ever start an expensive project but absolutely hate working on it?
 

My sister saw and fell in love with a popular pattern she saw on the net somewhere, and as she has never expressed such a strong reaction to anything else I decided to buy the pattern and the required fabrics and make it for her as a Christmas gift...

...last year.

As soon as I started it I hated it. I found the pattern hard to follow, it turns out the process of iron on applique annoys me endlessly and it requires a ton of room to spread out and put together.

I spent a load of money on the patterns, embellishments and fabric. I can't justify not finishing it from that perspective. Plus, she really loved it.

I just keep procrastinating bringing it out again, because I *really* don't want to make it.

Sigh.

Yes I did!!! The way I handled it was to break the process down to sections and reward myself with something I wanted to do after I finished each section. If I kept the work on the nasty to about 1-2 hours, I got to do what I wanted for an additional 1-2 hours. Honestly, I adore fusible applique...wish I could do that part for you!!! The quilt in my avatar has 1 seam, everything else is fused down then quilted to death!! Loved making it, but it was tedious to draw all the hundreds of pieces and then cut them out, but in little bites, it was doable!!

It is hard to work on something you don't like, but I say suck it up and get it done ASAP and give it to her! If you don't it is just going to keep bugging you. (Do you have a friend that would finish it for you???) Then reward yourself with one that you love for yourself!!

Yes! I took a class on how to make this pattern, paid for that, the pattern, and a few supplies. I did have the fabric, but now it's all in a bin. I just do not enjoy this one. Hopefully one day I will get it out and finish it.

Try to work on it with another quilter. That would keep you motivated when sewing with others. I know it works for me when I get frustrated.

Send me a PM; I'll give it a go. We live in the same area,so wouldn't be hard to do?

Been there! I wanted to make a quilt for DSIL using a new pattern I fell in love with. I took it to the drop-in class for help and the tutor there didn't interpret the pattern correctly so I ended up with a wonky finished top (long and narrow). I gritted my teeth my teeth and hired the LQS Gammill to quilt it, thinking I'd then do some stars to complement the pattern......................

Anyway - he loved it so I am glad I finished it (I still hate it!). The pleasure I got from him and then DGS who 'borrowed' it and never gave it back made it worthwhile.

As others have suggested, devote a specific amount of time to it - say 2 hours on a Thursday or Saturday morning or whatever and stick to it.

That said, if anyone had offered to finish it for me, my feet wouldn't have touched the ground making my way over :D

I can relate. In my excitement of buying a new machine ladt November, I signed up for the Stitchers Garden BOM and while My intentions were good, committing to a monthly class is a challenge. The dealer is an hours' drive each way, spending my Saturday traveling is not my idea of fun. And I frankly have mentally dropped out. I start block 4 (April) when I get around to it. LOL!

My dealer graciously bagged up the remainder of the monthly blocks along with the required sewing machine feet, etc and I picked it up. Yes, rumor has it this machine technique filled BOM is the "most expensive" quilt one will ever make. Imagine buying a new machine foot per block/technique! Just glad that Janome accessories are reasonably priced in comparison to some other machine brands. I will finish this tho. I want to learn the feet and technique.

Sandy

Been there! I have made some that I absolutely can't stand. Either they aren't in my colors or the pattern is just too time comsuming. It is hard to push on thru and get them done. But I haven't had a bad response to a quilt from the recipients. They all say they love them.

Yes, their new pattern names ....UFO

I only made one I truly detested finishing. It was a memory quilt from the deceased clothing. I do not like memory quilts, don't like even looking at them and here I was making one. It was nagging me to death so I had to finish it to get it off my back. The recipient gratefulness was the reward for all the frustration but not worth doing another.

I can't say that I've spent a huge amount of money on a quilt that I hated but, I've had to struggle sometimes to get one done that I didn't enjoy working on.

I'm another one that uses a barter system...... work on the quilt for a couple of hours to be able to do something else for a set amount of time. My problem is that I have to use the barter system to get other things done.... like housework. If I do housework or 2 hours, then I get to quilt for 2 hours.... you get the picture?

I say, the more you procrastinate, the harder it's going to be. You have to pull up your big girl pants and get at it. Breaking it down to smaller steps would help me. Get this step finished and treat myself to a LQS shopping trip, for example. I can't handle having something that mentally weighs me down. I have to finish things and get them out of the way.

Good luck and please keep us posted on how you're coming along on this. We do love to see other quilters getting through some obstacles that challenge us as well. ... Rooting for you......big time!!

Yes, I am in that boat right now. Saw a quilt at LQS and fell in love with it. I signed up for her lessons 6 @ $45.00 each bought the fabric and notions she said I needed. Went to 3 classes but never finished the blocks.I think she intimidates us because she knows what to do and the class doesnt. I did not go to the last lesson and probably will not go back. Now I have an expensive mess sitting here.
On the bright side I know never to take a lesson from her again.

I AGREE with Jeanne. Good Luck and hang in there.

Just do it and get it done. I always finish my quilts. Then I start another. Seems for me as I get more into it and looking at it I get more to liking it.

Thanks for the encouragement, all. After spending $100 on the patterns (its a multi part patter), and $200+ on fabric there's no way I can let it be a UFO. I guess the good part is me knowing I hate fusible patterns.

It sucks when your "enjoyment" activity is now a "chore."

On a project like that I MAKE myself sew a few seams on the hated project before I can sew anything else and before you know it the project will be coming along nicely. It breaks it up so you can at least see progress and still don't have to put in a lot of time in one sitting to get it done. Your sister is more important that your disgust with the project and sometimes I have been pleasantly surprised after a while to get less aggravated by it as it progresses.

