Maybe you need to go to the Sewing & Quilting Expo in Worcester this week :lol:

Go work on a project that needs to get done but you really dislike doing around the house. By the time you are finished you will be more then ready to go relax and do some quilting.

I was going strong until last Wednesday when my husband came home and said we were being transferred. I don't want to move!! He doesn't want to move! With the jobs being so hard to find, I am afraid we will have no choice. Since then I have only spent 30 minutes in my room. Maybe we could help each other.

Nothing wrong with you. We all go through creative slumps now and then. One of these days you will wake up and turn on the machine and stitch like mad. Just go with the flow.

Same as everyone else here - I find that I get stuck if I am making stuff for everyone else and not anything for me (its why I won't sell my work - then it really becomes WORK)but try the magazine route. I got stuck for about a week and then picked up The Quilter's Newsletter magazine - found a gorgeous quilt based on Mexican pottery designs - got inspired and started running dual projects....

I think you should tell yourself you are NOT going near any fabric for one week. Then see what other things you want to do. Walk, cook, read, or other stuff. When you think you CAN'T do it, the desire will return. :)

Clean your sewing area. Sort some fabric. Relax, it'll be back.

And this too will pass ....................

Been there....it'll change for you - guaranteed. And besides...from reading the replies, there are a lot of your quilting friends who will help motivate you with a well placed kick....lololol.

Perhaps a little organizing of your sewing area??? That seems to work for me...and if possible, moving your sewing machine so you can occasionally look out a window is a great idea....

Well It really is nice to know I am not the only one. I have been in a slump for weeks now. Not wanting to sew sew or really do much of anything ,actually thinking about getting rid of everything. All I have wanted to do is sit and read. Escapeism at its finest.

I'm going to be no help at all, when in a slump I make a purse. I guess it might work for you but somehow I don't think it will. Maybe a table topper, something small that you can finish in a short amount of time! But you'll get there, sometimes baking works except then I want to eat and not sew! Sorry, like I said no help at all!

sounds like you need to get some inspiration to fire you up again, maybe going for a walk in the great outdoors, or hitting a new quilt shop will get you going.

don't worry about it, you will get inspired again soon. we all need to take a break sometimes.

Vitamins and a little sunshine.

I spend a couple or three hours going through all my quilt magagzines to refresh me and get me motivated.

I was in a really bad slump..depressed, worried etc. My son got married in May to a wonderful woman and they have 3 6 year old kids in the house now...She got accepted to RN school and started in March and then BAM...he got laid off his job and can't find another one. Shes thinking she might have to quit school, hes depressed because he cant find work so of course it affected my mood too...BUT I picked up one of the quilts I was making to move it and decided to snap out of it and get back to work and it helped the stress! I would like to ask all the wonderful people on here to say a prayer or two that my son gets called back to Catapillar or finds another job so Ash can go on to RN school!! They need some strong help from above! THANKS!!!

I had the "slump" also and this is what I did. Put away all the quilts that I have started ,4, and went to do things that were done in a day. Table runners, mug rugs, candle mats...some for Christmas giving, some to sell.

OMG - don't feel bad David - I was in a 'slump' for several YEARS - w/a quilt top almost finished rolled up (I hand quilt on a 'roll up' frame) just CRYING OUT TO BE FINISHED. Finally got the frame put back up last week & think I may actually finish it this time. (It is for my 40 yr. old grandson & think he was worrying it may never be finished)

(And at my age (I'm a great-great granma) that's dangerous that it may NEVER get finished)

You're a 'young sprout' - get off your duff & get back to enjoying that beautiful creative part of yourself!!!!!

Have a blessed day & may all your quilts be filled w/love

Been there done that. Its spring! Sounds like you have cabin fever, git out side, work in the garden, if weather still to cold sit by a window and plane your garden, seeds, plants ect. make a blooming quilt out in the garden this year. soon youll be up and quilting again.

you will get back in the swing of it. Could be many factors in play with you. Go find a new quilt magazine and sit back and look at it. You will get back on track.

Oh, please get busy - pretty please? .... We LOVE to see your finished products ...

How about by Friday? We'd love it if you could post at least ONE "in-progress" by then?

I'll be looking for it ...

We all need down time sometimes. I find I usually need a month or so "off" after the holiday rush. Don't want to even think about quilting for awhile. I live in TX where the "winters" are short and as soon as it starts to look or feel like Spring I get in the sewing room and rearrange all my fabrics (just touching them makes me want to start sewing again) and going through and seeing what I have for fabric gets me looking for the perfect pattern to make and before I know it I am back to working on 5 or 6 projects at once again. We all go through this at some point and it WILL pass. I just took a trip to my LQS and saw all the new fabrics and patterns and now have more projects to make than I have time for. Hang in there!

