inch strips for a 16-patch baby quilt.  Now, this is what I'm really supposed to be working on.  For heaven's sake, this is for a baby who is at least 4 months old now!


2.  But after I cut that, I read this sad post and wanted to help make a quilt for Aneela, the talented lady who designed the fabric above.  So I grabbed some of that Posy to make two blocks from me, and then went to the charm packs of Sherbert Pips that Anne recently gave to me (sweet friend!) and made two blocks from her.  (She just moved.  She's at the beach, but her stuff is in storage, and I have no idea where her fabric ended up!)


3.  After making these blocks, I just couldn't put that sweet fabric down!  So here is where my sewing seriously digressed.  Instead of finishing up the above-mentioned baby quilt, I sat down and sewed a disappearing nine-patch with some Kona Ash sashing for my daughter, Marian's, 2nd birthday, which, I hesitate to mention, is not until November.  

(It's a bad picture; and I've since added another border.)

4.  In the picture below, you can see some blocks to the right of the Posy basket, yes?  This was the next thing I got distracted by.  Charlotte's first oncologist, Dr. Amy, is having a baby boy soon.  When we left Arizona, I desperately wanted to give her a thoughtful gift.  But I was only sewing crayon rolls at the time, and did not think that would be very useful for ordering chemo or writing up scripts of zofran.  But now she's expecting a baby boy!  I could not be more thrilled.  So I took some leftover blocks from Matthew's quilt, have made a few extra, completed the layout and now it's ready for sashing and for completing the quilt top.



5.  I then received this bundle of gorgeous "Mirabelle" fabrics (and other goodies!) in the mail from Cyndy.  I won her giveaway - hooray!  The sweet thing about this is that I've wanted this fabric but did not have a "real" reason for buying it other than a bit of nostalgia. You see, my fourth child, Marian, was born months before this fabric was released.  And the crazy thing is, she was "Mirabelle" in the womb for at least six months!  Really: even the cake at the baby shower had "Welcome, Baby Mirabelle" on it.  But about two weeks before she was born, my husband and I both confessed that we just did not feel right about the name.  It just did not seem to go well with "Elyse, Henry, Charlotte, and... Mirabelle?"   It was not until two hours after she was born that we settled on "Marian" as her name.  Crazy, eh?  So back to my quilt guilt distraction: I've been generally dreaming about what to make with this pretty bundle.  (Thanks, Cyndy!)


6. Then there was a sale on shipping over at Sew Me a Song and wow, I'm just a sucker.  I had to get this "Itsy Bitsy Spider" fabric (by Heather Ross) for my sweet Charlotte, because she just loves that song and the poor dear did not get a quilt for her last birthday.  But after cutting everything up into charm squares, I decided that I don't want to do another disappearing nine-patch, after I got it out of my system with the one that I showed you above.  So now what to do?!  I'm really crazy about the Rocky Mountain puzzle block and am thinking of this (check out Erica's version here: I'm just a tad obsessed), but then I'd have to re-cut my fabric and there'd be quite a bit of waste.  Or there's this quilt-along.  Well, any suggestions for charm squares, some of which I definitely want to highlight the fussy-cutting?


7. Last but not least, I pulled out the lavender color way of the Briar Rose layer cake that I had left over after making this quilt.  I paired them with solids, followed this tutorial, and wow - I am loving this baby quilt!  Again, such distraction because I did not have a recipient in mind.  But after adding those solids and seeing how they definitely increase the vintage feel of this fabric, I have the perfect person in mind.  Or... her baby, rather.  :)  (And that design wall...  Where have you been all my life?  It's small, but it's sweet.  I'm so grateful to have a permanent little sewing space in our new home.)


Did I say that I got distracted and was working on "five" things?  I just counted seven, so it must have been an understatement.  Sigh...  I am happy to say, that those 2.5 inch Posy strips in the first picture have been nicely ordered and stitched into a quilt, and I'm now working on the last step: hand-stitching the binding.  And I made a list this morning of future quilts and the order in which I should work on them.  But will I stick with it?  Probably not!

Question: does this happen to you, or am I the only one who is so scatter-brained in my sewing projects?  Any remedy for sticking with the task at hand and just getting it done?  Especially baby quilts for babies nearing their six-month birthday?...



(Linking up with Lee for WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, Kelly with NTT, and at Fabric Tuesday.)


*I did a little google search for "quilt guilt" and came up with nothing.  If I'm plagiarizing something or someone somewhere, do please let me know.



12 comments:

  1. You are so busy, and I love Aneela Hoey fabric too.

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  2. Wow, you have been busy busy! Love the disappearing nine patch with sashing; and oh my, the Briar Rose quilt. I have some fabrics that I know not what to do with (other than look at and touch every day) because I want to really show them off and I think that pattern would be great because of the larger blocks in it.

    Perhaps you could make some 'economy blocks' with your fussy cut charm squares? (I'm still a newbie so I don't have a lot of ideas, but that came to mind when you said fussy cut).

    I believe your design wall might be constructed the same way mine is .... a piece a batting tacked to a wall? :-)

    Looking forward to seeing the Posey quilt!

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  3. I don't believe Quilter's ADHD can be avoided! But don't stress- everything is so pretty!

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  4. Such pretty projects. I especially like the little girls reading! You could use the fussy cut pieces for attic windows or the center of simple eight-pointed stars. Unfortunately I haven't found a way to avoid quilting ADD. There's just too many pretty and tempting fabrics out there!

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  5. You have a lot going but you are making progress on everything - no quilt guilt required :) I will not let myself have more than two projects going at the same time. I get itchy and nervous if I have too much going on! LOL

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  6. Yep, me too! :-) what would be the fun of just one project?! Love all that you're doing!

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  7. So pretty, all of them! I love that vintagey baby quilt (#7) and really like the Mirabelle fabric, too. I don't have multiple unfinished quilting projects at once, but I do still have an unfinished quilt from Junior High if that counts. Also, multiple unfinished books at once, always :).

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  8. I have quilt guilt all of the time! I make baby quilts to just keep on hand which helps me have one ready right when the baby is born. For awhile I tried to finish two UFOs before starting something new, but that did not last long...some of my UFOs are 20 years old!

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  9. Your projects are all so lovely! I can see why it's hard to choose one to finish. :) As to the HR charms, I'm currently working on a windowpane quilt using this tutorial: http://www.craftbuds.com/2013/03/page/2/ and I like how it shows off the charms in a more unique way than most charm patterns. Can't wait to see what you decide on!

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  10. That's a funny post! I loved reading it! You're a productive lady in the end. And following one's inspiration is a pleasurable way to create. And yes, that kind of distraction happens to me quite often. I have a huge pile of work in progress. But that's fine, because if I have only a few free hours, I just grab on and work on it. Thank you for the story!

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  11. Nope, you aren't the only one. I do make a list of my most urgent projects and really try to stick to it but sometimes I need a distraction and stray a wee bit.

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