Does anyone else experience this? I can get so overwhelmed just reading the directions that they put of even beginning.

For example I bought the book "ABC 3 D Tumbling Blocks", the ruler and got the fabric together... now I am sitting thinking this is really complicated and I put it off. There is so much cutting little triangles and hoping the fit together... OMG :oops: :oops: :oops:

I did my first paper piecing because of a wallhanging kit. But I took some other fabric and auditioned the work, didn't look too bad so I made 2 more and turned them into a tablerunner for DIL. That way I got practice on something new but didn't blow the kit :-)

But mostly I like to make it up as I go then I don't have to read. Just sing and draw/color or throw blocks on the design wall LOL

Yes, I think we all feel that way at times especially when we read through the directions the first time. Take it one step at a time and soon you will have a lovely finished project. Norway, huh? My ancestors are from there (on my Mom's side).

I think it happens to most of us at one time or another. If you feel overwhelmed now, maybe put it aside for another time. I don't even bother to attempt to cut or sew anything with complicated instructions unless I'm home alone and can concentrate without interruption.

I just bought that book. BTW where did you get your ruler for it? I want to try it but I ALWAYS get overwhelmed at the picking the fabric part. I don't have confidence that my fabric choices will be right or that I will get enough/too much. I get over it though. Just gotta be in the right mood to move forward. This is my hobby so I only quilt when I want to.

Whoa, that just happened to me with a quilt in one of the magazines. It looked fairly simple but the directions were cryptic. I had no clue how they got from bits to blocks so I put it away for when I get better at this... and can read between the lines.

Once I felt like I was missing instructions I checked the website to be sure there were no errors in the instructions (nope) so I cut the pattern in graph paper, folding it up and taping it together. Then I could follow it. The way I look at it is, whatever helps me visualize it.

:thumbup:

There is a youtube video showing her making this quilt. I just saw it about an hour ago while on my computer at the library killing time.

I helped my mom with a quilt when I was visiting her a few weeks ago and the pattern was daunting to say the least. There were so many different pieces for the three blocks in the quilt, plus a pieced border. And the pattern was very confusing because it didn't tell you which fabric was for which block. To make matters worse, we were substituting brown fabrics for the black and a solid for a print. It was sooooo confusing! Before I started cutting, I wrote on the magazine page which fabrics were being used for each part of each block. Then I labeled some sticky notes with "piece A, block 1" and "piece D, block 2", "piece H, border", etc. As I cut, I put the sticky notes on the stack of pieces so when I was done cutting, we could sew all of block 1, then block 2, block 3 and the pieced border. After cutting, I pinned and pressed while my mom sewed and we got the top done in a couple of days! It was the most confusing quilt pattern I ever tried to follow, but my labels worked and it turned out beautiful!

I would encourage you to make your self try just one block to find out if it is really going to be that hard. I had started a quilt with curved piecing in it and got it cut out then let it sit for many years because I was so afraid of it being too hard. Finally I decided I would try one block, if it was as hard as I had thought then I could let it sit longer, but I would know for sure. I tried it and it went together very easily, I then sat down and sewed all of them in just a couple of days!! Yours might go that way too.

I went to her website and bought it. I bought "the set" with the ruler and the sticky plastic tabs she recommends. Good luck.