Thanks, I needed this comment! We just finished packing up and donating all of my SIL's clothes. I didn't save anything and thought after that maybe I should have. So thanks! You've clarified my thinking on it.

Absolutely! It is still sitting in my UFO pile and it may stay there until someone inherits my stash in the future!:D

This year, I made the same (or similar) discovery that you did ... that I detest the iron-on, raw edge sewing applique process. I've been saving up patterns for years because I was sure I would love doing them - some day. In January of this year, I made some log cabin practice blocks with some 2" strips I had on hand ... one of the strips was glaringly wrong (color-wise), but I decided to put the blocks together and then 'hide' the ugly strip with iron-on applique. The result is quite cute; however, the process really stinks! I was quite shocked to discover how annoying it is for me.

I can relate to not wanting to work on a quilt, I recently purchased the Frozen quilt kit from Fons and Porter. Sat down last week ready to start sewing when low and behold, it has 22 snowflake appliques. They give you a paper template of all three snowflakes which in my opinion would be impossible to cute out. They also state that the AccuGo cutter has a 7" snowflake die that you can purchase for $100. Go onto their website and they are our of stock. Spent the rest of the evening surfing for this die and found one, but it will take two weeks before I get it. So now I have spent around $300. on this quilt that I am dreading to sew, I have a very DIFFICULT time doing appliques. And at the same time, I cannot disappoint my great niece, this will be her present when her new baby sister is born next month, hope I can get it done in time. Thanks for letting me rant
NormaBeth

My very first quilt project was a simple 9 patch wall hanging, using just three fabrics. I let a more experienced quilter talk me into a much more complicated pattern for my next project. The pattern called for star points in varying sizes, and 17 different fabrics. I spent almost $200 on fabric. For a newbie, those star points were very difficult to make. I finished the top and it was horrible. I never completed the quilt. I just couldn't justify spending more money on batting and the backing. I really should toss the quilt top because it makes me want to cry whenever I see it.

Thank goodness I decided to make a simple table runner for my third project. It brought back the joy of quilting!

Guilty!! LQS had a block of the month, just changing one fabric made it perfect for my bedroom. Started great, got all the bits, never got it together. WHY, ??????????????? No clue!

Sometimes in life we have to do things we don't like/want to do, but suck it up, do it and when you get it done sell or give pattern away and don't make another one.

I had a nagging problem that was carry over for a few years. Not sure what the mental block was but I just couldn't approach it. It was not a quilting project. What did work for me was finding an amount of time I think I could stand working on it. It ended up being 12 minutes. So each day set the timer and worked on it for 12 minutes. Yes it did take 3 months to get it done, but I did finish it.

If you can leave your work out so you're not spending to much time just getting it out and putting it away, just pick an amount of time you think you can work on it. One step at a time and eventually, Ta Da it is finished.

Loved this!!
And I love fusible applique!

I always say if we all liked the same thing how dull this world would be!

Kif

You just rant away!!
My dgd loves Frozen..and I'm making her a quilt using the panel now. But I'm making my own snowflakes, using snowflake outlines that I find, trace, print..still intricate, but not too bad. I can cut them out while watching tv with dh.
Kif

The worst was an elaborate, expensive quilt with ambiguous/wrong and wasteful instructions. No hope of getting the material again, so it has sat in a bag for 10 years waiting for a ''solution''...

I had a similar problem with a paper piecing project. I loved the quilt and still do but the paper piecing was so boring I had to put it away. However a year later I got it out and decided to have 2 or 3 projects going all at once. I paper pieced 10 pieces and then went to something else. I did this daily and before long I was ready to put those pieces together. Again I did 10 a day and before long those were ready for the next step. I am now working on completing the larger squares and hope to have the final piecing done to send the quilt out to be quilted by Christmas. Result a quilt I still love. Little boredom on10 pieces at a time and would recommend this to anyone!

Yep! Me too. My very best friend got married and her husband wrote this beautiful love letter to her on muslin that they used as a backdrop to the archway where they said their vows. She asked me to make a quilt using that as backing. She loves modern quilts and fabrics. Me? Traditional and traditional colors and fabrics. This was TWO years ago! I have purchased all the fabrics, but can't seem to even start. The backing thing scares me to death (don't want to cut away any important parts, even she isn't as worried about that as I am). And I'm not loving the modern patterns, so I'm at a standstill. Maybe for their 10th anniversary, LOL!

I do a couple blocks or a couple hours, whichever comes first. If I get back to it the same day, I make sure I do at least an hour. Once I was really motivated and got in 3 hours. Before I knew it, I had it pieced and ironed. Took me about 10 ten days. It was a small baby quilt.

I love this discussion! I decided to just do pillow cases for three dgd who also love Frozen. Happened to be able to take two of the girls to the movie last December and we had so much fun. Ended up paying a premium price for the Frozen fabric on-line since local stores said they sold out as soon as they got it. Just finished the first one this week-end for an upcoming birthday. I did appliqued snow flakes on the header piece, three on each side and then did machine blanket stitch around them. Turned out cute but all I could think was twelve more to go! Found the snowflake designs in one of my quilting magazines. Then needed to do a Spiderman pc for her little brother. That one was a snap though. No tedious applique for Spidey! The other two Frozens will need to be done before Thanksgiving for the next birthday. Oh well, we will all just hang in there, one stitch at a time:)