Barriers to quilting, how to make them go away?
 

I'm finding that I have many reasons to not sew or quilt lately.

First, I'm not retired and likely won't be for another 20+ years, so recreation time is limited already.
I don't work full time though, and I work from home.

• I find myself feeling "guilty" for wanting to quilt during the day, and only seem to feel OK about it after I've done everything and I do mean -everything- that I need to do before I start. It's like it's a reward that I'm just not giving myself. I've also been described as a workaholic... so that becomes a problem when making time to sew. I will make sure my work desk is clear first...
• I have so many projects to do, I just can't pick one to do. I currently have no WIP or UFOs... Literally nothing on the go. I just can't help thinking that I would like to do some sort of project, but it just doesn't happen...
• I seem to spend an awful lot of time getting ready to sew, but no real time sewing. Machine is clean, oiled, serviced (as are all of the machines in the house that I use, and then some), I've researched to death (I've read 3 Karen McTavish books in the last 2 weeks - cover to cover), my sewing desk is clean and ready to be messed up, bobbins wound, etc. I just can't get started.
• DH also says he thinks I have a fear of failure. That the project won't turn out the way I want it to, so I don't start. (Yes, I know there are no quilt police, only quilt inspectors.)

Does anyone have any tips on how to overcome some of these barriers? I have been concentrating on practicing FMQ for the last little bit, but I don't find even 10 minutes a day, and so when I come back to it, I have to spend time getting rusty muscles back into the swing of things, and of course those results don't look very good.

I wish I had your discipline and order.

I think your dh may be right. Not only fear of failure, but also perfectionism, held my quilting back for many years. It's only now that I am ***really*** old that I have realized it's better to make something than to only think about making something.

My new mantra is "finished is good" no matter how many mistakes there are. And I have found that the awful mistakes I make along the way seem to disappear in the finished product.

If you do not have something already pieced and waiting to be quilted, I would recommend dropping the FMQ practice for now. It's just another way of postponing actually making something.

When I get stalled, I get out the kitchen timer and set it for 10 minutes. I need to do whatever my goal is only until the timer goes off. This gets me started. Most times I reset the timer and keep resetting it until I am actually "into" whatever I am doing and no longer want the timer. The first time you do this your goal for the timer could be to look for a project you want to work on. Just remember that you do not need to decide on the project within that 10 minutes; you just have to spend 10 minutes working on it. In my case, I would spend the first 10 minutes going through my plastic boxes of "to do" projects I have already put together.

well you could start by making up some "kits"
go through and pick out a pattern, cut up the pieces, write a short note on how you want to quilt it. Then put all of that in a zip lock baggie. Get several kits together. That way when you are ready for a project, you have several ready to go. Can even add the backing too.

And your fear of failure isnt involved at all, cause you are just making kits ;) it might also inspire you to make a quilt with the kits :) But in any case, when you do find your motivation, you have plenty of ready to go projects on hand.

I understand totally! I have gotten the equipment, read, read and read some more. I am just terrified of making that first cut. Which logically is totally stupid since I was going to start with a couple patchwork pillows so no big money output on first project...but like you, I just can't seem to set up to make those first cuts.

I think DH is almost correct. I have a little of that. Spent the afternoon cleaning drawers to get ready to do something.LOL.. Didn't turn the machine on! I'm gonna put up my sewing machine I'm working on and get busy sewing.

I happen to have a DDL who you sound very much like. She is working part time (away from home). She is a quilter, a crocheter and a new knitter. Her discipline is unbelievable and I am envious of her ability to juggle all her "balls". What I have noticed about her is that she keeps her quilt quite organized. By this I mean that after picking out the pattern and fabric, she takes whatever extra time she has and she starts pressing her fabric. Oh! She reads the directions thoroughly and then has a keen sense of what she will need to do. Then she cuts all of her pieces and organizes them. Then she starts sewing and does as much as possible in the time she has. She continues in this manner through the process of putting the pieces together into blocks, then blocks into rows, then rows together, then borders (almost always 3). Then she sews her backing. She puts her batting in the dryer for 10 minutes to just release some of the folds. She uses basting spray and puts her layers together. Then she FMQs. She started out with an FMQ course and used simple patterns and her patterns became more difficult as her skills grew. Then cut off extra pieces. Make binding, sew binding to front and then hand stitched to the back. She does not use labels. (Don't know why.) All of this work for her is done in very small windows of time. It's my belief that her organization skills (which you obviously have) help her to sew and walk away and then return and pick up where she left off. She is very prolific. It just amazes me as I am retired and I cannot keep up with her or do the really neat job she does.

