Good morning! I have been hand quilting lately, so I do not have too much new piecing to show. Cutting out projects too...that is what is going on around here! Above is my leftover plaid triangle table runner. I hand quilted it, with big stitches and Perle cotton. It was just pure joy to hand quilt this one!!
A close up...
And the back. I think what attracts me most to quilts is the texture. I love quilted softness, and this little table runner fits that bill! It will be fun for my autumn time table setting.
I finished hand quilting this one too. About a year ago, a young man came in to the hospital where I work with extreme shortness of breath. I thought he must have a PE (blood clot in his lungs), but it turned out that he had ruptured his Chordae (tiny strings that hold the heart valves in place and help to open them). I learned so much from him and his disease process, and was so honored to help him through surgery and recovery. So the above quilt is a heart string quilt, remembering him, and the great docs who fixed him up! You know, I don't remember his face, except for his extreme shortness of breath and anxiety...poor guy! When he left the hospital, he was 100 times better!!
I am steadily working on the applique for this quilt. I love working on it!! Thank you again, Lori and Randy, for this wonderful project!!
********************Dilution of efforts*************************
I am at a loss of what to work on, to really concentrate on. I know this comes from having too many ideas and projects floating thought my brain like flotsam and jetsam in the ocean...do you have this problem? And what do you do to fix it?? I want to able to concentrate on one thing to the end, but the BOM's mess that up, LOL!!!! What do you do to help concentrate on one thing??? Any ideas....?
Have a great day!!!
Julie
18 comments:
I can't work on one thing only, I get too bored, so what I do is have one or two projects sitting by the machine and I work on whichever one I feel like. Once I get close to the end of a project I get an overwhelming urgency to finish it, to the exclusion of everything else! LOL
I like to have a little bag with something in. I'm knitting a little cotton rabbits pattern. It could be a stitchery or some simple hand quilting. The best thing is a little solitude even if you have to get up early. Peace and quiet and something simple and then you get lost in the process. Nothing better!
Your hand quilting looks wonderful. Love the texture and look of hand quilting so MUCH! Your applique is fabulous--such a sweet looking quilt. I have discovered that I just can't work on only 1 quilt at a time. I'm actually more efficient if I make small goals and then work on 1 phase of a quilt at a time (several all at the same time). That way I don't get frustrated, bored or even move too fast on a quilt decision and then regret it. If I really can't settle on any one project, I pick up my hand quilting or my hand piecing and work on that for awhile--that always clears my mind for the other projects, sometimes to the point that I have actually dropped my hand work mid-stitch just to get to the quilt room in my hurry!:)
I recently started a post that I entitled, "At Loose Ends," but didn't publish. I thought I must be the only person who was sometimes at a loss as to what to do next. I have lots of ideas but every so often things come to a screaming halt (except for the always-ready hand quilting) while I try to decide exactly what to begin next.
Your quilts are beautiful, Julie.
Most of the time I jump around between projects....that is just the way I do it and I am OK with it! I love your projects as always...and that hand quilting with the big stitches is so wonderful.
Nothing wrong with working on multiple projects as long as progress is made on each one.
Love the plaid runner and the hearts, too.
The plaid table-runner looks great, especially for Autumn, love that country look!!! I've only done a bit of 'big-stitch' quilting and it's a whole other style isn't it, but very enjoyable!!!
What a wonderful 'heart-strings' story and quilt, so glad that modern medicine can deal with such complex issues!
Love seeing the applique quilt coming along too, it's such a great design!!!!!
Oh how good it is to read your post and all the other comments! I felt that I must have ADHD or something. I get to my workroom and I flit about and find that time has whizzed by. So many ideas, so many projects started or thought about! It is so hard sometimes to just pick something up and DO it when my brain is screaming to get to the newest idea whirling in my head. So why am I osting this comment when I should be finishing the quilting on the baby quilt in my machine?? LOL
Beautiful hand quilting on that sweet runner. Why worry about all the projects, be glad, at least you're not bored!
Your hand quilting is beautiful and it does produce wonderful texture. I always have multiple projects going on too. There's a time and place for each one.
I am in limbo at the moment. Summer time, and I lose focus on the quilting in favor of swimming, parks, and being outside! Still piecing away on the wacky web quilt. (I really need to blog, huh?) Maybe tomorrow I'll make time to do this!
I have too many ideas floating around in my head too. Quilts I want to make, dresses for Addi, shorts for Aiden. Need to reorganize my room so I can make better use of my machines. ACK!
Love the table runner and the heart string quilt! I finally scored some plaid shirts at a yard sale to debone. (Ah, another favorite distraction! Yardsales!)
Love the texture on the tablerunner and your red hearts quilt and story behind it. Can't help with the projects query, as I tend to be a one project to completion girl. Too many ongoing thing stress me out, so I simplify :)
I love everything you're working on! The heartstrings especially because of your backstory on that one. To concentrate I need to completely unplug (from the computer)and focus within prescheduled time blocks. UFO's continue to call loudly and sometimes they're almost too difficult to silence, but I try.
Lovely quilts! Your hand quilting is perfect for the quilt - love it!
Every so often I have to take a little break from my sewing room - not too long - just a few days and then I go back feeling rejuvenated and ready to jump right back in.
What a great post...so much to reflect on!
I love seeing your hand quilting, and the texture is so wonderful indeed.
Usually I have a warm up project....sew a few leaders and enders, until a project bubbles to the top of the "to-do" pile. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to get organized. It really depends on my mood...do I feel like mindless piecing, or something complex, or some relaxing hand work, or speedy piecing???
Have a quilty day!
I love your applique quilt at the bottom of your post! Finish that! :) I find keeping a list of my projects and putting the list in an order of "want to complete" keeps me focused. Then I just follow the list, and make myself stick to the order.
I too have multiple projects. It is nice when I get stuck on one and can move to something else a for a while. I have some projects I only work on when I am away from home sewing with friends - mainly low concentration ones so I can still focus on conversation. I have been finding if I alternate between old UFOs and newer ones, that I am more inclined to do the work. I also moved all the finished tops with backings selected over by the longarm so it is easier to put one on to finish. Hand bindings then go upstairs to do in front of the TV.
When my sisters and I had to share our mother's one sewing machine to do our 4H projects, we each had multiple items going. If we were stuck on sewing, we gave up the machine to someone else and picked up knitting instead for a while and our minds could mull over the problem. Guess I started with multiple projects quite young!
The big stitch quilting looks good. I have always liked the look that style quilting gives to a scrappy prim style quilt.
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