Originally Posted by
Rose L
For me personally, I don't do well with deadlines anymore. Too much corporate push over the years for one thing. The other thing I have realized is that for many quilters, myself included, this has somehow become more like a job than a hobby. I read in a book a year or so ago that historically it took most quilters one to two years to finish a bed sized quilt regardless if it was being hand or machine stitched or quilted. The other day I read a post from someone here who said she had made 52 quilts last year!! Why do we push ourselves to levels that aren't even realistic? The action that I am taking to relieve myself from the overload burden is to finish ALL of my UFO's and obligations this year. Next year I am going to start anew with a promise to myself to only do what is comfortable for me, taking my time and enjoying the process. Never again will I commit myself to "obligatory" sewing or quilting. Life is too short, we should enjoy it as much as possible.
I love this comment! How wise and how true. Many of us, often trained into it by our jobs, are so used to pushing ourselves as hard as we can, looking for achievement through speed and productivity - I get caught up into that, fretting about how slowly I'm progressing, and have watched other quilter friends who just drive themselves till their hobby becomes another task, another goal to be achieved. It's a bit of a balance, isn't it - I find that setting myself some goals or targets helps keep me on track, but I have to watch that they don't begin to suck the enjoyment out of what I'm doing. And I tend to rush at things as though there's not enough time to do them - and pay the consequences in terms of mistakes. At the moment I'm consciously trying to slow down, to take the time that's needed for preparation, both practical and reflecting on what I want to do, and to enjoy the actual process of quilting rather than looking ahead to the results all the time. That's why I've stowed all the UFOs out of sight - it takes the pressure off.