I belong to the "get over it" school of counseling! Make yourself get up and get going on a project that will show some visible progress after you've worked on it for 30 minutes. Then drink a glass of iced tea, read a chapter in a book or watch the birds at the bird feeder for 15 minutes and then go back to the project for 30 minutes.

None of those things will cost you anything, except maybe 75 minutes and the cost of bird feed and the tea. Cheaper than a shrink and at the end you'll have someting to show for it.

froggyintexas

When I get in a slump, I have to make myself to something. Even if it is just tidying up the sewing room...organize some fabric or just look through my stash. I decide how long I HAVE to do this (10 to 15 minutes usually) then if I still don't get going, I can go do something else (like having a Hershey bar), but often it turns out that the 15 minutes go by and I don't notice and I continue to work. It may not take me completely out of my slump, but I fell like I have at least accomplished something.

Six weeks ago today I walked out of my sewing room and have not been able to walk back in. I try, I go in, turn around, look at everything and leave. Just not interested. Have never been in this bad a slump before. All I want to do is crawl in bed and sleep. I force myself to clean up the kitchen once a day and that is all I get done. It is awful. I need to make a quilt for a dear friend who was diagnosed with cervical cancer advanced at age 37 and is not doing well on chemo. Went to LQS, clerk pretty much chose fabrics for me and here they sit. This is driving me nuts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

go here and watch this wmv, it sure motivated me a bunch just to think about it. doesn't look like this link is clickable so guess you'll just have to type it in your browser.

ok it is clickable

when i get into a slump, i just tell myself to start small....."today i will just sew one block" or "today i will just sort that pile of scraps" and before i know it, i want to do more than just one block.........hope your slump ends soon, there are great quilts and stuff waiting to be sewn by you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....gina

Hi Davidwent: Where did that Davidwent enthusiasm go? I would suggest that you took on too much for the time alloted. Just rest a while, then find a quilt thing that is fun to do for yourself. Just do it.

I do something else.... knit, crochet, etc. Just to keep the creative juices primed. When I've finished that project, else, I'm usually ready to go back to my quilting again.

David

Try some different fabric, something that really catches your eye, and that is quick and easy! That might help! If something is accomplished quickly, you might tend to want to try to do more? Maybe?

TreeFrog

It's surely the season: waiting for spring. Here's some tips: write and tell that you've already done/sent something that is due, and then your conscience will kick in and make you do it! The inner mind does not like contradiction; hence, it will motivate you to eliminate the cause of the problem. Also, take a walk outdoors every day to check on the spring flowers, to see how the are coming along.

I think you are just in a "blue" mood. It does happen to all of us. It happened to me after my heart attack and other complications. I couldn't even walk into my room. After 3-4 weeks I was able to get thngs done. Looking at magazines helpted. I started with something small and it was seeing the progress that helped. You need to talk to yourself and get yourself going. Lisa was right a kick will help. My husband told me to quit feeling sorry for myself!! That helped! Get going kiddo!

David I agree with the others about needing sunshine. My daughter just returned from working in Maine for 5 weeks and everytime I talked to her it was either snowing, cloudy, or just gloomy. I suggest turning on as many lights as you can in your sewing area; even if they're the ones you only use when doing detail work, put on some upbeat music, and start going thru your stash. Start by pairing up some orphan fabrics or sorting out scraps that could be a project. Look at the little "picture" instead of the large and start on something small or quick. I've been there myself and sometimes we have to be our own cheerleader.

It is this horrible weather. I know a guy who bought a bright light and he sits under it every morning and says it helps him get going every day. Just close your eyes, sit in the warmth of the light and think about nothing.

When I picked one of my friends up for a guild meeting last night we were talking about the same thing. We have both been feeling the same way. I did get 9 pillow cases done for grandkids for Easter, other than that - I have tons of stuff to do, and right now it seems like work instead of fun.
I even was at a quilt show and expo a couple of weeks ago and bought lots more fabric. I got some new fabric with poppies on it for a new quilt for my bed - now that I have it home, I'm just happy to look at it...
It must be catchy - this not wanting to quilt.
Maybe we need to challege each other to get off our behinds and get going on something.
OK - this is an offical challenge - walk away from the computer and go to your stash or WIP, and get sewing for 1/2 hour to an hour!!!!
I'm going now!

Cheer up everyone we're just starting to get over the winter blahs. Sunny days are ahead Dont feel quilty have a cup of coffee and rax

need some nice warm sunny days so we can open the windows and let the gloom out and the fresh in

I think it's a matter of being bored. Maybe you need a trip to the fabric store to brighten your mood!

A good spring tonic might help.

I find if I just start before I know it I got my groove back! Hang in there and I agree with everyone else; we all need sunshine!