Just normal

Every month I write a page long article or essay on the topic of quilting... And it gets published in the newsletter of the Common Thread Quilt Guild in Ottawa, where I was a member before I moved away... this is the article I wrote for March 2013. I am currently visiting my son, his wife and my two grandsons, so I actually made it to the Guild meeting as a guest this week past. They had the BEST Show and Share I have ever seen... In any event, here's the article:

 

I have been listening to new podcasts this week, while I am away from my sewing machine. I was listening to one that relates to quilting and the interviewer asked the interviewee what she was working on. And the interviewee (whose name I did not catch, but who was a blogger who details her progress on-line) proceeded to talk about the quilts that she was working on. And she sounded embarrassed to admit that she had about 5 quilts in progress AT THE SAME TIME. I thought the interviewer (also a quilter) handled the whole thing very well, because she said to her, "Oh, you are just normal, then!"

I have written musings on this topic before. I think I mentioned the woman in the fabric store who only allows herself to buy the fabric to make ONE project at a time. And her personal rule is, she must finish that project before she goes on to do another. (I have to say, if I worked in a fabric store this would be the only way that I would ever get to take home a paycheck... otherwise I would just sign the thing over, and walk out with additions to my stash...)

I have many quilting friends. And I don't think I know ANYONE else who follows that personal rule. I love to have several projects on the go (as long as they don't get too far ahead of me, of course!) I like to have something that I am binding, something that I am cutting, something that I am planning, something that I am piecing (although that stage usually gets me so excited that I forge on with it and get it quilted and the binding on there) AND something all ready to quilt. (I'm not keen on having something ready to go onto the frame - but I am pretty pleased with myself when I have something ON the frame, ready to go!) I'm also pretty enthused about having something that I am learning on the go too, something new to me... I'm beginning to think about what to do with these one-off blocks...

Each stage in a quilt is different. The nice thing about binding something is that that is a portable project (when so many quilting things are not!) And, of course, when the binding is done the quilt is finished too. (Usually) The nice thing about cutting is that once the pieces go on the design wall, you begin to see how the quilt is going to look when it is all finished. The nice thing about piecing is that it works up so fast and you can see progress happening before your very eyes, and the nice thing about planning is that it is SO exciting!!! And the quilting itself is wonderful (when everything goes well) because you are beginning to finish the quilt! I love all those steps and I feel eager to get on with each one of them. And I might actually get bored with working on the same quilt or project. Sometimes I intermix projects as a reward. Do this boring bag, and you can be rewarded by starting that pretty baby quilt... or make these three blocks, so that you can be rewarded by taking this quilting class and starting THAT neat project! Interspersing steps means that I will shortly have two exciting projects done rather than one that I have gotten slightly tired of working on!

I know that there are people who work so hard on something, or they find it so difficult, or they are so worried that it isn't perfect that they grow to hate a project; and as a result it goes under the bed or in a box and never gets finished. I have never had this happen with quilting. It may be because I don't tend to let projects carry on too long -- so I don't get tired of them. I have made a few projects where I will never do again (stack and whack comes to mind) but I finished them (and gave them away!)

So here's the point of this diatribe: Normal is defined as: conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnomal; regular; natural. By this definition, if you have several projects on the go (and even a few that aren't actually going anywhere) then you are absolutely NORMAL!!

So, I would like to invite you to embrace your normalcy, enjoy your quilting and have fun!!