repeating a project?
 

I'm not talking about using the same pattern - I have some go-to patterns that I've used over and over. I'm not even talking about using the same fabric - I just finished 3 quilts from different patters with the same fabric. I'm talking about the same project, with the same pattern, and the same fabric. Don't like it!

I made my mother 4 placemats for Christmas. She loved them! :) So ... she wanted 4 more. I want to give them to her tomorrow - and have them pieced ready to quilt. But ... it's not fun. :( Love my Mom. Proud she liked them enough to want more (you can't use 4 with two tables of bridge ladies lunch, now can you?) I sure have put it off until the last minute though.

Last Christmas I also made her 4 placemats - and got a request for four more. I just need to make a note to make her 8 of everything!

Back to work.

Repeating can get boring. I symathize with you. My mom, who sewed beautiful outfits for me and my sisters when we were children, made 3 bridesmade dresses - of course the same. In the end, she literally quit sewing. Had lost something when repeating the same pattern 3 times. Made me wonder though, she use to make 3 matching dresses when we were very young. Must have been the size, lol.

You are a good daughter. I know you'll make them with love.

I do feel for you. Once I'm finished with a project, I'm done with it and it is hard to do it again. I try to play mind games with myself to make it easier. Since the first four are no longer in your home, pretend it's a new project. It seems to help. Just get it done as quick as possible so you can move on to another project. This time you should post the photos for the rest of us.

Your mom will appreciate it, and we do things for people we love just because.

amh

I agree 100%. It is so hard to mentally get into doing the exact same project. What I have that helps me is to do another craft entirely like scrapbooking or card making.

It's great that your Mom liked them well enough to want four more - hope you have the fabric to do it with.

When she told me she wanted more I went straight to the fabric store and got enough to make them - almost. I had to piece the outer border - adding 1/2" to a not-quite 3" strip - to get that one done. So that's fine. I've had it in a project box, had a picture to be sure I was pretty close, but had to really guess at some things since it's not really a pattern. It's that octagonal placemat where you make a square and fold it, but it would have been good if I had written down how large I made that square! Sigh. Back to it - again! :)

Could you just pretend that you're making blocks for a quilt? :)

i agree, it's so hard to go back and make the same project again. that's why, when i decided to do my Dear Jane, i'm doing all 3 at once. i know i'll never get back to doing another after completing one.

great idea. I bet you learn a lot doing the block 3 times.

You should make 4 more with a different pattern but same fabric to coordinate...

Can identify with you! So admire the "crafters" who make 20 and 30 of the same item to sell at craft shows. Once I've spent all my creative juices on a project including time expended in sewing and ripping and sewing and ripping to get it JUST RIGHT and to match the picture in my mind I'm over it with the first one.

Never! I'm too easily bored, have to have the diversion of something new.....that's likely why I have about 50 UFOs and partially assembled projects in my 'hoard', come to think of it, LOL!! :eek: :D

Jan in VA

I probably would do this also. Even making 8 of the same placemats would be too much for me. Also this way she would have 3 different possible arrangements when only using 4 placemats.

Too late! These are octagons so it's a bit more complicated - I could have switched the fabrics around, but had just enough - and almost not enough - to do as I'd first done. But ... good idea!

Okay done! I thought I got the instructions for this on here, but I just searched and didn't see it. Seems like the original tute said these were "Hexagons" and obviously they are octagons. Didn't find this under either word. But ... even if the stitching might be a bit different and measurements might be off a tad they are still a set and Mother will love them. The last picture is one I gave her for Christmas. The set of 4 with napkins is the set I finished today.

I can see why she wanted more of them. Very pretty.

I can also see why she wanted more! Those are beautiful!! I am glad you are done...now you can do something not repetitive!!

Dina

Very nice - and aren't you glad they are done! That gives one such a sense of accomplishment! Now you can move on to a fun project.

The more times I do something, the better I get. Practice makes perfect.

Ok...I understand also why she wanted more...love them! I really like how they are different and the perfect size

placemats I might be able to handle but multiple quilts ...don't think so...

Much more fun sewing new patterns, use different fabrics than sewing the same thing with the same fabric...nice though that your Mom appreciates what you do for her.

I get bored really fast if I have to repeat and there's no challenge.

Nice!! I used that same bird fabric in a quilt for my MIL. It's lovely fabric!

I'm with you on not wanting to re-do things. For me it's not the quantity so much, it's that that once I'm done...I'm DONE. I bet if you made 8 right from the start it would have felt different than making four, being DONE, and then suddenly being NOT DONE and making 4 more.

I hate un-checking "completed" things on checklists too. Same feeling!

I sympathize with you. You can begin to feel like an assembly line when you make multiples of anything. I was making wedding dresses for a while, but it mostly became making bridesmaid's dresses. Every one the same for the # of the girls in the party. I felt like a factory unto myself. Very little creativity. Making knockoffs is not my cup of tea, but it was requested time and again.
What might help you in the future is to make 8 of napkins or placemats for your mother. Or you could make table runners for different holidays. similar pattern but different fabrics. Good Luck.

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I'm in a repeating pattern myself and am quite bored with the project...trying to muddle through.

I recently made 4 placemats and I feel your pain. Not sure I could make eight of the same kind! The first one is a creative exploration, working it all out, being surprised and pleased by the result. The second one is just rinse, repeat.
Being bored by making the same thing again always makes me think of my grandmother, who had 7 daughters, including a set of twins. She made all the girls' clothes and always made the twins identical dresses. My mother told me that her mother said the first twin dress was fun, the second one a chore. But she continued to make their dresses alike......probably just grumbling a bit on the second one!

I would say in the future I'd make 2 coordinating sets of 4 such as all same shape but complimentary fabrics or same fabrics but vary how they appear in the design or same fabrics 2 different shapes something like that. You're a good daughter.

Yeah, I get bored with placemats, too. But I sure do love having 12 placemats, not only for a crowd, but to always have clean ones when some are in the wash. I'm not a fan or repeatedly doing the same project, which I'm sure is why I don't earn a living sewing!

One year for Christmas I made some large chicken placemats. I made a bunch of them and one granddaughter asked for two more so she could invite her in-laws to dinner and have enough...They were quite tedious and I really hated making more but did it anyway. It was a JOB!

LOL I know the feeling .. Made the daughter several placemats for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas; put their names on them in machine embroidery; now she wants them for all the holidays .. LOL So off I go to the LQS, hobbylobby or Wally to find the material or see if I have it in my stash. LOL Oh and she wants them in the same style, each one in the same fabric as each holiday, oh and Mom if you could embroider their names on them again !LOL

I have triplet grandaughters and when they were small I sewed dresses etc for them and by the time I got to the third one I was bored so now they get their own clothes and I quilt. when I make the same projects for them I have their favorite colours to do them in.

I completely agree!! I made a beautiful Advent Calendar for my three grandchildren last December and they love it. Very detailed with a village scene, trees, etc. Of course now my other granddaughter wants one and I have promised to sew her one for this year. She wants the same one but I cannot even think of making that one again. Oh, I love the outcome, but doing it all again will be a chore rather than enjoyment. I have another idea in mind that I think she will love also. Sure hope this idea works!!