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willferg 10-19-2012 07:02 AM

The good thing about making mistakes
 
I've been in a bit of a quilting slump lately. I plan lots of quilts, maybe even get the fabrics gathered and the blocks made, but I haven't been finishing much.

I've been trying to get other things done for a fundraising craft fair, so I've been making things other than quilts. And that is so out of my comfort zone!

What I have learned, though, is to just go for it and not worry about the mistakes. I was making baby booties, and I tried about 4 or 5 different patterns. I threw a lot of them away, but ended up with two decent pair and the knowledge that I am done with baby boots.

I tried a tote bag, just winging it, and messed up so bad that that, too, went in the trash. I felt a pang about throwing the fabric away, but then I thought, I've held on to this fabric forever to make a tote bag, and clearly that is not going to happen. How much more time do I want to spend agonizing over this and not moving on and getting other things done?

Yesterday I tried two patterns that didn't quite work out, but you know what? My quilting slump is going away. Making mistakes is making me feel free to move forward. I highly recommend it!:)

Luv Quilts and Cats 10-19-2012 07:13 AM

I like your attitude! Some things are just not meant to be, or are not meant to be made by us! I have learned to let those things go, and go on to something I do love to do, or want to try. It took me a long time to feel this way as my "Perfectionist" in my head still talks to me! I love to read as well as quilt. I realized one day as I was reading a book I didn't like, "What am I doing? I don't like this book, so why finish it? There are lots of other books waiting to be read." So I stopped reading books I can't get into. I have used that for my crafts as well. Sometimes, things aren't meant to work out. I hope your quilting slump is over and you can enjoy quilting again!

jcrow 10-19-2012 07:49 AM

I took three "purse/tote bag" classes and decided that they aren't for me. I get so frustrated. The teacher ends up standing by me most of the time. I just have a hard time making them. I don't enjoy making them. They look awful when I am finished. And I try my best while working on them, too.
So, maybe making totes isn't your thing. Maybe it's time to get back into quilting. Sounds like you're done with reading and ready to sew. I'm not ready to sew quite yet. I'm reading books also. I keep going into my sewing studio but all I've done in the last month was make two blocks for Craftsy's free BOM and cut 2 1/2" strips for a binding. That is all I've done.

I just received in the mail a "Mat Smoother" to smooth my cutting mat. I'm planning on clearing off my mat (24x72) and smoothing it today. If I happen to sew my binding together today, yippee for me. I've been in the biggest slump in 3 years. I totally burned myself out on sewing. I was making quilt after quilt for 3 years straight and then my brain shut down and I can't even clean my sewing studio. I get things in the mail and pile them up on my cutting mat and ironing board.

So, I read the quilting board hoping that I'll get my groove back soon. It can't last forever, I hope. I love to make quilts. I don't work outside the home and it was my main purpose in life for so long. Now, I kind of wander.

Lori S 10-19-2012 08:22 AM

I too find experimentation .. no matter what the outcome is very Therapeutic!

Sierra 10-19-2012 08:34 AM

I feel a real responsibility to my ripper (rippers need love too). But I have to tell you (excuse me for bragging) but after just 10 years of quilting I find that I now spend at least equal time sewing as oppose to ripping out. Classes confuse me. I'm dyslexic and have to move pieces around to see what the instructor has managed to achieve with a few twists of her wrists and by that time I've missed something important. So I end up ripping... and have given up classes. But I have developed a workable philosophical. In the evening I can sit next to my wonderful hubby and rip as we talk, or as he watches the Giants win or lose, or whatever. It CAN be relaxing.

My comfort zone is challenged when I put fabrics together (this piece or this? become a song in my head). That's where DH comes in and says, with great authority for someone who has been told he is essentially color blind, that one is obviously the right one. Gotta love that man! He even cured problems I had with a watercolor quilt of 1" squares years ago.

Valerie Scherr 10-19-2012 09:17 AM

Love you attitude but rather than throw away maybe donate to a group that can use the fabric for other projects. just a suggestion.


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