There is a pattern out today (which really doesn't need a pattern). I believe it is called "Race Quilt". You use jelly roll strips that are 2 1/2 inches wide. If you Google it you will see many examples. This is the pattern that my 10-year old GD asked me to do for her. Yea! Easy peasy! The pattern that I saw has two stems with flowers appliquéd over the strips.

Quilting is a wonderful craft and very rewarding. I truly hope that you will be able to move forward. I believe it may help you to look at your quilt one step at a time rather than looking at the whole and being overwhelmed. Give it a try. If it doesn't work for you now, surely it will later. Remember, you are just making a quilt and not a baby. It doesn't have to be perfect and the beauty of quilting is that small mistakes never really show because everyone looks at the whole not the individual pieces. Good luck and happy sewing always. Yolanda Wood River

I happen to have a DDL who you sound very much like. She is working part time (away from home). She is a quilter, a crocheter and a new knitter. Her discipline is unbelievable and I am envious of her ability to juggle all her "balls". What I have noticed about her is that she keeps her quilt quite organized. By this I mean that after picking out the pattern and fabric, she takes whatever extra time she has and she starts pressing her fabric. Oh! She reads the directions thoroughly and then has a keen sense of what she will need to do. Then she cuts all of her pieces and organizes them. Then she starts sewing and does as much as possible in the time she has. She continues in this manner through the process of putting the pieces together into blocks, then blocks into rows, then rows together, then borders (almost always 3). Then she sews her backing. She puts her batting in the dryer for 10 minutes to just release some of the folds. She uses basting spray and puts her layers together. Then she FMQs. She started out with an FMQ course and used simple patterns and her patterns became more difficult as her skills grew. Then cut off extra pieces. Make binding, sew binding to front and then hand stitched to the back. She does not use labels. (Don't know why.) All of this work for her is done in very small windows of time. It's my belief that her organization skills (which you obviously have) help her to sew and walk away and then return and pick up where she left off. She is very prolific. It just amazes me as I am retired and I cannot keep up with her or do the really neat job she does.

There is a pattern out today (which really doesn't need a pattern). I believe it is called "Race Quilt". You use jelly roll strips that are 2 1/2 inches wide. If you Google it you will see many examples. This is the pattern that my 10-year old GD asked me to do for her. Yea! Easy peasy! The pattern that I saw has two stems with flowers appliquéd over the strips.

Quilting is a wonderful craft and very rewarding. I truly hope that you will be able to move forward. I believe it may help you to look at your quilt one step at a time rather than looking at the whole and being overwhelmed. Give it a try. If it doesn't work for you now, surely it will later. Remember, you are just making a quilt and not a baby. It doesn't have to be perfect and the beauty of quilting is that small mistakes never really show because everyone looks at the whole not the individual pieces. Good luck and happy sewing always. Yolanda Wood River

Maybe you should start a small project-like a table topper or wall hanging. The gratification of a finished project will come faster. I also try to find projects with 1 new technique so I am also learning as I am working. I usually set the timer on my phone and work for an hour and then stop.

I agree with CarolynMT -- make up fabric kits that are ready to go. If I don't have a specific plan for a quilt and just can't bring myself to cut into "new" yardage, I go straight to my scraps and start throwing them on my Accuquilt Go dies. Making usable sized pieces of fabric out of a giant mess of scraps always motivates me to start putting some together in a pattern of some sort! And because they were scraps, they don't have to be perfectly pieced for an award-winning quilt. I'm usually always motivated by sewing something together, no matter what it is. Anything that gets me sitting down & using my sewing machine works because once I start sewing I don't want to stop!